Cochise Lake with Louie Dombroski

Difficulty: Easy. Easy walking on dirt road/trail. Bring a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, water bottle, and be prepared for hot and sunny weather. No bathroom on-site but there is one in close by in Willcox.

This half-day trip to Cochise Lake in Willcox 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, Chihuahuan Raven, 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.

Scaled Quail, Ned Harris

Desert Birds in Pastel Workshop with Laura Milkins at The Drawing Studio

Milkins-Laura-Invitation-to-Appreciation-Ode-to-My-Mothers-Wisdom-pastel-on-paper


Capture the colors of Sonoran desert birds, from the vibrant red and green of a Coppery-tailed Trogon to the subtle browns and tans of a Cactus Wren. Since the days of Audubon, art has been a way to understand birds on an intimate and detailed level. In this workshop, we will focus on the color found in birds of the Sonoran desert. First, we will enjoy some colorful bird images from art history. Next, we will use pastel to create color patches to match the colors of several desert birds. Step by step, I will walk you through pastel techniques that make this process of color matching fun and accessible to beginners as well as more advanced participants. Finally, working from a photo, we will create a Coppery-tailed Trogon using these simple pastel techniques. All materials provided by The Drawing Studio.

Image by Cathy Wasson

Tucson Bird Alliance Presents: LISTERS at The Loft

Join us at The Loft Cinema for the 2025 documentary film, Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, created by brothers Owen and Quentin Reiser and published on YouTube. The film will be introduced by Tucson Bird Alliance’s Alex Patia, who had a small “starring” role in the film! FREE, add to your Festival registration. Limited to 60 participants.
See The Loft Cinema info

Pokemon and Birding: Gotta Bird ‘em All with Christina Baal


Difficulty: Easy. Walking on excellent surfaces at a city park. Bathrooms on-site.

Calling all birders, AND Pokemon trainers! We’ll search midtown Tucson’s largest park for Pokemon and birds! Join artist and birder Christina Baal of Drawing 10,000 Birds on this epic search of our two favorite things at Reid Park. Pokemon was created by an individual who became fascinated with observing the insects and creatures living in his backyard. If you think about it, birding is just like Pokemon- but in real life! We will see just how many Pokemon are based on living (and non-living thing) things all around us, particularly birds, and see how many entries we can add to our group Pokedex while exploring the natural world. A fun activity to test your Pokemon AND birding skills and knowledge, and earn your very own Birder Gym Badge! Limited to 15 participants.

Birding with a Camera at Reid Park with Krisztina Scheeff

Are you a birder and would like to learn more about your camera and how to capture your own photos? Join professional Nature Photographer Krisztina with KS Nature Photography for a casual session of birding with the added bonus of photography. This program is open to all ages, birders, photographers, and anyone who would like to learn more about the birds and about basic camera techniques for bird photography. Bring your binoculars and any camera, if you like (point and shoot, DSLR, Mirrorless – and any lens). Specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. To read more about Krisztina, please visit www.KSNaturePhotography.com. Limited to 12 participants.

American Kestrel, Krisztina Scheeff

Bird and Bike with Matt Griffiths and Wesley Homoya of Natural Selections Tours

Difficulty: Moderate.

Join us for a leisurely bike ride on a dedicated path around Reid Park in search of its varied bird life. Located right across from the DoubleTree hotel Festival site, the park is one of the best places in Tucson to see Vermilion Flycatchers! We’ll check the lakes of the park for any lingering ducks, cormorants, herons and egrets, and maybe even a Mexican Duck. The many species of large, native and exotic trees are good places to find early migrating warblers, vireos, orioles, and grosbeaks. We’ll take a trip to the nearby Hardesty pond for more marshy conditions and the chance at seeing Black Phoebe, Spotted Sandpiper, Song Sparrow, Abert’s Towhee, and other desert riparian species. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED A BIKE RENTAL. Limited to 8 participants.

Vermilion Flycatcher, David Quanrud

Tohono Chul with Ray Deeney

Difficulty: Easy. A few mild slopes but mostly flat ground and good walking surfaces. Bathroom and water on-site.

For visitors and those new to the Sonoran Desert, Tohono Chul’s easy-walking trails and gardens provide close-up looks at many of the desert specialties. Of the more than 500 bird species that spend time in Arizona during the year, 140 are known to have visited Tohono Chul, and on any given morning you might see up to 15 species here. All year long you can watch our state bird, the Cactus Wren, flit from cactus to tree and back again, chattering as he goes. Observe the Curved-billed Thrasher, with its saucy two-part whistle, scrabbling on the ground or nesting in cholla cactus. Enjoy our two year-round resident hummingbird species, Anna’s and Costa’s, as they dart about, feeding among the many colorful flowers. And be sure to look upward for a glance of our majestic Cooper’s Hawks, a pair of which has nested in the gardens for each of the last four years. Meet at the Tohono Chul Admission Window. Limited to 10 participants.

Curve-billed Thrasher, Martin Molina

Scorpion Adventure with Chris Benesh sponsored by Field Guides

Difficulty: Moderate (Will include walking in the dark on possibly some uneven surfaces and gravel roads. Recommended to have a black light)

Go beyond the birds and explore the world of scorpions with Chris Benesh of Field Guides. Arizona is one of the world’s hot spots for scorpion diversity, especially Southeast Arizona! Location will be up to the discretion of the leaders based on weather, but will be within 45 minutes of the festival venue. Specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand.  Limited to 10 participants.

Giant hairy scorpion by Doris Evans

Patagonia Lake State Park with Troy Corman

Difficulty: Moderate. Walking along mostly level trail but with uneven surfaces for around 2 miles, there is one area with steep stairs. Bathroom on-site. Drive time to location about 80 minutes.

Patagonia Lake is the top eBird hotspot in the state thanks to its mix of waterbirds and great riparian habitat. Mexican Duck, Ruddy Duck, and Neotropic and Double-crested Cormorants should be readily seen on the lake along with raptors, flycatchers, and tanagers along the Birding Trail. As one of the few “large” bodies of water in SE Arizona you never know what could show up. Limited to 9 participants.

Ruddy Duck, Greg Lavaty

Going Batty with Karen Krebbs

Difficulty: Easy (Easy watching from pathway/parking area and short drive.)

Join Karen Krebbs on an adventure to watch thousands of bats come out of their roost at dusk. Karen has studied bats for more than 30 years and will share her vast knowledge of these misunderstood night creatures. This nightly Tucson spectacle even brings in a Cooper’s Hawk or Peregrine Falcon on occasion. You will meet Karen on-site on the east side of Tucson near Pantano and Broadway. Drive time to meeting location from festival venue is approximately 15 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 20 participants.

Lesser long-nosed bat by Dan Weisz