Wingtips

The Prescott Audubon Newsletter

March 2025

View All PAS Field Trips

Please visit the Prescott Audubon Society website by clicking the link above

for information about field trips and how to register.

Birding in March

Saturday – Mar 1 – Watson Woods Walk – 8:30 a.m

Thursday – Mar 6 – Badger Springs/Agua Fria

Upcoming Birding in April

Saturday – April 5 – Watson Woods Walk – 8:00 a.m

Friday – April 11 – Black Cyn City Heritage Park

Thursday – April 17 – PAS Spring Fling

Friday – April 18 – Rockin' River Ranch St Park

Saturday – April 26 – Willow Lake, North Shore

Click here for Bird Walks at the Lookout

All are welcome to the next PAS Board meeting on March 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM. Please contact Jo Glaves (pjglaves@swbell.net or 281-450-9609) if you are interested in attending.

Granite Creek Clean-up Saturday, April 19th

Sponsored by Prescott Creeks, Prescott Audubon has had a team for the past few years. If you are interested in joining the PAS team, send an email to Apr19@PrescottAudubon.org Participants receive a free t-shirt and our watershed always looks so great after the clean-up. And while picking up trash you hear and sometimes see birds😊.

Window on Nature

will be at the

Natural History Institute

126 N Marina Street, downtown Prescott

March 18, 2025

2017-Today: Prescott Audubon's

Kestrel Nestbox Program

by Cathy Wills & Kurt Baden

Cathy and Kurt are the volunteer managers of our Nest Box Monitoring Program for the American Kestrel. This stunning raptor is North America’s smallest and most abundant falcon.

Continent-wide, it has declined in numbers by nearly half since the 1960s. In 2017, Prescott Audubon Society joined many Audubon chapters and other organizations with

the singular purpose of gathering data to help identify the causes of kestrel decline

and keep this common species common.

Cathy and Kurt will present the status of the program and its future initiatives. Individuals interested in erecting and monitoring nest boxes are especially encouraged to attend.

Meet and greet at 6:30,

followed by program at 7:00 pm

Prescott Audubon Society’s American Kestrel Nest Box Program 2024 Progress Report

Nest Monitor Volunteers Observed Total of 11 American Kestrel Fledglings from 2 Nests

About 23 kestrel nest boxes exist in the greater Prescott area and were monitored for breeding. One nest box in Chino Valley was used by a mated kestrel pair to raise 5 healthy nestlings from all 5 laid eggs. The brood of 3 male and 2 female nestlings were banded by Tuk Jacobson, the Raptor Management Coordinator of Arizona Game and Fish Department. In subsequent days, the fledglings were observed outside the nest box and being fed by their protective parents. This same Chino Valley nest box was also successfully used in 2022 (producing 5 banded fledglings) and in 2023 (producing 4 banded fledglings).

We suspect, but do not know, if the same unbanded mated adults are returning to this box each year. A few known tree cavities in the area were also monitored for nesting American Kestrels. One such cavity, high in a dead tree in the Prescott National Forest, was used and produced 6 American Kestrel fledglings. Because of the potential instability of the tree and the height of the cavity, the nestlings could not be safely reached and banded.

If you would like to host a nest box on your property or help monitor one of our existing boxes, please send a note to contact@prescottaudubon.org

Please report sightings of an American Kestrel with a blue or black band on the left leg to us at contact@prescottaudubon.org

The full article and appreciation can be read at the PAS Website

Used by permission from author Rosemary Mosco, https://www.facebook.com/BirdAndMoon

Conservation Matters

Only 1/2 of 1 percent of Arizona lands are riparian, yet 60 to 75% of Arizona wildlife species are dependent on riparian areas for their survival. Yavapai County has headwaters for three important riparian watersheds: the Verde River, the Aqua Fria River and the Hassayampa River. For birds’ sake, we must protect our riparian watersheds.

Yavapai County Flood Control District’s website has real-time information collected by almost 150 rain gauges and 30 stream sensors measuring precipitation and water flows. Recent hourly, daily, weekly and year-to-date precipitation information is available for each gauge and sensor

Green West Granite Creek Park, a coalition supporting the return of West Granite Creek Park to its original open space and green belt, received great news at a recent City of Prescott Council Meeting. The Prescott City Council members indicated support for the return of the open space and the green belt. For information and to follow the progress, visit the Prescott Alternative Transportation web site (www.prescottbikeped.com)

Prescott National Forest has closed FR104, Mingus Mountain Road, for drainage repair and to install culverts below the Butterfly Spring weir. The work should be finished by the end of February. Further work on the Mingus Mountain trail system may be delayed due to reductions in the PNF recreation work force. Hopefully the Butterfly Spring trail access will remain as is.

Prescott Audubon Society participated in the annual Black Canyon Heritage Park Winterfest. Sharon Andersen, Karen Schuster and Cory Shaw met Black Canyon City residents and exchanged stories of favorite back yard birds as we handed out information on Audubon and on backyard birding. BCHP Winterfest is an annual event, usually the 3^rd Saturday in January. Winterfest as a good source of useful Yavapai County environmental information.

Sharon Andersen

Walt Anderson is offering two short courses at

Playa at Summer Lake in south-central Oregon in May; “Great Birding in the Great Basin” and “A Naturalist’s Ways of Seeing”. Only twelve spaces are available in each course. It's a great opportunity to learn more about the birds and ecology of this part of Oregon.

These links will take you directly to the Playa website with descriptions about the courses.

Great Birding in the Great Basin

A Naturalist's Ways of Seeing

Volunteers Welcome

There is a place for everyone who wishes to become more involved in Prescott Audubon. You can join a committee (field trip, scholarship, communication, education). If you are a party person, come help plan and execute annual social events. PAS would like to host an April social event and input would be gladly received. Our PAS Board could use additional members. We are a friendly group and work as a team. Join with Prescott Audubon so we can continue to advocate for habitat and birds for the future. Send an email to contact@prescottaudubon.org to express interest in any area.

Please visit the PAS FB Group page for more information, as well as fabulous photos and articles from Walt Anderson