Birding on the Lake: Nature Walk at the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge

 

 

 

Date: December 26, 2021

Place: Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Coordinates: 34.291880, -144.105096   

Length: 1.2 miles

Level: easy

Going on a road trip with birders in the family means also dedicating time to visit specific birding sites. When we visited Lake Havasu City in the winter of 2021 the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge was written into our itinerary.  

The Bill Williams NWR is on the south side of Lake Havasu, not far from Parker Dam. The visitor center was closed and there were no other visitor cars in the parking lot when we arrived. At least fir the time being, we had the preserve all to ourselves. 

Costa's Hummingbird, female

Right away as we came out of the car we were seeing birds. We were seeing also pretty desert vegetation, lush from its proximity to the water, and some even in bloom. 

Creosote, Larrea tridentata

We have visited the Bill Wiliams NWR before, on our first trip to Lake Havasu area in 2014. Pappa Quail remembered having seen some interesting birds there at the time, so he was very excited about this visit. We started exploring along the lake shore, then we went down the little peninsula trail. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The peninsula was a long and narrow spit of rock dike with a trail that was paved at first then changed to an earthen foot path. 

There were certainly birds to watch on the lake. They were the waterfowl of course, numerous ducks and grebes swimming to and fro. Most of them however, were quite a distance away. 

Mergansers

While Pappa Quail and the elder chika scanned the water surface in search of birds I scanned the area right next to me for interesting plant life. 

Teddybear Cholla, Cylindropuntia biglovii

We started a slow stroll down the peninsula trail. The first part of the trail was flat pavement of terracotta colored concrete. The trail was flanked by fine-looking native desert shrubs. 

There were tall acacia, creosote, and sweetbush. Then there were the low silvery cushions of the brittlebush, and to my great delight, they were in bloom. 

Brittlebush, Encelia farinosa

The place was very quiet, with no other people around. The chikas were doing their fair share of excited exclamations whenever they saw something interesting, but for the most part all we heard were bird calls. That was totally fine by me. 

After a short distance we passed the tall bushes and had a better view of the lake. It was a lovely day with a bit of clouds but mostly blue sky, and the lake reflected that blue back at us. 

The side of the peninsula that faced the southern shore of the lake was where we saw most of the birds. A solitary great blue heron stood on some sort of a submerged pedestal and looked at us. 

Great Blue Heron

One of the waterfowl species we've seen there most were goldeneye ducks. We don't see this duck species very often but they do come to wildlife refuges closer to our home. 

Common Goldeneye, male

A different species of goldeneye duck, the Barrow's goldeneye, we see much less, and it was nice to see them in the Bill Williams NWR. 

Barrow's Goldeneye

Beside ducks there were grebes present too. Several species of grebes were swimming and taking dives into the water in search of fish.  

Pied-billed Grebe

 

Pappa Quail and the elder chika moved ahead. For a moment they shifted their attention from the water and the waterfowl to the peninsula and the trail - there were wildlife on the thin stripe of land as well. 

A bird was hopping boldly on the rocks that lined the trail side. It was a great-tailed grackle - an opportunistic bird species that we often see around barns and picnic areas. 

Great-tailed Grackle, male

Numerous butterflies fluttered by us, moving between the few flowering bushes. Pappa Quail and the elder chika were happy to photograph them as well. 

Painted Lady

 

 Of the butterflies we saw were also species that I have never seen before - the American snout for one. This one is almost invisible when its wings are closed. Less visible to bug catching birds. 

American Snout

I took the lead and moved ahead toward the end of the trail at the tip of he peninsula with the younger chika close at my heels. 

My family birders took a moment longer to come along. They were focusing on the birds that were flying overhead: small groups of ducks that were moving from one spot of the lake to another. 

Gadwal 

From the tip of the peninsula I gazed to the south tip of Lake Havasu. I couldn't see Parker Dam but I knew it was there, holding the enormous volume of water that made the lake. The Colorado River has four such great dam, holding water for drinking and agriculture, and providing electric energy. These dams also completely stopped the natural dynamics of the river, changing with it the entire Colorado River ecosystem. 

Pappa Quail and the elder chika joined me and the young chika at the trail's end, and were checking out the waterfowl present on this side of the hike. 

Eared Grebe

Even the more common ducks were fun to see as they were swimming, alone or together in a group or a larger flock. Most of them were there for the winter and would migrate north come spring. 

Greater Scoup

To the southeast floated a thin, white buoy, possibly to warn boaters from passing into a danger zone or a wildlife protection zone.

There weren't any boaters in the area at the time, but the buoy was well used - as a perch for a double-crested Cormorant. 

Double-crested Cormorant

There were a couple of small rocky island near the southeastern shore of the lake. A flock of goldeneye ducks swam leisurely near the islands. It was a very peaceful scenery. 

A pair of Clark's grebes were swimming together off to the side. For a while they looked like they were about to do their water running courtship dance, but it wasn't breeding season and they didn't do the dance. 

Clark's Grebe

I noticed the thin-twigged bush that was nearby. It still had a few flowers but it carried mostly seed heads. 

Sweetbush, Bebbia juncea

After spending some time at the tip of the peninsula we turned around and started walking back, still keeping our eyes open for birds and other sights. 

A few more birds flew over head. Some of these birds were gulls, away from the coast but still over the water. 

Ring-billed Gull

There were more ducks in the water - the very common ruddy ducks that we see also in the lake of our home town. 

Ruddy Ducks

 

We didn't stop much on the way back, but we did step down to the water where we saw access. The water was rippled by the light wind that stirred while we were on out hike. 

An aluminum access ramp was on the opposite side of the trail and a large great blue heron was standing on it. Perhaps it was the same heron that we saw at the beginning of our walk. 

Great Blue Heron

It was a very nice walk on the peninsula trail and we got to see many waterfowl and other birds. Then Pappa Quail wanted to do a hike also in the back side of Bill Williams NWR, up the creek that was behind the main NWR visitor area. We have seen many interesting birds there on our first visit in the refuge, 7 years before. So we drove up the dirt road that was along the creek and found a place to stop and walk around. 

 

It was a very dry desert scene all around. Cacti and other desert bushes dotted the grayish-brown slopes. 

Right away I found a beautiful barrel cactus. The cactus was thriving next to another bush that looked dry and dead. 

California Barrel Cactus, Ferocactus cylindraceus

We couldn't see any birds around though. Eager to find us some wildlife, the young chika pointed out to me an anthill. Even the ants didn't show much activity. 

Anthill

We got back into the car and drove a bit further up the road, finding another place to stop and look around. Up the slope was a n area that looked disturbed, but had many green bushes. we went over to take a closer look. 

A tiny hummingbird was perching inside one of the thorny, dry bushes. A female Costa's hummingbird. Not knowing at the time that hummingbirds ate insects as well I wondered on what flowers this little bird lived. 

Costa's Hummingbird, female

The view downhill was much grimmer. In the place where on our last visit was a rich riparian thicket were now the charred remains of the river vegetation that was burned in a wildfire a couple of years back. 

We returned our attention up slope, where the green vegetation was still intact, and started walking around, looking for wildlife. 

Palo Verde, Parkinsonia sp.

A large table mountain dominated the view. We saw it earlier on the previous stopping point, but now we had a nice profile view of this nice geological feature. 

We found a small path that was leading into the vegetation and followed it, walking carefully between the thorny bushes. 

There we found another sweetbush that was blooming still, and right on it were several butterflies. One was the funereal duskywings, a new sighting for that day.  

Funereal Duskywings

Another butterfly we saw on that very same bush was the American snout. We saw it earlier on the peninsula trail walk, but here we got to see it with open wings. It looked quite different, and very visible indeed. 

American Snout

We completed a short look through the desert vegetation and started descending back to where we left our car, having the fire scar right below us.  

Pappa Quail was disappointed. He was hoping to see many more birds in this part of the refuge. He did spot a male Gambel's quail that was running quickly into hiding and got a quick shot of the elusive bird. 

Near the car he spotted another bird - a Say's Phoebe that perched atop a dry twig. Phoebe birds are flycatchers - the pluck insects from the air on flight. I thought that those butterflies we saw earlier probably need to watch out. 

Say's Phoebe

We clambered back into the car.The chikas were hungry so we decided to continue west to the town of Parker Dam and look for a place where we could have lunch. We had a very nice and quiet visit at the Bill Williams NWR. We haven't been back there since but if we do visit Lake Havasu again, we're likely to go back to the refuge for yet another birding walk. 

There was still plenty of daylight left when we finished our lunch so we decided to go for another hike in the area. I looked at my printouts and chose for us the Rovey's Needle Trail for the afternoon hike.