"Wingtips"
Our Monthly Newsletter
Get out and get into nature with our growing community of like-minded folks who value the outdoors and fellowship. Read our newsletter to get a taste of what we've been up to lately.
West Willow Natural Area Protections
First steps on an exciting story -- Prescott City's proposed management of the sensitive and unique Cottonwood forest along the west side of Willow Lake.
As you see, some signs have been put in place, including some closure of "social trails" for restoration. We will stay involved, proposing some access restrictions and trail modifications to protect sensitive bird species and all the wildlife that live in this urban forest.
Kestrel Nestbox Program
American Kestrels are on the decline, and limited nesting sites are part of that decline. We have had great success with our American Kestrel nestbox installations, and the 2024 nesting season is no exception! If you happen to see a Kestrel with legband(s), please report your sighting and location to [email protected].
New Signs at Willow and Watson Lakes
No doubt you have passed by the signs along our lakes' shores, only to find that the sun had got there first and bleached out every word and image.
Now --good as new! We had these signs reprinted, and the City of Prescott has set them in their frames. Nice!
Bird of the Month :
Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk?
Each month, we publish an article in a local magazine, "5enses" . We share these articles here on our website.
What's This Bird?
The answer is not quite so easy when we do not have feather color to depend on. Here is another leucistic bird to consider--"leucistic" meaning the bird has pale or white coloring in its feathers. If you think about normal skin or hair (or feathers) on one end of the range and true albino on the other end of the range, leucistic broadly fills the range between. We have shown images of a leucistic bunting, raven, and hummingbirds here in the past, and it seems that American Robins can show this quality fairly often as well.
So, this bird gives us an opportunity to look at other ID marks. Clearly the bird is sparrow-like in body shape and posture. The bill is gray, darker above, and not so thick as a House Finch would show. Dark eye with a thin eyering. Short wings.
Rounded, patterned head and a fairly long tail. The legs are not black.
Fortunately, the wing has enough color to be helpful here--among our common sparrows, only the Song, Lincoln's, and Swamp Sparrow have this much rufous on the wing. OK - Swamp Sparrow is not common here... and the Lincoln's would have finer streaking overall.
Thanks to Justin Bryce for this leucistic Song Sparrow photo!
Limited Public Access to The City of Prescott Airport Water Reclamation Facility (Recharge Ponds)
As of October 16, 2023, public access to the Recharge Ponds is limited to individuals who have signed a Waiver and have obtained a Keycard from the City of Prescott. The Keycard allows access to the Recharge Ponds seven days a week from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.
Please find more information about the access, Keycard and Waiver here in this PDF file.
To obtain your Keycard, please make an appointment with the City of Prescott Financial & Business Operations Manager, Public Works, by calling 928-777-1130 ext: 5003, or by emailing [email protected].
Read the Results of Our 2024
IBA and Cuckoo Surveys
on the Upper Verde River
Our surveys are essential for the protection of Yellow-billed Cuckoo, considered to be a threatened species by Federal and State wildlife managers alike. Our data helps wildlife managers to protect this sensitive habitat along the Verde. Our data also supports continuation of this unique area as an Important Bird Area (IBA)
Read on for a summary of our 2024 Cuckoo surveys!
Granite Creek Clean-up
On April 20, our PAS team joined in the annual Granite Creek Clean-up!
Prescott Audubon is a regular financial supporter of the annual Granite Creek Clean-ups, and we also a enter a PAS team to get out and pick up some trash! Birdsong and glimpses of birds always help make the morning fly by. In past years, our teams have collected lots of plastic, paper and cardboard, lumber, pipe, and the occasional tire-- several bags of trash. Meeting and making friends with other like-minded people is a bonus!
We appreciate the folks at Prescott Creeks for all their years of coordinating this clean-up day.
Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owls
To reuse is to recycle! In 2020, we built some hack boxes for our American Kestrel Nestbox and Release Program. Now they will help the Pygmy Owls.
Hack boxes provide a safe place for fledgling raptors to roost as well as a place to learn to fly and hunt before being released into the wild. We no longer need our boxes for the kestrels, so we are donating them the the AZ Game & Fish Dept. They will head to southern Arizona to assist the AZGFD with their efforts to help the tiny Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owls. Yeah!
Yes, Administration is Important, too--
Join our Team! We Welcome You (and your skills)
All-volunteer organizations such as Prescott Audubon survive thanks to help from all who believe in the organization's mission. At PAS, our focus is on celebrating birds and the habitat we share. We want to thank our officers and board members for their efforts to keep this busy & multi-dimensional team that is Prescott Audubon somewhat organized and heading in the right direction.
All the board members share all the tasks for steering this little ship, and we owe them a big debt of gratitude. But it take more than the officers. If you are organized, an artist, a media or IT person, a retired attorney, a bird-lover, a writer--- You get the idea --we welcome your help and we are always happy to meet new members, so don't be shy!
What would you like to do for Prescott Audubon?