Archives: Festival Events

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour on mostly paved roads)

The preserve is one of the best known U.S. birding hotspots with tall cottonwoods and willows lining a perennial stream. Open fields, mesquite bosque and a cienega compound the habitat diversity that make it a birding paradise. Listen for the Gray Hawk’s whistle in the cottonwoods while looking for Common Ground Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Thick-billed Kingbird, and more. Nature Conservancy fees are included in the price. Be prepared to wear chigger protection. Limited to 9 participants.

Thick-billed Kingbird by Martin Molina

Difficulty: Easy (Not a lot of walking on dirt road/trail. Bring a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, water bottle, and be prepared for hot and sunny weather)

This half-day trip to the Willcox area and Cochise Lake will add a wide variety of shorebirds to your Arizona and festival species list. Likely species include Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Wilson’s Phalarope, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Western, and Least Sandpipers. The lakes also play host to an array of migrant swallow species, as well as birds of the open grassland like Scaled Quail and Lark Sparrow. With sometimes hourly turnover nearly every visit during migration has a good chance of turning up something unusual. This will be a very relaxed paced half-day trip with limited walking on level surfaces. Limited to 9 participants.

Black-necked Stilt by Shawn Cooper

Difficulty: Moderate (some walking on mild slopes, drive time to location about 50 minutes on paved roads)

Enjoy birding where Tucson residents escape the summer heat in the small mountain hamlet of Summerhaven.  We’ll look for mixed warbler flocks which may include Red-faced, Orange-crowned, Virginia’s, Townsend’s, Hermit, Wilson’s, and Grace’s Warblers. Birding in the conifer forests of Mt. Lemmon can also produce species like Hairy Woodpecker, Steller’s Jay, Mountain Chickadee, and Cordilleran Flycatcher. Back by noon. Limited to 9 participants.

Red-faced Warbler by Axel Elfner

Difficulty: Easy (Flat walking trails. Drive time to location approximately one hour.)

An easy stroll through this lush riparian corridor along the Santa Cruz provides many opportunities for migrants, Gray Hawks, flycatchers, and hordes of Yellow-breasted Chats. Rose-throated Becard, whose nests look like a large football hanging from the end of a branch, have nested along this trail the past few years. A volunteer from the Tubac Nature Center will also be on the walk to share local bird and nature experience. Time permitting, a stop at the Amado Wastewater Treatment plant on the way back could be good for Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. Limited to 9 participants.

Rose-throated Becard by Jorge Montejo

Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult ~3 miles (Some mild slopes/wash crossings–mostly flat ground and good surfaces)

Join Tony Figueroa, Director of the Invasive Plant Program, to hear how Tucson Bird Alliance is constantly working to restore and preserve these places for future generations of people and birds to enjoy. The Sonoran Desert is amazingly dense with vegetation compared to other deserts, but this sensitive habitat is at risk due to invasive species such as buffelgrass. We’ll discuss the ecology of the area and find some great birds, too, as we explore the desert and riparian areas around Colossal Cave. Limited to 9 participants.

Summer Tanager by Hemant Kishan

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces. Drive time to location approximately 50 minutes)

While not a real striking bird, Bendire’s Thrasher is sought after by birders because of its limited range which happens to be right here in Southeast Arizona. We don’t always get this on our festival lists though because of its preference for open desert scrub habitat and our preference for cooler canyons. They can also be tough to find this time of year, but we’ll set out today to the Avra Valley west of Tucson to see if we can pick one up for our life lists (and the festival list!). Limited to 9 participants.

Bendire’s Thrasher by Jim Burns

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour plus driving on gravel/dirt roads)

Las Cienegas is a 45,000-acre national conservation area with high desert grasslands, riparian strips and perennial streams, marshes, and juniper-oak woodlands. Here we can find grassland breeders such as Cassin’s, Botteri’s and Grasshopper Sparrows, Chihuahuan Meadowlark, and Loggerhead Shrike, as well as riparian-associated species including Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blue Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler, and Summer Tanager. Las Cienegas is great for mammals, too — we’ll visit a colony of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (road condition permitting) and keep an eye out for Pronghorn Antelope. Limited to 9 participants.

Gray Hawk by Bryan J Smith

Difficulty: Moderate (mostly flat walking trails on some uneven and rocky terrain, includes some driving on rocky road)

This beautiful and scenic loop that starts near Madera Canyon and crosses the northern part of the Santa Rita Mountains offers fantastic birding during the monsoon season. The road goes along rugged Box Canyon where at least one pair of Five-striped Sparrows has been seen the past few years. Varied Buntings, Hooded and Scott’s Orioles, Canyon and Cactus Wrens, Pyrrhuloxia, and more will be singing their hearts out as you make various stops along the drive. The loop comes out just north of the ranching community of Sonoita. Limited to 8 participants.

Hooded Oriole by Fred Mitchell

Difficulty: Moderate (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to location approximately 90 minutes, some gravel road.)

An interesting man-made lake makes a great water source and stopover for migrants and nesting birds. The adjoining canyon is a good location for Elegant Trogon, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and Hepatic Tanager. Montezuma Quail favor the hillsides surrounding the lake, while other interesting species could include Gray Hawk, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and Varied Bunting. Expect to walk on groomed trails around the lake and a gravel/loose rock forest service road through the canyon. Limited to 9 participants.

Elegant Trogon by Bryan J Smith

Difficulty: Moderate (mostly flat walking trails on some uneven and rocky terrain. Drive time to Arivaca is about 75 minutes.)

Just outside of the small town of Arivaca is the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge where efforts to re-introduce the Masked Bobwhite are being undertaken by a group of conservation partners. We’ll focus our birding efforts at the Arivaca Cienega and along the Arivaca Creek where we’ll look for Black Vultures, Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Tropical Kingbird, and buntings. Limited to 9 participants.

Tropical Kingbird by Jim Burns