In last week’s column, I wrote about my birding experience at Granite Basin as part of the Prescott Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. Just over a week later, I led a Jay’s Bird Barn bird walk to the same location. While the two walks were only eight days apart, I experienced very different results.

For example, on the day of the Christmas count I saw 160 bushtits. The following week, however, I did not see a single bushtit! Another dramatic difference was my experience birding at the lake. On the day of the Christmas count, Granite Basin Lake was frozen over, from edge to edge, and I only saw two female mallards the whole day.

This past week, however, the lake was more than 98% open with just a small amount of ice in the shady areas. As a result, I saw a dozen mallards, a ring-necked duck, several American Wigeons, two female buffleheads, and a great blue heron.

I would be curious to know how all these birds knew that the lake was no longer frozen over and could be used for swimming around and feeding. It would be interesting to know where these birds came from, as even the closest source of water is quite far away.

Another interesting difference were my observations of birds of prey. On the day of the Christmas count, I had four different types of birds of prey: northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, Cooper’s hawk, and great horned owl. Last week’s bird walk resulted in not a single bird of prey!

Some of my bird sightings for the first trip included both American robins and western bluebirds. However, on the following week’s trip, I didn’t see either species. On the first Granite Basin bird walk, I saw about ten hairy woodpeckers. This past week I didn’t see or hear a single one.

I could cite numerous other examples of the many differences between the two bird walks. As I have mentioned, there were several examples of bird species that were observed the first week and not the second week. However, there were also examples where some of the same species were observed both weeks. And finally, there were some species observed during the second bird walk that were not observed on the first bird walk.

You might be wondering what conclusions can be drawn about the differences between two bird walks, just days apart, at the same location. First, I wouldn’t read a lot into the differences. Considerably more time was spent birding the first week—over ten hours. The following week, the bird walk was only three hours in duration.

Additionally, on any given day, I think it is normal to see wide swings in terms of both the number of birds seen, and the number of species seen. As I reflect on a lifetime of bird watching, it really boils down to timing. On many occasions, I’ve had a split-second observation of a bird because I happened to be in the right spot at exactly the right moment in time.

Had I been there a few seconds earlier—or had I been there later in the day—I would have missed that specific bird. That is the nature of birding. The ability to see birds is a function of putting in the time as well as the energy to see them.

On a different note, the new Rick Taylor book, “Birds of Arizona,” which I wrote about two weeks ago, is back in stock. We sold out of our first shipment the same day my column came out!

Until next week, Happy Birding!

Eric Moore is the owner of Jay’s Bird Barn, Arizona Field Optics, and Hallmark in
Prescott, Arizona. Eric has been an avid birder for over 50 years. If you have
questions about wild birds that you would like discussed in future articles, email
him at eric@jaysbirdbarn.com.

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