A Hundred Birds for a Hundred Years

By Joy Dingley
Early Birds Club
Desert Rivers Audubon

The Early Birds have set themselves a target in this Centennial Year for Arizona. They are going to try to find 100 bird species. They began in February and submitted their list to the Great BackYard Bird Count which is run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

We are hoping lots of people will want to sponsor us at a few cents per bird. At one cent for each species the sponsor would pay one dollar if we manage to see 100 different species. What we would like to do with the money is buy a set of good field guides so we can all use them when we go out together.

These are the “rules” for adding species. We can only add a bird if it has been seen when we are out together as a group at our normal monthly meetings. So no birds seen while any of the children are on vacation. The counting stops after our meeting in January 2013 – that will be a year after we started.

So one hundred birds will not be easy to find. We have seen 55 different species since we began and we are keeping our record on E-bird. But we’ve only got Oct, November, December and January at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve and one other meeting when we have our annual picnic at a location that has yet to be decided. So it’s not going to be so easy!

If you would like to help us by sponsoring us,  email me, joy.dingley@cox.net. Wish us luck!

Rescued Flight: Raptor Rehabilitation with Desert Rivers Audubon, Liberty Wildlife & live birds, Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Desert Rivers Audubon Field Trips Director & Liberty Wildlife volunteer Susie Vaught with owl & friends.

Please join Desert Rivers Audubon and Liberty Wildlife for “Rescued Flight: Raptor Rehabilitation,” a presentation including live eagles, owls & hawks, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 7-8:30pm, Gilbert Community Center, 130 N. Oak St., Gilbert.

The dedicated volunteers of Liberty Wildlife visit with rescued hawks, eagles and owls to demonstrate the resilience and care required of Arizona’s unique birds of prey. The physics of bird flight will be discussed.

This event is part of the 2012 Arizona Science & Technology Festival.

Come early to browse our mobile book shop, visit, and learn about volunteer opportunities with Desert Rivers Audubon including our Burrowing Owl release in Gilbert,  March 31, 2012. Light refreshments served.

“Love is in the Air” February 14 with Paul Wolterbeek of Boyce Thompson Arboretum @ Gilbert Community Center

Northern Saw-whet Owl photographed in March at BTA by Marceline Vandewater.

Join Desert Rivers Audubon at our monthly meeting February 14, 2012 at Gilbert Community Center, 130 N. Oak St., Gilbert, 7pm, for “Love is in the Air” with Paul Wolterbeek of Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Free.  All are welcome!

Valentines Day, means that “Love is in the Air,” but our guest speaker would argue that love is sometimes lurking behind a tree, holding binoculars and a camera, and taking notes.

No, he’s not a creepy stalker or a papparazzo – Paul Wolterbeek is one of those dedicatedstaffers we know & love over at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Paul coordinates BTA’s volunteer program and also the public event series, arranging guided bird walks and presentations by nature photographers; summer evening concerts and how-to-juice-prickly-pear-cactus-fruit classes.

He’s one of those people who appears to love his job, and has an infectious love of birds, mammals and our Sonoran Desert … and on this evening he will share anecdotes about some of his favorite spots at BTA (maybe even share a few “secret undisclosed location” places nearby for birding, too!), with a slide show of BTA birds photographed by some of the top avian artists we have in AZ: Brendon Grice, Richard Ditch, Cindy Marple.

Paul Wolterbeek with juvenile coopers hawk.

With any luck, Paul’s sweetie (and summertime owl research boss, Amanda) may be here, too; her lively presentation on Mexican Spotted Owls was a highlight of our 2009 speaker series.

This event is part of the 2012 Arizona Science & Technology Festival. 

Come early to browse our mobile book shop, visit, and learn about volunteer opportunities with Desert Rivers Audubon. Light refreshments served.

Birding in Wickenburg

by Ameya Thatte
Elementary school member of
Desert Rivers Audubon Early Birds Kids Club 

On December 18th, 2011, I had an opportunity to go to Wickenburg, Arizona for a bird count. Living in Mesa, Arizona, I was expecting

Birding is fun for kids!

to see different species than what I normally see in Mesa. It was about a two hour drive from Mesa to Wickenburg. When I got there, it was different from what I had expected. It was desert habitat. Still, I was likely to see things different from what I see in my yard because my yard isn’t desert habitat.

When we were all there, we split up into two groups then started bird counting. This was my first time going on a bird count. But I knew how it worked. It was basically just counting the number of each individual species in one area. After birding on the trails for a while, we met the other group at a McDonald’s parking lot. Then we started birding in a residential area. The other group was slightly ahead of us. While our group was looking at some phoebes, the other group contacted our group that we were invited at a horse ranch down the street to bird watch. A few minutes later, we were at the ranch. The other group saw a Bendire’s Thrasher. After bird watching at the ranch, we made our count totals and submit them.

By the time we were finished, I was happy that I went because I saw two species for the first time, the Red-Napped Sapsucker, and the Rock Wren. Our group saw a total of 21 species.

Sonoran Desert Monument: Birds, Bees & Archaeology

Sonoran Desert Monument, Gila Bend, Arizona.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 7-8:30pm at the Gilbert Community Center, 130 N. Oak St., Thom Hulen, Executive Director, Friends of the Sonoran Desert Monument, joins Desert Rivers Audubon to speak about the flora, fauna & archaeology found in the Sonoran Desert Monument and the threats these resources face.

Starting his career as a field archaeologist with first the Arizona State University & then Arizona State University, Hulen notes, “As a lifelong resident of Arizona, I have been keenly interested in the natural and cultural history of the Southwest.” Former manager of the Desert Botanical Garden’s Desert House conservation demonstration, Hulen also has a keen interest in what every Arizona resident can do to help preserve our natural and cultural resources.

Come early to browse our mobile book shop, visit, and discover the wide range of volunteer opportunities, including our municipal public Burrowing Owl & Hummingbird habitats, with Desert Rivers. Light refreshments will be provided.

On Saturday, January 7, 2012, Desert Rivers Audubon celebrates five years of free Family Birdwalks at Veterans Oasis Park, 4050 E. Chandler Heights Rd in Chandler. (NE Corner of Chandler Heights and Lindsay Rd.) 8am-noon.  Walks include free loan of binoculars, expert guides and children’s Bird Bingo games. Visit with live hawks, eagles and owls with Liberty Wildlife. This birdwalk is sponsored by Desert Rivers Audubon, The City of Chandler Environmental Education Center, Liberty Wildlife and Bashas Supermarkets.

Desert Rivers and Tropical Cats

by Mike Evans
Conservation Director 
Desert Rivers Audubon Society

The recent stories of jaguars and ocelots being spotted in Arizona got me thinking about the historic role that our desert rivers played in wildlife population distribution. My thoughts wandered to the impact the “dang fence” on the border would have in limiting the future distribution of these tropical species back into Arizona. I also got to thinking about how our modern system of canals has come to partially replace the role that our desert rivers historically played in wildlife distribution, especially here in the Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe, and Mesa area.

Jaguar, Panthera onca.

For those that missed the news reports, the Arizona Game and Fish Department confirmed through photographs that a mountain lion hunter treed a jaguar southeast of Tucson.  The Arizona Daily Star also reported that in June a helicopter pilot for Homeland Security spotted a jaguar loping down a forested hillside in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona. Arizona Game & Fish also reported that a further five reports by hunters have been confirmed and the department is now attempting to determine through photographic analysis how many jaguars may be roaming about southern Arizona. The Game & Fish believe that these individuals represent the most northern part of a population of jaguars living in Sonora, Mexico.

We were also recently briefly regaled with the story of a sighting of an ocelot. Upon further analysis, the Game and Fish Department believes that the cat was more likely a serval, or serval hybrid, an African cat popular in the pet trade. However, there were two other confirmed sightings of ocelots earlier in the year, both in the Huachuca Mountains.

These are only the third and fourth reports of ocelots in Arizona since the 1960’s. It was generally agreed by most wildlife observers

Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat.

that the ocelot was extinct in Arizona until one was found dead along the highway in the Globe area in 2010 and one was photographed in 2009 by a trail camera belonging to the Sky Island Alliance.  There is a small remnant population of ocelots in Texas and the rest of the range was believed to be much farther south in Mexico, but now Arizona has to be added to the list of locations where the species is still holding on to some territory.

Historically, Arizona’s desert rivers have been corridors for wildlife. Although the exact locations of the traditional corridors used by jaguars and ocelots remain uncertain, there is good evidence that the prey species of both cats were originally found in abundance along our desert rivers. For these species to survive, movement corridors need to be maintained. Conservation efforts are crucial as habitat becomes more fragmented and isolated. The Sky Island Alliance is one organization working to maintain the connections north and south of the border through their Wildlife Linkages program.

One threat to the continued efforts to conserve both of these species is the proposed border fence. The Center for Biological Diversity  has been warning of the environmental catastrophe that the border fence would be for wildlife populations for five years. Back in 2006, the Center said:

More border walls, militarization, low-level aircraft and roads would further damage already-stressed wildlife and places, such as the Cactus Pygmy Owl and Sonoran Pronghorn in Arizona, Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard and Peninsular Ranges Bighorn Sheep in California, Jaguar and Mexican Gray Wolves in New Mexico, and the Rio Grande River, Ocelot, and Big Bend National Park in Texas. Triple walls are harmful to wildlife blocking critical migration corridors and destroying valuable habitat. The distance of the triple wall – 370 miles – is approximately the distance of the entire border in Arizona.

With two Arizona desert rivers having their headwaters in Mexico, the border fence will affect wildlife distribution. It seems clear that the northernmost range for the ocelot and jaguar would be cut off from the population in Mexico and stop any natural repopulation of these species in Arizona.

Roosevelt Water Conservation District

Closer to home, our canal system is the wildlife corridor for coyotes and other mammals. In the southeast valley, the four SRP canals (Consolidated, Eastern, Western, & Tempe) plus the Roosevelt Water Conservation District canal are regular coyote corridors. When we add in the Eastern Maricopa Floodway, we have a wildlife corridor that stretches from the San Tan Mountains in the south to the Salt River Recreation Area. So the next time you see a coyote in one of the East Valley riparian areas, or a coyote loping through a southeast valley neighborhood, remind yourself that it is the same mode of transit that wildlife has always used in the southwest: our riparian desert rivers. And, if you want your children and grandchildren to someday see jaguars and ocelots in the wildlands of Arizona, let your opinion be known to our elected officials the next time they start talking about building “the dang fence”.

Desert Rivers Audubon & Wild At Heart Dig In Wildlife Development for Burrowing Owls in Gilbert

By Eileen Kane
Communications Director
Desert Rivers Audubon

Greg Clark, Owl Habitat Coordinator for raptor rescue and rehabilitation group Wild At Heart, talked about the struggle to preserve Arizona’s Burrowing Owls,  September 13, 2011, at Desert Rivers Audubon’s monthly meeting.

Burrowing Owl visits Desert Rivers Audubon's September 2011 meeting, photo by Linda Covey.

A Species of Special Concern, Burrowing Owls live their lives largely in underground burrows made by squirrels, coyotes, skunks and other animals. Small and active both day and night, Burrowing Owls are vulnerable to other birds of prey, animals, and construction.

With over 5,000 artificial owl burrows installed throughout Arizona, Greg describds his latest project with Desert Rivers Audubon to install 100 burrows at Zanjero Park, Gilbert. Immediately adjacent to active farmland, Zanjero is an example of the disturbed land on the fringes of suburban areas Burrowing Owls prefer.

Desert Rivers Audubon is organizing volunteers to dig the burrows, 8am-2pm, Saturday, October 29, 2011 at Zanjero Park, 3785 S. Lindsay Road, Lindsay Road, South of Loop 202, Gilbert. In the spring, volunteers will again be needed to feed and care for the owls while they are acclimated to the site and before their release.

The Burrowing Owl Habitat Project is made possible by a grant from Together Green, an initiative by the National Audubon Society and Toyota to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders, and offer volunteer and individual action opportunities that significantly benefit the environment.

Desert Rivers Audubon and Wild At Heart will also present a technology forum Wednesday, September 28, 2011, as part of the Gangplank Brown Bag Series lunchtime series. Both organizations are seeking advice and brainstorming on social media, mobile technology, and signage to enhance the public’s experience of this Burrowing Owl habitat.

UPDATE (10/24/2011) from Greg Clark:

“Zanjero Park is considered underutilized by the Town of Gilbert. It is designed for use by horses and there is evidence that horse owners do take their horses there for riding. But, it is not used much for that purpose. It has attractive recirculating water features and two well maintained ramadas that are occasionally used at lunch time by office workers. The main trail around the edge of the park is part of a larger trail used mostly by bicycles. This appears to me to be the main use in the park. There is a nice park bench area and plantings in one area in the middle of the trail.

“Because the park is devoid of grass it is not attractive to families with small children looking for a playground. For all these reasons the park doesn’t see much use. But, situated next to farm land, it is perfect for Burrowing Owls. The trail system and park bench would allow easy access to see the owls and small children would not typically be at the park running around and looking for fun opportunities to chase the owls. The low density vegetation will allow the owls good visibility, especially in the large basin area where the release sites are located. 100 burrows are being installed with four release sites.

“Once the owls are present the use of the park will go way up as people go to see the owls up pretty close.

“The close proximity of Campo Verde High School (adjacent to the park) could provide scientific and educational opportunities for the students via monitoring, owl behavior descriptions, pellet comparison studies with other nearby owl sites, and gathering video and still images for web site reports and creative writing.

“I anticipate that one release tent per year would go up for the next 4 years.”

UPDATE (11/14/2011) from Steve Thomas (conact stevepthomas@cox.net to volunteer):

If you missed #OWLDAY, Wild at Heart has another habitat install project, Saturday, November 19, 2011.

“On Nov 19th we will be constructing new homes for burrowing owls at a farm northwest of Gila Bend.  Travel time from Phoenix to the site is approximately 2 hours.

“The 400 new homes, or artificial burrows as they are called, are needed to relocate AZ burrowing owls who have been displaced by development and/or loss of their natural burrows and habitat.

“Building the burrows consists of placing plastic burrow chambers in the ground, connecting flexible access tubes to the chambers and creating ground-level entrances so the owls can get down inside their new home. We expect these new homes will support many families of owls for the next 20 years.

“Children are welcome at the event.  Children ages 10 and up can usually perform any of the tasks; children ages 8-9 can learn some of the more difficult tasks and be good helpers to an adult or teen. Children 4-7 may be able to paint the tubes and help carry supplies back and forth. Children under 4 will need constant supervision to be sure they stay safe.”

Greg Clark, Wild At Heart Burrowing Owl Habitat Coordinator, joins chapter president Krys Hammers and a rescued burrowing owl at Desert Rivers Audubon's September 2011 meeting. Photo by Linda Covey.

Summer Conservation News and Notes

by Mike Evans
Conservation Director 
Desert Rivers Audubon Society

On the afternoon of May 24^th, I received a call from Scott Cleaves, the Park Ranger for the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch Park.  In the previous two weeks he had only seen one cat in the Riparian Preserve.  He had repeatedly tried to catch it over that time.  He called me to report that he had finally been successful.  To the best knowledge of GWR and Riparian Preserve staff, there were NO feral cats left at GWR!  The most recent survey in mid-March reported only 13 cats left in the preserve.  The staff trapped eight of those cats.  Coyotes or natural causes are believed to have accounted for the other five.  (Coyotes have been photographed this spring with one adult and two kittens in their mouths.)  This compares to last October’s survey that had 82 cats and two litters of hidden kittens living in the preserve.

Signs have been installed at the GWR prohibiting the dumping of any type of animal at the facility.  An ordinance prohibiting the dumping of animals has been drafted and circulated for comments.  It will come before the town council this summer for adoption.  Town employees will continue to trap for cats should any more appear at GWR.

If you run into Scott Anderson, Riparian Preserve Executive Director, Lisa Hermann, Education Director, Ranger Scott Cleaves, or Naturalist Jennie Rambo during a future visit to GWR, please thank them for their efforts to make the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch a feral cat-free facility.  Thanks go out as well to the members of Save the Cats Arizona for their cooperation in the removal of the cats.

Thank you to all those that contacted Gilbert town staff and elected officials regarding this issue.  The hard work of the birding community has been rewarded with a cat-free Important Birding Area (IBA) here in Gilbert, AZ.

However, since that happy day in late May, I have received two emails reporting additional cats in the preserve.  Both reports gave detailed descriptions and very good locations.  I have forwarded them on to Riparian Preserve staff so that they can be trapped and removed.  Please continue to let me know at mascatce@cox.net if you see any on your visits to GWR.

For those of you interested in our Important Birding Area (IBA) program here in Arizona, the Arizona Audubon Council and Audubon Arizona are planning a conference for this October 1^st at the Rio Salado Nature Center.  The conference will focus on threats to the IBA from power line and transmission tower corridors that are scheduled to be established across our state due to the planned increase in alternative power sources.  This is a classic public policy conflict, when two desired goals and their implementation conflict with one another.  Please save the date on your calendars if this is of interest to you.  More details will be coming soon.  (So, I suppose there are a few of you wondering, “What the heck is the Arizona Audubon Council?”  Well, that is the organization where all of the Audubon societies in Arizona work together on conservation issues.)

Our board was recently asked by Audubon Arizona to sign on to a letter from the Arizona Wilderness Coalition regarding a threat to roadless areas on the Coronado National Forest.  As a former USFS firefighter on the Coronado NF and a former park Ranger at Chiricahua National Monument, that is a part of the state near and dear to me and also to many other birders.  We added our support to the letter.  If you would like more information, you can go to the AZ Wilderness Coalition website for more information: http://azwild.org/action/foresttravel.php.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is seeking public review and input on an action plan for wildlife viewing recreation in Arizona.  The Wildlife Viewing Action Plan outlines objectives and strategies to help guide and implement a statewide watchable wildlife project. It identifies programs, products, and services the department is currently providing in wildlife viewing recreation, discusses opportunities and challenges for the future, and identifies new approaches that, if implemented, will help take advantage of opportunities and overcome challenges. Game and Fish is seeking input from the public on the general topics and strategies that have been developed in the plan.  Here in the East Valley, a public meeting will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Wednesday, June 29, at the Arizona Game and Fish Department Mesa Regional Office, 7200 E. University Drive.  Here is a link to the Action Plan:  http://www.azgfd.gov/images/outdoor_recreation/watchablewildlife/WildlifeViewPlanForReview.pdf.  For additional information of the Watchable Wildlife program, check out this link: www.azgfd.gov/wwreview.

Finally, one last note, if I may.  I’m sure there are others like me that are just as heart-sick as I am at the destruction brought on by a man-caused fire in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeast Arizona.  As I write this, there are over 72,000 acres burned in the sixth largest fire in our state’s history.  Containment is projected for sometime in late June.  If you are of the mind to do so, please keep our brave wildland firefighters battling “the beast” (as our firefighters call big fires) in your thoughts and prayers.

AZGFD Wildlife Viewing Action Plan-Birders Be Heard

Join Desert Rivers Audubon members and Conservation Director Mike Evans in listening to and commenting about the AZGFD Wildlife Viewing Action Plan, Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the Arizona Game and Fish Department Mesa Regional Office, 7200 E. University Drive, Mesa, AZ. Mike notes, “I like attending this kind of meeting.  It gives you a chance to have your voice heard and you leave with a feeling of having actually accomplished something.”

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is seeking public review and input on an action plan for wildlife viewing recreation in Arizona.

The Wildlife Viewing Action Plan outlines objectives and strategies to help guide and implement a statewide watchable wildlife project. It identifies programs, products, and services the department is currently providing in wildlife viewing recreation, discusses opportunities and challenges for the future, and identifies new approaches that, if implemented, will help take advantage of opportunities and overcome challenges.

Game and Fish is seeking input from the public on the general topics and strategies that have been developed in the plan.

“This is a step to include users and stakeholders in evaluating the plan,” says Watchable Wildlife Coordinator Joe Yarchin. “We’re looking for input on any broad objectives or strategies we might have missed, including alternatives. We want feedback on whether this is hitting the mark or has some gaps that need to be addressed.”

The Arizona Game and Fish Department recognizes the need to manage for positive wildlife opportunities for all outdoor recreationists. There is strong public interest in watching wildlife. According to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, 1.3 million wildlife viewing participants spend $838 million in Arizona annually.

Despite this comparatively large demographic, there appears to be a significant gap between the current conditions, as they relate to wildlife viewing recreation, and the desired future conditions. The action plan outlines objectives, goals and actions to narrow the gap.

Comments can be submitted at the meetings, or you can submit comments by e-mail to wwreview@azgfd.gov or by U.S. mail to: Wildlife Viewing Action Plan Comment, c/o Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086. The deadline to submit comment is July 6, 2011.

The Riparian Preserve at Gilbert’s Water Ranch Park still has a feral cat problem

by Mike Evans
Conservation Director
Desert Rivers Audubon Society

The Riparian Preserve at Gilbert’s Water Ranch Park still has a feral cat problem. Save the Cats Arizona (STCA) had asked forone more chance to trap and remove the cats by themselves. They had been give nuntil January 18th to remove all of the cats. On January 18th, trapping was to resume by the town and the team of Audubon volunteers. All food found in the preserve was to have been removed and the feeding of the feral cats was to have ceased.

What has actually transpired would make a great case study on how politics and publicpolicy decision-making and implementation can be influenced by interest groups. When you throw into the mix the usual aversion to controversy by elected officials and municipal leaders, and add in the flavoring from an upcoming town council election, good public policy decisions become very difficult to make. Since I’m sure you aren’t ready for a grad school seminar, I’ll just hit the highlights.

We knew that the feral cat lobby had begun to contact town officials as a result of our trapping of cats. So, we sent a note out on the Birdwing05 listserve that the Universityof Arizona administers. We asked for people to contact the Town of Gilbert officials to support the complete removal of cats from the Riparian Preserve. During this time,we learned that the feral cat advocates were planning on attending the January 13thTown Council meeting. We made plans to attend with a small group of board members to monitor what transpired. On the afternoon of the council meeting, we learned that the town had struck a deal with the feral cat advocates to give them one more monthto remove the cats and allow the feeding of the cats to continue during that time. But STCA was told that the colony would be ended. A new deadline of Feb. 18th was set for ending STCA feeding and caring of the Water Ranch Park cats.

The town has set up a mediation process headed by former Town Presiding Judge David Phares. The town staff was represented by Jim Norman, Community Services Director for the town. The Riparian Preserve is part of this department. All of the meetings between the town, the feral cat advocates and DRAS have been lead by these two men.

A meeting was held on Jan. 26th to discuss the feral cat management plan for the preserve. At that meeting STCA agreed to our long desired goal of not having a feral cat colony at the Riparian Preserve. The meeting was amicable and a spirit of cooperation was evident. STCA agreed to cooperate with Riparian Preserve staff members to trap the remaining cats. Another meeting was scheduled for Feb. 16th.

Several different trapping strategies are being tried, but none are proving very successful. Between the Jan. 26th and Feb. 16th meetings, STCA only trapped four cats. Town employees trapped twelve.

At the Feb. 16th meeting, Save the Cats Arizona again asked for more time to remove the cats. The population of cats had been cut to twenty three. Of these, STCA said that twelve of the cats were “their” cats that and that they had a relationship with them. They asked that feeding continue until all of their cats are trapped. We are not supportive of this, because we believe, as do town staff, that these remaining cats will only be trapped when they become really hungry. And with shore bird nesting season right around the corner, we want all of the cats gone by early March, especially any hungry ones!

Since the Feb. 16th meeting, town staff has managed to trap two more cats. STCA have not trapped any. We have written to town staff to express our concern with how long this process is dragging on and that no definite end is in sight. We want feeding to end now and trapping to accelerate so that all of the cats are gone by the time the shorebirds nest, which is in March. There is more to come on this issue.

Editor’s Note: Mike Evans is the Conservation Director for Desert Rivers Audubon Society and a formermember of the Gilbert Town Council.