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Updated: 3/5/07
Birding and Hiking in Northern Arizona
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Birding
in Prescott Articles
of related interest from Wingtips: |
Download and print a handy index to the new Sibley Guide to Birds on the Northern Arizona Audubon Society page. It's sized to be pasted inside the back cover.
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Birding in Prescott Bonnie Pranter There is a mixture of vegetation at several popular locations in the Prescott region which attracts a diversity of birds. Such recreational areas as Lynx Lake, Goldwater Lake, Granite Basin Lake, Thumb Butte Picnic Area, White Spar Campground, and Lower Wolf Creek Campground, are located within ponderosa pine forest with pinyon-juniper woodland, chaparral, and riparian areas adjacent to or interspersed with the forest. Resident forest birds common in these areas include Acorn Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Steller's Jay, Mountain Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Western Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, and Pine Siskin. In summer also find Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, House Wren, Grace's Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Western Tanager, and Chipping Sparrow. Winter residents include the Red-naped Sapsucker and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. At higher elevations, such as around the Hassayampa Lake area, find also Red-breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush, and, in summer, Red-faced Warbler. Typically found year-round within the pinyon-juniper and chaparral vegetation are Western Scrub-Jay, Bridled Titmouse, Juniper Titmouse, Bushtit, Bewick's Wren, Spotted Towhee, and Canyon Towhee. Summer additions include Virginia's Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Phainopepla. Streams wind their way through some of these locations with broad-leaved trees that, during the summer, host Black-chinned Hummingbird, Anna's Hummingbird, Black Phoebe (year-round), Plumbeous Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Lucy's Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Painted Redstart (forest), Summer Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Brown-headed Cowbird, Bullock's Oriole, and Lesser Goldfinch. Granite Creek Park (A.C. Williams Park) on 6th Street in town and Watson Woods Riparian Preserve paralleling Highway 89 between town and Watson Lake also host such riparian species. Watson Lake and Willow Lake are wintering areas for many types of waterfowl and a handful of Bald Eagles (also observable at Lynx and Goldwater Lakes). Great Blue Heron and Killdeer can be seen here all year. In Watson Lake Park, among other songbirds, Rock wren and Canyon wren may be observed. Along Willow Lake Road Western Meadowlark and occasional Loggerhead Shrike are present. Numerous hawks feed in the grassland regions during the winter. Chino Valley and Skull Valley are good places to see Northern Harrier and Ferruginous Hawk, along with the resident Red-tailed Hawk. Horned Lark, Western Meadowlark, and Say's Phoebe are common residents, and, in summer, Lark Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, and Western Kingbird nest. Sparrows seen in winter in these areas include Vesper, Savannah, Lincoln's, and White-crowned, along with Mountain Bluebird, Red-winged Blackbird, and Brewer's Blackbird. |
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Mohave County Area Sites See the October and November 1999 "Notes from Norma" |
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Verde Valley, Sedona, and Flagstaff Area Sites Visit the Northern Arizona Audubon Society. They have articles and links to their areas. |
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Links to Books and Other Media
Birding in and around Prescott and the Verde Valley Birding
Sedona and the Verde Valley A Guide to Prescott and Central Highlands Trails A Variety of Western Bird Songs & Calls Arizona Wildlife Viewing Guide
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Birding in and around Prescott and the Verde Valley: By PAS's Kathy Wingert, includes descriptions of 25 sites along with instructions on how to get there and a Species List of birds that are likely to be there. This book is published by The Left Hand Press and can be purchased at any PAS General Meeting or by contacting Pat Sperry at 520-445-4862 or write to PAS, PO Box 4156, Prescott, AZ 86302 |
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Arizona Wildlife Viewing Guide: By John N. Carr is an illustrated guide to viewing wildlife all over the state. It includes descriptions, viewing information, directions to access, and ownership of land. It is published by Falcon Press and can be purchased at any PAS General Meeting or by contacting Pat Sperry at 520-445-4862 or write to PAS, PO Box 4156, Prescott, AZ 86302 |
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A Variety of Western Bird Songs and Calls: by PAS's Jim Morgan. The package includes a CD of bird songs and calls, and a booklet that describes each recording. The booklet has an index that makes it easy to find the particular bird on the CD and its description in the booklet. The package is available at the Prescott areas' libraries and can be purchased (Revision 5.1*) at any PAS General Meeting, or by contacting Pat Sperry at 520-445-4862, or write to PAS, PO Box 4156, Prescott, AZ 86302, or by contacting Jim Morgan at 520-778-1041. It is also available to borrow from our Audio Visual collection. *Revision 5.1 includes 30 new species, 8 recordings that have been expanded by adding new material, and 2 recordings that have been replaced with improved ones. |
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“The Birds of Prescott, Arizona” Annotated checklist of the relative abundance and seasonal status of Prescott area birds: By Carl Tomoff This recent publication is available at the Prescott College Bookstore (220 Grove Ave.) and will also be at our next PAS monthly meeting for $3.00. |
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A Guide to Prescott and Central Highlands Trails: by local publisher, author, and Audubon Member Ron Smith is a greatly enlarged and revised edition of his earlier hiking and bicycling guide, Mountain Sojourns. He describes with maps, profiles, and text about 75 trails that can be accomplished in one day. The book is further enhanced with black/white photos and a few pen/ink illustrations. The areas covered in the book include Sierra Prietas, northern Bradshaw Mountains, Mingus, Santa Maria Mountains, Granite Mountain area, Thumb Butte, and the Sedona area. In Prescott, the 224-page book at $15.95 is available from most book, outdoor, and bicycle stores. In Prescott Valley you can find it at Bookends. Within the next couple of weeks there will also be books in Verde Valley, Sedona, and Flagstaff locations. For more information, call Ron at 928-445-6678. It can also be purchased at any PAS General Meeting or write to PAS, PO Box 4156, Prescott, AZ 86302 (Latest edition published 2006) |
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The Monsoon is here, so what!!! George Morrison Monsoon storms are always spotty. While one area is soaked, a mile away gets nothing. It’s weird. Take the Perkinsville Road east out of Chino Valley (Road 3 north) and you see green lush foot hills then just a few hundred yards on the other side of a ridge it’s as dry as the proverbial bone. Actually, if you follow the Perkinsville Road long enough and pay attention to the signs, you wind up right next to the new fire station in Jerome. Getting there will take you through some truly magnificent greening from the monsoonal storms patterns. The higher you get above the valley floor, the more grasses, Buffalo Bur, Indian paintbrush and tiny asters you’ll see. Mule deer can appear instantly anywhere on the route and there is nothing more graceful than a deer bounding over a small wash. The last few miles of the road is actually the narrow gauge railroad bed, the United Verde & Pacific built by William Clark. The narrow gauge track closed down in 1911 when the Union Pacific line opened following the Verde River Canyon into Clarkdale with it’s standard gauge track. The scenic views from this route into Jerome are unequaled. The distant rusty, haystack looking peaks at the mouth of Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area have an allure all their own. Of course you can reverse the direction and begin your trip at the Jerome Fire station and follow the signs to Chino Valley. Shiny black Common Ravens will be constant companions. Look closely at those scavengers as their bills are frequently open with some object held tightly inside. Binoculars usually don’t help much in figuring out what the birds have but they are busy carrying things every time you see them. The main road is gravel and rocky but passable in a high clearance vehicle like a pickup or SUV. Bear grass, juniper, and even Arizona Cypress trees dot the narrow gauge route. Century plant stalks have reached for the heavens with their huge flower clusters and the Prickly Poppies are still in bloom at the higher elevations. Red fruits on the Prickly Pear cactus show up as bunches of the bright green plants become visible along the road sides and on the rolling hills in the distance. The road bed can be narrow at times but there’s still room to pass on-coming vehicles. Side roads abound, but recent rains have deepened some of the washes they cross rendering them impassable for now. Forest Service Road #90050, about 12 miles from Chino Valley, is a good example of a dirt track leading to a superlative view of the surrounding rolling hills. A large windmill and storage tank for stock water attracts numerous sparrows and juncos. From the rough, lava strewn hill top on the pipeline line, flocks of Pinyon Jays swoop from tree to tree noisily hunting food . Dark, spiny, horned lizards sneak through the scattered grasses, Snakeweed and stubby, apricot colored mallow. Western Bluebirds skim the grass tops flying from tree to tree. Mourning Doves haven’t left yet but their flocks are getting bigger as they prepare for departure to habitats in Central and South America. Red-tailed Hawks scream out while wheeling about on updrafts. Distant curtains of Virgo drape downward from noisy clouds temporarily blocking the views of Bill Williams Mountain and the San Francisco Peaks. A light SW breeze cuts the heat of the mid-August days as the clouds shift, breaking up allowing spotlights to shine on the distant red hued Sycamore Canyon. Colors are everywhere. Yellow, gray, gray-green, gold and two shades of orange spots of lichens fill the tiny vesicles on the basaltic lava rocks. That’s monsoons for you. The landscape looks like spring but that’s because Arizona’s monsoons bring spring back again. |
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Mississippi Kites: Probable Breeding in Chino Valley Carl Tomoff Mississippi Kites made a remarkable appearance in Yavapai County this summer!! The excitement began when Eric Moore watched an adult Mississippi Kite dive-bombing a Swainson’s Hawk perched atop a roof in Chino Valley’s Memory Park on June 1, suggesting territorial defense. He saw an adult being harassed by diving Barn Swallows not far away on June 8 and noted an adult on July 17 near the Chino Nursery along Road 3 North. Early the next morning, I found two adults with another bird in juvenile plumage, clearly a young one hatched this summer. They were perched in a wide-spreading elm snag, preening before they sallied out after cicadas. Soon a nearby row of cypresses and other trees served as perches and launching sites during their foraging antics. Later in the morning, while on Perkinsville Road four blocks to the south, I watched one adult and two birds with banded tails cavorting and “playing on the wind” high in the sky before they descended southward out of view. I returned on July 22 to find one adult and two first-summer birds in the same snags and surrounding trees as they preened, basked with spread wings, and darted out to capture cicadas. Thus at least five birds were residing in the area: an adult pair, two one-year old birds, and this year’s young one. During subsequent visits in August, the birds usually were not in view after 8:30. They ranged over several blocks, at times rising high over a mosaic of fields, yards, and remnant grassland. Eric, Russell Duerksen, and I continued monitoring the birds through August; a single kite was last seen on September 6. Are these kites still somewhere in Chino Valley? Have they departed for their distant wintering grounds in South America? Will they return next summer? Why so much excitement? Mississippi Kites normally range in summer from the Southeast through the southern plains. In Arizona, they normally breed along the San Pedro River. The Chino birds would be only the second breeding pair ever found in Yavapai County. In the Raptors of Arizona, Rich Glinski cites a probable breeding record near Cottonwood in 1970, when Mississippi Kites first arrived in Arizona. A Field Guide to Hawks (Clark & Wheeler) and The Sibley Guide to Birds are useful to distinguish juveniles of the year from older first-summer birds. |