I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of birding in the Prescott area this past week, and the diversity of birds has been off the charts! Over the last week I have birded at Willow Lake, Watson Woods Riparian Preserve, and I lead a store-sponsored bird walk to Mingus Mountain. I saw 97 different bird species this week!
Ironically, at the same time I was guiding my bird walk on Mingus Mountain, a talented local birder discovered an unusual species at Willow Lake—a red-necked phalarope. I didn’t hear about the unusual sighting until I was back at work, so I cut out of the store a little early to see if I could find the phalarope.
My time at Willow was truly amazing. Not only did I find the phalarope (there were actually two of them), I also saw a host of other water-dependent species, including ibis, stilts, avocets, dowitcher, killdeer, plover, and two species of sandpipers: least and greater-yellowlegs. I also saw two species of rails—sora and Virginia.
However, my best find of the day was a total surprise. It was a species I had never seen before in the state of Arizona. Using my Swarovski spotting scope, I saw a common tern resting on a sandbar about three hundred yards from the south shore of Willow Lake. This is a species that breeds mostly in Canada and along the Atlantic coast.
The word “common” is relative to where you are. If you were in Maine, this would be a common species, but not in the Arizona Central Highlands. We are so fortunate to have our local lakes (they’re actually reservoirs) as they contribute to the diversity of species we see here in the Prescott area. Without the lakes, I would never have seen any of those bird species.
I also saw a belted kingfisher working the margins of the lake, looking for small fish, which is its primary diet. At one point, I watched a merlin (a small falcon) dive at the kingfisher, and at the last moment it pulled up and flew away. There was also an osprey flying over the lake, looking for fish.
My bird walk on Mingus was delightful. We birded along Forest Service Road 104 between Mingus Lake and the Methodist camp. There were so many birds—mostly chipping sparrows and dark-eyed juncos—but we also saw nuthatches, flickers, bluebirds, jays, swallows, wrens, warblers and grosbeaks. Wow!
After birding along the road, we went over to Butterfly Springs. There wasn’t much happening there, unfortunately, but we did see two birds that were migrating through. We saw a Swainson’s hawk—a species that breeds throughout western and central North America, as far north as Alaska, and winters in Argentina. Talk about a long-distance migrator!
We also saw an olive-sided flycatcher, a small songbird only 7.5 inches in length, and weighing only 1.1 ounces. This species breeds in bogs and in boreal and mountainous forests in northern Canada and Alaska and winters in the Amazon! It is so incredible to consider how these two bird species fly from one continent to another twice a year. Bird migration is truly one of the great wonders of nature.
As a final reminder, the last day to submit entries for our 16th Annual Wild Bird Photography Contest is Monday, September 30th. The Photography Contest exhibit will open to the public Tuesday, October 1st. For more information, stop by The Lookout to pick up a flyer, or visit our website at www.thelookoutaz.com. I invite you to participate!
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 Swarovski and Vortex optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
