Monitoring Avian Species
Avian Diversity
Historically, Bushy Lake has provided vital habitat for a variety of birds and is a popular birding location (Audubon Society). Birds are more easily observed than other wildlife and respond quickly to changes in their environment; therefore, they are ideal candidates to measure ecosystem improvement during the Bushy Lake Restoration Project and post-restoration monitoring. Furthermore, in the absence of a specific indicator species, birds can be used to gauge overall ecosystem success.
Audubon Collaboration
Daniel Williams, Audubon, has been conducting avian point count surveys at Bushy Lake every other weekend in 2020 and 2021. He has recorded 140 species of birds at Bushy Lake .
Swainson’s hawks nested near Bushy Lake this year; their nest was destroyed in the fire, probably with eggs or young birds. In the past, red-shouldered and red-tailed hawk pairs nested in the large cottonwoods near the lake. Families of Mallards and Wood Ducks grew up on the lake, while Red-winged Blackbirds and secretive Virginia Rails and Soras called from the cattails. As spring turned into summer, scores of Cliff and Barn Swallows and a few Purple Martins from nearby nesting colonies came to hawk insects over the lake. An Osprey is currently patrolling the area and using the last large standing cottonwood snags to perch and devour its catch. A Peregrine Falcon made several appearances throughout the year, occasionally making high speed pursuits after ducks. With Fall will come several new species of birds using the dense willow riparian and grapevine thicket habitat which frames the lake to rest and refuel for their journeys: Orange-crowned, Yellow, and Wilson’s Warblers, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush, Western Tanager, and many others. Gradually the migrants in this habitat gave way to the return of the winter resident species: Cedar Waxwings, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Lincoln’s Sparrows, and many, many Northern Flickers just to name a few.
The avian diversity of Bushy Lake is truly astounding. Our monitoring goals are to determine the impacts of wildfires on avian habitat. Many different birds use the area in many different ways as the seasons progress and change.
Western Tanager
Blue Egret
Black Crowned Night Heron
Warbler