My wife and I made a quick trip back to Oklahoma over the Easter weekend to visit family. Our trip was just a little over 48 hours, but we packed a lot of activities into Saturday and Sunday including the baptism of one of our grandchildren, an Easter egg hunt, playing kickball, going to See’s Candy, Sunday’s Easter services, and family nature walks at two different city parks.
Needless-to-say, my brain was wired for birding—it is inescapable. While I didn’t “go” birding, I was birding everywhere we went because that is just what I do. I saw many familiar birds—ones we see here in Prescott such as American robins, cedar waxwings, Cooper’s hawks, turkey vultures, blue-gray gnatcatchers, red-winged blackbirds, great-tailed grackles and brown-headed cowbirds.
I also saw a lot of “eastern” bird species that we don’t see here in Prescott, such as brown thrashers, eastern bluebirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, tufted titmice, Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, scissor-tailed flycatcher, and common grackles to name a few.
It was interesting to observe how some of their migratory birds are back—such as purple martins and brown-headed cowbirds. I am intrigued that we don’t get purple martins here in Prescott. I’ve lived here over thirty years and I’ve never seen a purple martin in Prescott. I’ve seen purple martins in other parts of the state, such as in Tucson, and near Dog Town Lake, southeast of Williams.
That in itself is very interesting. Tucson is just over 2,000 feet in elevation, and the predominant habitat is Sonoran Desert, consisting of giant Sahuaros, palo verde trees, creosote, and a myriad of cacti ranging from prickly pear to cholla. The elevation at Dog Town Lake is over 7,000 feet, and the habitat is almost strictly ponderosa pine forest.
If purple martins can live and breed in Tucson, as well as above the Mogollon Rim, you would think they would occur in Prescott, or at least in the Prescott National Forest. I assume there must be an explanation for their distribution but it does seem strange to me.
But, back to birds in the Prescott area. What should you be on the lookout for? Brown-headed cowbirds should definitely arrive any day. Perhaps you’ve already seen them at your seed feeder. They prefer white-proso millet.
I mentioned last week to be on the lookout for orioles. There are three different oriole species that either pass through the Prescott area, or breed here: Scott’s, Bullocks, and hooded.
There have been a handful of reports of vermilion flycatchers in Watson Woods. This is not a common bird for Prescott. Lucy’s and yellow warblers are back in Watson Woods. Ryan, our store manager, saw a painted redstart this past weekend in Watson Woods, which is a really good find.
In summary, the occurrence and distribution of bird species can change daily this time of year, so if you are a field birder, I encourage you to get out every day and look for migratory birds that are either passing through, or arriving to stay for the summer.
A quick reminder that the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood is just two weeks away. If you haven’t registered, go to https://verderiver.org/birding-festival/.
We’re still getting settled into our new store location at 1230 Willow Creek Road, at the southwest corner of Black Drive and Willow Creek Road. We won’t have our formal ribbon-cutting and grand opening event until June, but we are open for business Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and are closed on Sundays. We look forward to serving you at the new store, The Lookout.
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products and Vortex and Swarovski optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@jaysbirdbarn.com.
