Weekly Articles by Eric Moore

This past Friday, June 5, I saw a rare bird (for this part of the United States)—a hooded warbler. The typical summer range for this species is mostly east of the Mississippi, so to have one in the Prescott area is indeed rare. A local birder found the warbler last...

I count myself fortunate to have grown up as a birder. I don’t remember the “moment” when I got turned onto birds, but I tell people I started bird watching when I was 5 years old! In reality, it could have been earlier. I don’t know for sure, as I can’t remember...

This past week, I took advantage of the long holiday weekend to make a trip down to Sierra Vista to deliver six donated pairs of Vortex binoculars to the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary. This property was formerly known as the Ash Canyon Bed & Breakfast. The property is...

Over the last month I have seen four different species of grosbeaks right here in Prescott! Not familiar with grosbeaks? The name says it all. This is a family of birds that is defined by a unique, shared trait — a massive beak, for cracking open nuts and seeds. The...

Several years ago, I planted six rosebushes in our backyard as a gift to my wife for Mother’s Day — one bush for each of our children.  As I was sitting out on the back patio this past Sunday, Mother’s Day, I enjoyed watching little bushtits as they gleaned for...

Last week, the evening of April 30, a large flock of very large birds spent a considerable amount of time flying over Willow Lake before finally settling down for the night. In spite of their 108-inch wing span—which is significantly larger than a Bald Eagle, which...

This week is when the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival was scheduled to take place at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It was canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. I will really miss participating in it this year. It has been such a fun tradition to camp at...

I have been doing some yard work this past week. In the process of pruning an over-grown scrub oak tree in my bird feeding area, I found two suet feeders down on the ground that went missing at least six months ago! We have a pair of ravens that nest in our yard each...

On a recent walk on a section of the Prescott Circle Trail, adjacent to Watson Woods, I observed the ‘deception’ behavior exhibited by a killdeer. Killdeer employ an attention-getting behavior when one gets too close to their nest. Seeing the behavior, I knew there...