The Count Circle for Lake Pleasant included 9 areas with Area 2 being the lake itself, which is where I counted. Two boats covered the entire lake with trips out in the morning and in the afternoon. A separate team covered the campgrounds.
The count is so much more than the birds! I was in the pontoon piloted by Terry Gerber both morning and afternoon. Weather was sunny and pleasant!
The morning boat included Susan Fishburn and Brian Johnson as we covered the west side of the lake; the other boat covered the east side. I stayed with Terry's boat for the afternoon as well since it was going to explore the Agua Fria arm of the lake where Bald Eagles nest. An accurate count of the eagles was an important part of our afternoon task. Louis Hoeniger and Jeff Ritz joined Terry's boat for the afternoon.
Lake water was calm but, still, taking photos can be tricky. When I centered a floating bird and missed its head, it was due to the boat's movement! Not many misses though, so here are some of my highlight photos as we explored one cove after the other including: Honeymoon Cove, Pretty Cove, Jackass Cove, Humbug Bay, Bartlett Creek, Tule Creek, Paul's Hideaway, Barker Island and Whiskey Springs (names I recall).
A RING-BILLED GULL (below) caught my attention by flying circles above us, dropping down to the water to stir it up with its feet and catch something, then lifting and flying off before circling back again with the same behavior:
On islands and low shorelines, we found wading birds. GREAT BLUE HERON below:
A COMMON LOON is a great find in the Arizona desert:
Then, on sticks and up into the air:
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| DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (above and below) |
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| HORNED GREBE |
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| WESTERN GREBE |
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| CLARK'S GREBE
COMMON MERGANSER were abundant:
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Who would guess there would be a restroom on the lake? (Honeymoon Cove)
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| Male BELTED KINGFISHER |
The 38 species that I saw were a small part of the greater count for the LAKE PLEASANT circle, the data for which I'll add later. The best bird of the day was found on the way to dinner for the overall tally. Just past a bridge over a fenced concrete canal were many of our birder friends (CBC counters) looking eastward up the canal with binoculars, spotting scopes and long-lens cameras. One of the teams had discovered a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER (a sea bird) among a small raft of scoters! Yay! Big Find and glad to be able to add it to my sightings for the day.
2/7/2020 Update: The result of the Circle Count for Lake Pleasant is below:
Thank you all for your help on the January 2nd, 2020 Lake Pleasant Christmas Bird Count (CBC)! We lucked out with warm, sunny weather again this year and it sounded like all of the teams had an enjoyable time! This year’s 33 participants ended up counting 6846 individuals of 120 species while covering over 148 miles by foot, car, and boat! A few species were listed under “count week” (three days on either side of the count day), but are not included in the total number of species or bird counts. The bird numbers were down from last year’s count (7577 birds of 130 species), possibly due to cold fronts and storms that may have pushed some birds out in the latter half of December (especially insectivores). Some of the washes in the area, including Morgan City Wash, had been denuded of vegetation in the drainages during floods last year, so that missing habitat may have contributed to lower numbers of migrant wintering species that depend on dense cover. However, desert bird numbers seemed slightly up from last year, possibly due to last year’s wet winter providing a better breeding season than the one prior and the wet autumn that we had at the end of 2019 providing enough food to keep birds around for the winter.
We added three new species to the Lake Pleasant CBC list: White-winged Scoter, Canyon Towhee, and Black-chinned Sparrow. Our participants did see several rarities this year, including Greater White-fronted Goose, Cackling Geese, White-winged Scoter, ‘Eurasian’ Green-winged Teal (presumably the same male as last year returning to its winter spot), Barrow’s Goldeneye, Horned Grebes, and Bushtits. Winter Wren, Swamp Sparrow, and Northern Parula may have been the same returning rarities to Morgan City Wash as last winter, with all except the sparrow being “count week” birds found during scouting the day before the count. Other notable species found during “count week” included Greater Scaup, California Gull, and Hutton’s Vireo. The Bushtits, Canyon Towhee, and Black-chinned Sparrows could be expected occasionally in winter, as all three occur in the chaparral zone just above the upper Sonoran Desert and are known to wander downslope in some winters. However, Canyon Towhee also occurs in upland desert and may be found to be more common in mountainous areas of the count circle with more coverage.
A special thanks to Maricopa County Parks, Bureau of Reclamation, Scorpion Bay Marina, and Arizona Game & Fish Department for allowing access to the lake and surrounding area, and for providing personnel and boats to help count birds! We also want to thank the Federal Prison and private landowners who allowed access for the count onto lands within the count circle that are not usually open to the public or to biologists to survey for birds.
Thanks again for all of your efforts this year and we look forward to next year’s count!
Mary McSparen and Eric Hough
Lake Pleasant CBC compilers
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Links to my three lists (representing different counties) are below:
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S62950642
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S62950656
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S62960998
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