A visit to Watson Woods in Prescott usually brings an exciting surprise or two; on a very few rare occasions, it's a disappointing day.
I've had a lot of luck finding interesting birds in the park over the years, especially colorful migratory species like western tanagers and blue grosbeaks. And last year I encountered some spectacular year-round residents: a nesting great horned owl with her owlets. But every once in a while I "strike out," seeing only more commonplace birds - ones I see on EVERY visit - like American robins and violet-green swallows.
So I was hopeful to find a tanager or two on Monday's visit, along with maybe some nesting owls. While I'm happy to find any critter to photograph, I like to have an ambitious objective in mind when I set off for this riparian preserve along Granite Creek just south of Watson Lake.
My digital pictures are a useful tool for my goals because of their automatic date stamps. And my named directories along with numerous stories place where I shot my subjects. For example, I knew it was May13th two years ago, along the Peavine Trail near the Woods, when I got my first good pictures of a male western tanager. And it was April 18th last year, not far away in the park, when I discovered a great horned owl with its owlets in their nest.
But this week's visit started slowly, with lots of ho-hum house finch and lesser goldfinch sightings. I did notice a male phainopepla criss-crossing the Peavine Trail near Watson Lake. With his distinctive crest, black feathers and beady red eyes, he's a fun find in the arid grasslands that border the park. I quickly lost track of him, however, when I wisely diverted my attention to an Arizona black rattlesnake several feet off the trail in the low grass. This poisonous snake took a minute or two to cross to the other side of the path, a journey I was happy to let him enjoy alone.
Deeper in the woods, sightings were unmemorable despite a cacophony of birdsongs high in the cottonwood and willow trees. Noisy goldfinches fluttered by, along with an occasional robin. But no flycatchers forayed off the forested bridge and no water fowl dabbled in the perennial lake situated in the middle of the woods.
The forest floor was blanketed with the downy seeds of the cottonwood trees; the fluff even floated by like snowflakes. The trails were obscured by the thick cover which might partly explain why I wandered under some trees I don't normally pay much attention to. In addition, the location gave me a view of two other birders a couple hundred feet away, both paying close attention to a cluster of cottonwoods on the other side of Granite Creek.
I've had a lot of luck finding interesting birds in the park over the years, especially colorful migratory species like western tanagers and blue grosbeaks. And last year I encountered some spectacular year-round residents: a nesting great horned owl with her owlets. But every once in a while I "strike out," seeing only more commonplace birds - ones I see on EVERY visit - like American robins and violet-green swallows.
So I was hopeful to find a tanager or two on Monday's visit, along with maybe some nesting owls. While I'm happy to find any critter to photograph, I like to have an ambitious objective in mind when I set off for this riparian preserve along Granite Creek just south of Watson Lake.
My digital pictures are a useful tool for my goals because of their automatic date stamps. And my named directories along with numerous stories place where I shot my subjects. For example, I knew it was May13th two years ago, along the Peavine Trail near the Woods, when I got my first good pictures of a male western tanager. And it was April 18th last year, not far away in the park, when I discovered a great horned owl with its owlets in their nest.
But this week's visit started slowly, with lots of ho-hum house finch and lesser goldfinch sightings. I did notice a male phainopepla criss-crossing the Peavine Trail near Watson Lake. With his distinctive crest, black feathers and beady red eyes, he's a fun find in the arid grasslands that border the park. I quickly lost track of him, however, when I wisely diverted my attention to an Arizona black rattlesnake several feet off the trail in the low grass. This poisonous snake took a minute or two to cross to the other side of the path, a journey I was happy to let him enjoy alone.
Deeper in the woods, sightings were unmemorable despite a cacophony of birdsongs high in the cottonwood and willow trees. Noisy goldfinches fluttered by, along with an occasional robin. But no flycatchers forayed off the forested bridge and no water fowl dabbled in the perennial lake situated in the middle of the woods.
The forest floor was blanketed with the downy seeds of the cottonwood trees; the fluff even floated by like snowflakes. The trails were obscured by the thick cover which might partly explain why I wandered under some trees I don't normally pay much attention to. In addition, the location gave me a view of two other birders a couple hundred feet away, both paying close attention to a cluster of cottonwoods on the other side of Granite Creek.
Not finding any subjects on my own, I trekked closer to one of the bird watchers who told me they were peering at a pair of summer tanagers that had just flown away. After a chat about yellow-rumped warblers and bridled titmice, the conversation abruptly stopped when I noticed the male summer tanager land on a tree two hundred feet behind my interlocutor.
We admired the bright speck of red in the tree for a few moments. Then the bird launched from its perch and flew in our direction, at the level of our heads, flapping between our twenty feet distance to a thicket of trees deeper in the woods. The birder decided to continue his walk in the opposite direction, but I couldn't resist tagging along on the summer tanager's exploits.
I've not had a lot of luck getting close to male summer tanagers. They're usually high in the ponderosa pine trees in my Prescott neighborhood or just as high in cottonwoods in Watson Woods. When I do get close, like at my suet feeder at the cabin, they dart away at the slightest hint you're paying attention to them. So I was eager to see if I could improve my luck in getting a good shot of this scarlet-colored beauty.
It turns out that he had an obsession with the cluster of low trees I had seen him fly towards; I spied see him gliding and hopping among several branches. The group of trees created a kind of blind I could hide behind and the cottonwood fluff on the ground must have dampened the sound of my footsteps, because I was able to watch the bird from a dozen feet away or so. Snap! One okay close-up shot of the reddest bird in North America.
The tanager quickly took wing seventy-five feet away, landing high in a tree. I photographed him over the span of a minute as he pecked and poked at a grub or caterpillar, eventually flying off with his meal. I couldn't tell where he escaped to, so I wandered near the thicket of trees, still off trail, not wanting to go too far away from what I suspected was his fertile hunting ground.
Within a couple of minutes I noticed an opaque clump high above me on a cottonwood branch. It was a great horned owl! Wow, I thought, I've hit paydirt on the Watson Woods birding trail. I snapped a couple of shots, and then tried to get nearer by climbing a small incline alongside a cluster of small trees.
Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something land a dozen feet away on a low tree branch. It was that same hungry summer tanager in that same thicket! Never before did I have such a close and clear line of sight of this magnificent creature. Snap, snap, snap: my camera captured a dozen good images.
And then, he darted. I looked back in the direction of the owl, and he had disappeared too. Deciding I had more pictures of the tanager than I could ever dream for, I wandered deeper into the woods, where I imagined the owl might have flown. I found what looked like a nest, high in a tree, but the only birds I saw and heard nearby were yellow warblers.
A few minutes later, back on what I thought was the trail, I started to think of heading toward the parking lot and home. But then I noticed two lumps close together, low on a tree branch overhead. One of the blobs had eyes and was starting at me! An owlet! Two owlets! They must have been recent fledglings. And higher in that tree was what looked like another nest, maybe the home base from which the young owls had started exploring the world.
A month ago I experienced what I'd call a disappointing day in Watson Woods. I didn't really need more colorful shots of violet-crowned swallows, I've decided. But Monday's trip to Watson Woods was a summer blockbuster: a dangerous encounter with a rattlesnake, an adventurous pursuit of a tanager, and then, the heart-warming discovery of an owl family deep in the woods. The only thing missing was the popcorn.
We admired the bright speck of red in the tree for a few moments. Then the bird launched from its perch and flew in our direction, at the level of our heads, flapping between our twenty feet distance to a thicket of trees deeper in the woods. The birder decided to continue his walk in the opposite direction, but I couldn't resist tagging along on the summer tanager's exploits.
I've not had a lot of luck getting close to male summer tanagers. They're usually high in the ponderosa pine trees in my Prescott neighborhood or just as high in cottonwoods in Watson Woods. When I do get close, like at my suet feeder at the cabin, they dart away at the slightest hint you're paying attention to them. So I was eager to see if I could improve my luck in getting a good shot of this scarlet-colored beauty.
It turns out that he had an obsession with the cluster of low trees I had seen him fly towards; I spied see him gliding and hopping among several branches. The group of trees created a kind of blind I could hide behind and the cottonwood fluff on the ground must have dampened the sound of my footsteps, because I was able to watch the bird from a dozen feet away or so. Snap! One okay close-up shot of the reddest bird in North America.
The tanager quickly took wing seventy-five feet away, landing high in a tree. I photographed him over the span of a minute as he pecked and poked at a grub or caterpillar, eventually flying off with his meal. I couldn't tell where he escaped to, so I wandered near the thicket of trees, still off trail, not wanting to go too far away from what I suspected was his fertile hunting ground.
Within a couple of minutes I noticed an opaque clump high above me on a cottonwood branch. It was a great horned owl! Wow, I thought, I've hit paydirt on the Watson Woods birding trail. I snapped a couple of shots, and then tried to get nearer by climbing a small incline alongside a cluster of small trees.
Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something land a dozen feet away on a low tree branch. It was that same hungry summer tanager in that same thicket! Never before did I have such a close and clear line of sight of this magnificent creature. Snap, snap, snap: my camera captured a dozen good images.
And then, he darted. I looked back in the direction of the owl, and he had disappeared too. Deciding I had more pictures of the tanager than I could ever dream for, I wandered deeper into the woods, where I imagined the owl might have flown. I found what looked like a nest, high in a tree, but the only birds I saw and heard nearby were yellow warblers.
A few minutes later, back on what I thought was the trail, I started to think of heading toward the parking lot and home. But then I noticed two lumps close together, low on a tree branch overhead. One of the blobs had eyes and was starting at me! An owlet! Two owlets! They must have been recent fledglings. And higher in that tree was what looked like another nest, maybe the home base from which the young owls had started exploring the world.
A month ago I experienced what I'd call a disappointing day in Watson Woods. I didn't really need more colorful shots of violet-crowned swallows, I've decided. But Monday's trip to Watson Woods was a summer blockbuster: a dangerous encounter with a rattlesnake, an adventurous pursuit of a tanager, and then, the heart-warming discovery of an owl family deep in the woods. The only thing missing was the popcorn.
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| Summer tanager in Watson Woods, Prescott. |
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| Arizona black rattlesnake on the Peavine Trail along Watson Woods. |
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| My furtive shot of a male summer tanager hunting in a cluster of trees. |
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| A male summer tanager with a grub or caterpillar. |
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| Adult great horned owl in Watson Woods, Prescott. |
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| Male summer tanager. |
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| A portrait of a male summer tanager: one of my trophy shots. |
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| Pair of fledgling owlets in Watson Woods, Prescott. |
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| Possible owl's nest in Prescott's Watson Woods. |
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