“What’s really neat about the Flagstaff area is that the forest is in town – so people don’t have to go very far to see wildlife,” said Forest Service biologist Loren LeSueur in the introduction to a new series of audio guides to wildlife watching in and around Flagstaff. Guided walks to see local wildlife have proven popular in recent years. The Arboretum at Flagstaff’s summer Saturday morning bird walks led by Northern Arizona Audubon Society volunteers, along with additional tours of sites like Mount Elden, Sawmill Park, Rio de Flag and Kachina wetlands, have been well attended. So, too, have the nature walks at the Museum of Arizona and elk viewing out at Mormon Lake last fall.
The 17 new audio guides, funded by an Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund grant, were launched online recently. They give detailed information on the animals that you are most likely to encounter at each site, along with helpful tips on when and how best to see – or hear – them. Intended as an addition to existing wildlife watching activities around town, the new guides can help you make self-guided tours at any time and are available for direct streaming or as an mp3 audio download to your mobile device from the AWWE website (www.azwatchwildlife.com/subjects/audio-guides/audio-guides.htm).
Narrated by local writer and KNAU contributor Rose Houk, a whole host of local wildlife experts contributed to the guides. As well as the impressive diversity of interesting critters to find, there is a continual progression of viewing opportunities through the year – like the seasonal parade of about 150 butterfly species. “That includes the riding satyr, which is quite a remarkable butterfly to be able to see … and one of many species that show up in Buffalo Park,” said MNA curator of ecology Larry Stevens.
“During the migration season, I’ll come out on the Mount Elden trails three times a week and every day see a different set of birds,” said Audubon site steward Jason Wilder. “Coming back repeatedly you can get a great collection of bird sightings – over the course of a year, you can easily see 120 to 130 species here.”
The audio guides do not just cater to birding interests. You can learn how to find one of Arizona’s largest centipedes, where to spot an endemic Wupatki scorpion or how to tell if a pronghorn antelope likely has a fawn nearby. There is even a guide to identifying mammal droppings by Arboretum Executive Director Lynne Nemeth. And several of the sites, like Frances Short Pond, Rio de Flag wetland, Sawmill Park and Foxglenn, can be reached on foot or by bike. Just a little further afield, Picture Canyon provides a wealth of bird and small mammal watching opportunities, engagingly described by NAU biologist Thad Theimer.
Arizona Wildlife Federation president Tom Mackin is enthusiastic about the new guide and points to the demonstrated economic benefits from wildlife viewing.“AWF found that 40 percent of Arizona residents visited a natural or wildlife area in 2011, with almost 25 percent – 1.5 million people – participating in wildlife viewing,” Mackin said.
Those statistics are backed by figures at the local level. Research conducted for the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2008-2009 showed that 25 percent of visitors to the Flagstaff area had an interest in observing wildlife and most participated in some type of wildlife watching activity during their stay.
“Watchable wildlife and outdoor recreation are very strong tourism drivers, encouraging visitation for a wide variety of travelers,” said Heather Ainardi of the CVB. Results of the current year-long Visitor Profile Study through Northern Arizona University are expected in February/March 2015.
Of course, it is impossible to put a monetary value on the thrill and sheer pleasure of a memorable wildlife encounter. As the project’s producer and sound recordist, two of my own particular favorite moments were recording the calls of herons on a roost near Lake Mary – perhaps the closest living example of what pterodactyls must have sounded like – along with an electrifying series of echoing elk alarm barks that you’ll hear on the guide to Marshall Lake.
Veteran wildlife biologist Rick Miller suggests that you use your ears as much as your eyes when you are out at these sites. He recalls that one of the most memorable wildlife encounters he has ever had was with his kids at Lake Mary – when they could not even see the animals! “We were out in a fog in the fall and the geese were coming through and we could just hear all the geese on the other shore honking … it was a really neat experience.”
AWWE is looking to create partnerships with local businesses to promote outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. For more information, contact Shelly Shepherd at: sshepherd@azgfd.gov.
By Diane Hope, Flagstaff Business News