Wingtips

The Prescott Audubon Newsletter

May 2023

Upcoming Field Trips

Upcoming in May

Wednesday – May 3 – Upper Verde River IBA Survey

Saturday – May 6 – Monthly Watson Woods Walk – 7:30 am

Sunday – May 7 – Watson Woods Riparian Preserve IBA Survey

Tuesday, May 9 – Dead Horse Ranch State Park – 6:00 am

Wednesday – May 17 – BWB* Upper Goldwater – 8:00 am

Thursday- May 25- Mingus Mountain w/Rich Armstrong - 9:00 am

Coming in June

Saturday – June 3 – Monthly Watson Woods Walk – 7:00 am

Tuesday - June 6 – Mingus Mountain

Wednesday – June 21 – BWB* Granite Creek – 7:00 am

Wednesday – June 21 – Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Surveys

BWB*-Breakfast with Birders. All sites are accessible for mobility-challenged birders.

For More Information

Window on Nature

The PAS Live Speaker Series

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Rich Armstrong

Beginning Birding & ‘Oh’ so Much More

Rich is the coordinator of the Sedona CBC, is the birding pal for the Verde Valley, and coordinates the North America Migratory Bird Count for Yavapai County. He is the local Audubon Chapter Steward for the Sedona Wetlands Preserve and has led over 100 birding field trips there. Sit back, relax, find out why Rich Armstrong is known as the ‘big mouth of the valley.’

Location: Trinity Presbyterian Church, 630 Park Ave

Time: 6:30PM - social

7:00PM - program

WON now on Zoom Live!

"We are offering live Window on Nature meetings on Zoom. All Zoom recordings of WON can be found on the YouTube channel found at Window on Nature - Prescott Audubon Society - YouTube." If you are interested in watching the WON meeting on Zoom on May 25, please contact Paul Glaves at [email protected] prior to the meeting. Paul will send you instructions."

Join Rich Armstrong on Mingus Mountain

Thursday, May 25, 2023

We are honored to have Rich Armstrong lead a birding field trip to Mingus Mountain. Please join him in the unique PAS opportunity.

We will bird the Butterfly Trail, the lake, and maybe a couple other stops. We will look for mountain species, maybe some late migrants. Bring binoculars, water, snacks, hats, and dress according to weather conditions (remember we will be at 7500 ft elevation).

To Register

PAS Trip to Sedona Wetlands a Huge Success!

Our recent field trip to Sedona Wetlands yielded an amazing 65 species, including a rare Baird’s Sandpiper. Rich Armstrong from Northern Arizona Audubon was again our guide. Because of Rich’s relationship with the Wetlands, he has special access beyond the gate that circles the large recharge pond and the area behind the recharge ponds. On the main pond, 26 ducks and shorebirds were mostly unphased by our presence. The morning was delightful, the birding was spectacular. A Special Thanks to Rich for leading our field trip and sharing his expertise with us.

Photos by Cory Shaw

Top: Least Sandpiper & Killdeer

Middle: Willets

Bottom: Baird's Sandpiper

Duck Sign Campaign

PAS is partnering with the City of Prescott and Prescott National Forest in a community educational opportunity to learn about the best feeding practices of waterfowl. PAS applied for and received a $1000 grant from National Audubon to help fund our "Duck Sign" project.

Signage will soon be posted at our local lakes: Willow, Watson and Goldwater lake of the City and Granite Basin and Lynx lake of the Prescott National Forest. A smaller sign written in Spanish will be hung below the "Duck Sign." A&B Sign Company helped to design the signs and then generously donated extra signs to our project. Eric Moore has agreed to write an article for the Courier to facilitate community education. Be sure and watch for our Duck Signs going up!

PAS Update:

Sandy Klinikowski, PAS Treasurer, and Nancy HInson, PAS President, travelled to Silver City, New Mexico for the SouthWest Regional Audubon Biannual Meeting. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to meet with other Audubon Chapter members throughout Arizona and New Mexico. National Audubon had staff and a board member in attendance. We learned much from other chapters about Programs, Structure and future opportunities for PAS and its membership.

There was much lively and heartfelt discussion around the decision to stay with the Audubon name. Most felt it was a missed opportunity to meet current societal needs to be inclusive and do no harm. The decision was made to have the Arizona and New Mexico co-councils write a letter to National requesting the name change be revisited