Window on Nature
Window on Nature is our ever-popular live speaker program series, free and open to all.
At our next program, we will meet Sharon Stiteler widely known as the “Birdchick”. Sharon is a writer and speaker who has made it
her career to get paid to go birding. She wrote the books Disapproving Rabbits, 1001
Secrets Every Birder Should Know, and North American Bird Watching for Beginners, and she regularly appears on television, podcasts, and radio, answering bird questions. Sharon also performs in storytelling shows. She’s worked a variety of jobs like conducting birds
surveys, field trip leader, park ranger, and was even the voice of Denali National Park
and Preserve. She currently resides in Minnesota with a retired Denali sled dog named
Party Pants.
Can't attend in person? Want to watch again? Our programs are also available as a live stream and on YouTube.
Bird of the Month :
Western Screech Owl
Each month, we publish an article in a local magazine, "5enses" . We share these articles here.
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.
2025 Birdathon Results
Interested in the statewide results of this year's Birdathon?
Our friends at AZFO, Arizona Field Ornithologists, have complied the bird sightings by species by county for the entire state. This year, birders in Yavapai County tallied 169 species on Global Big Day, May 10th.
The tally will be posted soon, link below.
Duck Feeding Signs
Posted in both English and Spanish, our signs remind people to bring healthy food when they come to feed the ducks on our lakes. Offering birdseed, grapes, oats, corn or cooked rice is nutritious for the birds and reduces water pollution as well.
Other Audubon chapters have requested permission to use our signs at their duck-feeding sites.
We are happy to share!
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!
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].
What's This Bird?
Perhaps the first challenge is deciding just what type of bird we're seeing here. Such a thin bill could mean a warbler, a flycatcher, a wren, or maybe a mockingbird or a thrasher. Size can be a hurdle in a photo without other birds for comparison, but the leaves and branches suggest that this bird is small, so not a thrasher or mockingbird. The bill is too long for a warbler, too thin for a flycatcher. But which wren is it? Besides color, look at tail length and the bird's posture. The tail is too long for Pacific or Marsh Wren, and it's not held cocked up. Despite the lack of solid field marks, this bird is not the even brown throughout of a Northern House Wren, nor does it have the white eye stripe of a Bewick's. A Canyon Wren would show a clean white throat. And so we conclude that this must be a Rock Wren. The peachy lower belly and suggestion of barring on the wing edge support this conclusion.
No, not a typical view of a Rock Wren.
This time of year, birds are molting their old, worn feathers, and field marks can be confusing. Also - did this bird just take a bath?
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!
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!
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.
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?