Archives: Festival Events

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 high elevation areas of Mt. Lemmon and the small mountain hamlet of Summerhaven. Birding hotspots will include Incinerator Ridge Road, Bear Wallow, and Mt. Bigelow Road. 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 Western Flycatcher. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Townsend’s Warbler by Shawn Cooper

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, and possibly rocky/uneven surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour on mostly paved roads)

Harshaw Creek is lined with Sycamores making it a great location for woodpeckers, flycatchers, tanagers, and more. We might catch a look at one of the Elegant Trogons that breed through here and Mexican Jays are common in the oaks. After exploring the Harshaw area we’ll head over to the Paton Center for Hummingbirds to look for Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Gray Hawks, and more. Lunch will be provided courtesy of local favorite, Gathering Grounds. Limited to 9 participants.

Hepatic Tanager by Hemant Kishan

Difficulty: Moderate (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to final location approximately 75 minutes.)

Rising over 6,000 feet above Tucson, Mount Lemmon is the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains at 9,157 feet, and a popular escape from urban life and the Arizona’s dry early-summer heat (before the relief of the cooling monsoon rains). It is also an incredible birding experience and biology lesson. Traversing six life zones, from the Sonoran Desert at the base to mixed conifer forests at the highest elevations, the 25-mile drive up the wide, paved, two-lane Catalina Highway is equivalent biologically to traveling from Mexico to Canada. Our efforts will be concentrated on the higher elevations far above the desert below. We’ll look for typical mountain species like Steller’s Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Spotted Towhee, and Plumbeous Vireo. We’ll make a special effort to track down a variety of warblers; Painted Redstart and Olive, Red-faced, and Grace’s Warblers all breed in these mountains and by August they are beginning to form mixed-species foraging flocks. A few hummingbird feeders are scattered about our route as well. Combine the birds with temperatures nearly 30 degrees cooler at the top and unparalleled scenery, it is hard to beat the Catalinas in August! Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Red-faced Warbler by Shawn Cooper

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, and possibly rocky/uneven surfaces. Drive time to locations approximately an hour)

We’ll combine birding and good drink during a tour of the grasslands around Sonoita in the Las Cienegas grasslands. We’ll look for 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.  A visit to one of the local wineries and lunch at the Copper Brothel Brewery will keep us busy as well. Limited to 8 participants.

Botteri’s Sparrow by Jim Burns

Difficulty: Moderate (Will include walking along some graded roads and mostly level trail but with uneven surfaces for about 3 miles.  Drive time to location about 75 minutes)

This area is located in the southern mountains just a few miles from the border and west of Nogales with excellent oak habitat, and much less birder visitation than many other better known locations.  Walking along the old road/trail in the shade of the riparian zone and flanked by grasslands, we’ll have opportunity for many target species, including Montezuma Quail, Gray Hawk, Elegant Trogon, Acorn and Arizona Woodpeckers, Rufous-winged and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Scott’s Oriole and Varied Bunting. Thick-billed Kingbird have also recently colonized this drainage and we’ll be actively hunting for them as well. After walking Walker Canyon we’ll enjoy lunch at a nearby picnic area by Pena Blanca Lake. Lunch provided, limited to 8 participants.

Arizona Woodpecker by Mick Thompson

Difficulty: Moderate (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to final location approximately 85 minutes on some gravel/dirt road.)

This is a new trip headed to the east slopes of the Rincon Mountains east of Tucson. The gravel roads pass through mesquite bosque, riparian, oaks, and grasslands. We’ll stop at various trailheads and creek crossings looking for Gila, Ladder-backed, and Acorn Woodpeckers, Ash-throated Flycatchers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Bell’s Vireo, and many more. One of the main target birds will be Juniper Titmouse, not normally recorded during the festival, this is the best spot for them near Tucson. The route will depend on creek levels and monsoon rains. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Acorn Woodpecker by Dan Weisz

Difficulty: Hard (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to final location approximately two hours on some rough and curvy road.)

This 130-acre, deep water lake is tucked back on the west slopes of the Huachuca Mountains and because of its location is under-birded but holds great potential. Grassy hillsides dotted with oaks may hold Montezuma Quail, Western or Eastern Bluebirds, Bushtits, flycatchers, and early migrants. Western Grebes and Ospreys have been seen catching fish out of the lake during summer and Cassin’s Kingbirds are quite common. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Osprey by David Kreidler

Difficulty: Hard (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to locations approximately 2 hours on very rough road.)

We’ll get an early start from Tucson to explore the east flank of the Huachuca Mountains. Depending on road conditions we’ll either go up into the Madrean oak woodland and open pine forests of Carr Canyon, or walk underneath the towering sycamores in Ramsey Canyon, both of which offer a wide variety of Arizona specialty birds. After our picnic lunch we’ll head over to nearby Ash Canyon, where a bank of hummingbird feeders at the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary should be buzzing with activity, including perhaps the range-restricted and very attractive Lucifer Hummingbird. We will be walking slowly along nearly level dirt roads at up to about 7000 feet in elevation. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Lucifer Hummingbird by Greg Lavaty