June 9 and 10: Lake Havasu City, AZ Wildlife

We arrived in Lake Havasu City, Arizona on the morning of June 9th. Before we got to town, we made a quick stop at the Bill Williams River NWR and spotted a bunch of Clark's Grebes, a lifer for both Alex and I. Around 1:00pm, we headed to a Yellow-billed Cuckoo Training workshop given by Murrelet Halterman, who has worked with cuckoos for 25 years. We learned the survey protocol and general cuckoo behavior.

The next day, we woke up early and headed to the Bill Williams River NWR for survey training in the field. We saw Verdin, Gnatcatchers, Common Yellowthroats, Brown-crested Flycatchers, and even a young bighorn sheep and its mother, but no cuckoos. Yellow-breasted Chats were calling all around, and give a knocking call similar to a cuckoo. Unfortunately we didn't hear any cuckoos, but it is still early for cuckoos to be around. They are late migrants, and seem to time their nesting with the appearance of cicadas.

desert bighorns

We had the next few days off, and spent some time birding in Lake Havasu City, where we were staying.  Behind our house was a large ditch used for drainage during the monsoon season.  During the dry season, it is excellent habitat for burrowing owls, Gambel's Quail and coyotes.  We also came across many Verdin and Say's Phoebes.  At least 4 different burrows were in the vicinity, and we easily found a few burrowing owls on the ground and on powerlines.  Gambel's Quail were also abundant, and one night we found at flock of over 80 young quail being herded around by just two adults!  Other adults were in the vicinity rounding up lost chicks, and directing them to hop up into low trees to escape.

coyote near power station

Gambel's Quail polts

A few owls were being harassed by a mockingbird in the area.

Gambel's Quail

Say's Phoebe and Burrowing Owl

Say's Phoebe