Last Wednesday, Dec. 15, was the Prescott Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count. I have participated in Christmas Bird Counts since I was a teenager.
Each year my assigned area is Granite Basin. It is a very large geographical area to cover, extending from the intersection of Iron Springs and Granite Basin roads, all the way to Granite Mountain.
As you may recall, last week - Tuesday night into Wednesday morning - a strong winter storm passed through the Arizona Central Highlands. The storm started with high winds and strong rains, followed by a sudden drop in temperature that resulted in instant ice, with a thin layer of snow on top.
Early Wednesday morning, I couldn't even get into my vehicle, as my whole car was encased with a thick layer of ice. It took several pots of hot water to get my car door open so I could get on my way!
Needless to say, the birding conditions were less-than-ideal. It was about 21degrees, and everything was covered in ice. Driving was treacherous, and walking was downright scary. I have had two previous experiences of falling on ice, and I did my best to avoid falling a third time.
Not only did the ice and snow affect me, but it affected bird behavior. All of their natural food sources were covered under a layer of ice, snow, or both. The intense cold necessitated them finding food to maintain their metabolism. This was not an easy task under those conditions!
I found the best place to find birds was on north-facing slopes that were exposed to direct sunlight. For example, on the north side of the meadow, west of Granite Basin Lake, I found a mixed flock of seed-eaters, including white-crowned sparrow, white-throated sparrows, Lincoln's sparrows, fox sparrows, song sparrows and a slew of spotted towhees, all feeding together. I felt like I hit the jackpot!
Most of the habitat in the Basin could be considered a coniferous forest. Over the 20-plus years I've been canvassing this area, I have had good success finding a variety of wintering bird species found specifically in this habitat, including pine siskins, Cassin's finches, red crossbills, brown creepers, golden-crowned kinglets and sometimes evening grosbeaks. This year, I did not find a single bird of this kind. It was a very different bird count.
There were definitely other gaps in my bird list, too. For example, I did not see a single wren species all day! In years past, I've seen winter wrens, Bewick's wren, canyon wren, winter wren, marsh wren, but this year, not one.
Interestingly, I saw three species in my count area this year that I have never observed in all of my previous years of doing the bird count - Bald Eagle, white-throated sparrows and Lewis's Woodpecker. It is really exciting for me to see a 'new' bird species in an area I have birded repeatedly over many years.
The Lewis's woodpecker was especially exciting to me. This brings me to nine different woodpecker species that I have seen in Granite Basin over the years: ladder-backed, Gila, hairy, acorn, Lewis's, Williamson's Sapsucker, red-naped sapsucker, red-breasted sapsucker and northern flicker.
All in all it was a great day. After all, I got to go birding for 10 hours, and I observed 44 different species! It eventually warmed up, reaching a high of about 40 degrees. It turned out to be a truly lovely day, and, due to the ice, I had the Basin to myself most of the day!
Have a lovely Christmas, and until next week, Happy Birding!