Last week’s monsoon rains were a welcome boon, and I’m disappointed that the rain is taking a hiatus this week. I took full advantage of the soft, moist soil this past week by doing a lot of weeding—by hand. I pulled out thousands of morning glory sprouts, along with hundreds of ragweed plants, dandelions, and other undesirable plants.
We have a seasonal creek that parallels our property, requiring a lot of time and effort to maintain so it doesn’t get choked with invasive, non-native plants. It has been a very time-consuming, hard project, but I must admit that I thoroughly enjoy doing yard work. It is a form of relaxation for me.
I love my yard. It is filled with life, with an abundance of native plants that are never sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. By not using chemicals on my plants, I have an abundance of insects in my yard which creates a food source for wild birds and lizards.
This has been an interesting bird week here in the Arizona Central Highlands. On Saturday, our store manager, Ryan, discovered a Mississippi kite at the Farmers Market here in Prescott. Wow, what a great find! Over the weekend, I spent time in the Riparian Preserve at Watson Woods and was pleasantly surprised to see a male vermilion flycatcher, a yellow-breasted chat, and a lot of blue grosbeaks.
It is obvious that some bird species are already wrapping up their breeding behavior and are now dispersing in the surrounding habitats. This behavior of post-breed dispersal is an annual phenomenon every summer. Be on the lookout for new or unusual birds in your yard.
On the Fourth of July, I biked around Watson Lake. I was intrigued to see five American white pelicans and seven willets on Watson Lake. I also saw a rare bird alert posting that a single long-billed dowitcher in breeding plumage was seen at Watson Lake over the weekend. These sightings are a strong indication that migratory birds are already on the move!
As a reminder, the Sedona Hummingbird Festival is coming up at the end of the month. This event is hosted by the International Hummingbird Society, headquartered in Sedona. This event takes place at the Sedona Red Rock High School. For more information, check out their website: www.hummingbirdsociety.org
The event runs from Thursday, July 29th through Sunday, July 31st. Activities include three days of expert presentations, beautiful garden tours, birding trips, hummingbird banding demonstrations, a hummingbird marketplace (we’ll be there as a vendor,) and a gala banquet. If you love hummingbirds—and who doesn’t—I think you’ll really enjoy the festival. I hope to see you there.
The following week is the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival in Sierra Vista, Arizona, from August 3rd to the 6th. Southwest Wings started offering birding trips in 1991 and is Arizona’s oldest birding festival. Their tagline is the “Greatest Little Birding Festival in the United States”. Their mission is to promote nature-based tourism and environmental awareness in southeastern Arizona.
Like the Hummingbird Festival, Southwest Wings offers guided trips, free programs, wildlife exhibits, vendors, and a keynote speaker event. This year, Swarovski Optiks is sponsoring the festival, which we will be representing as the authorized dealer for Swarovski binoculars and spotting scopes.
If you have never birded in the sky islands region of southern Arizona, you are in for a real treat. This region boasts the confluence of three climate zones which ensures a high species count with many species that are only found in this area of the United States, such as the elegant trogon.
For more information, and to register, visit their website: www.swwings.org
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of Jay’s Bird Barn 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.
