Monday, January 24, 2011

Welcome to the LCRV

The Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV) is legendary among birders of Arizona and California for its history of attracting unusual birds to its shores.  A chain of reservoirs maintain diving ducks, loons, grebes, and gulls.  The riparian habitats that remain are a magnet for migrants, while supporting breeding populations of birds like Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Indigo Bunting, and Summer Tanager.  In short, it's a good place to find birds that would otherwise not frequent the deserts of eastern California and western Arizona.  And that's not to mention the more widespread southwestern specialties that are common in the mesquite and ocotillo.

That's what brought David and I out here, just over a month ago.  It has been a favorite birding destination of ours for years.  I especially enjoy birding here because (for the most part) it's so underbirded, that is, seldom visited for a region as rich in its avifauna as this.  During the short time I've been here I've enjoyed meeting the other local birders, exploring the desert canyons and the shores of the Colorado, and marveling at the birds - the rare ones, the common ones, the flocks in the thousands that appear suddenly but are all but gone in a few days.  The area has raised so many questions for me and taught me so much already, so I look forward to getting to know it better.

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