Archives: Festival Events

Difficulty: Moderate. May involve walking a narrow rocky trail in Florida Canyon with uneven surfaces and some increase in grade. Drive time to location about one hour on paved and gravel roads. No bathroom on-site.

These two canyons are just north of the more famous Madera Canyon and offer fabulous birding in riparian areas flanked by upland desert and grassland. We’ll bird mostly from the road in Box Canyon looking for the rare Five-striped Sparrow, nesting Gray Hawks and Thick-billed Kingbirds, singing Rock and Canyon Wrens, Botteri’s and Cassin’s Sparrows, and Bullock’s, Hooded, and Scott’s Orioles. Perhaps we’ll catch a glimpse of the soaring resident Golden Eagles. From the Florida Canyon parking lot we’ll keep our eyes open and ears alert for Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black-chinned and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, along with Varied Bunting. Depending on water levels and bird activity we could work our way up higher along the creek as well.  Limited to 9 participants.

Five-striped Sparrow, Richard Fray

Difficulty: Moderate. Some steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails, but mostly walking on gravel road with little incline for about 1.5 miles round-trip. Bathroom near trailhead. Drive time to location approximately 90 minutes, including 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 Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Hutton’s Vireo and Hepatic Tanager, with Coppery-tailed Trogon as a remote possibility. Montezuma Quail favor the hillsides surrounding the lake, but are notoriously hard to see or hear. 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.

Hepatic Tanager, Hemant Kishan

Difficulty: Moderate. Mostly flat walking trails on some uneven and rocky terrain often exposed to sun. Bring 1-2 liters of water. 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.

Gray HAwk, bryanjsmith

Difficulty: Moderate. Some steeper slopes with portions that may have rocky/rooted trails. Most walking is on groomed gravel road in shorter spurts. Drive time to location approximately one hour with some gravel roads. Bathroom available at mouth of canyon.

While Madera Canyon has long been the most visited spot in the Santa Rita Mountains, this adjacent canyon to the south is deserving of more birders’ attention. Join us on a half-day exploration of Montosa Canyon, which supports some hackberry thornscrub habitat as well as a nice drainage with scattered oaks and mesquites. Some more common species we can expect to encounter include Bell’s Vireo, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Canyon Wren, and Ladder-backed Woodpecker. We’ll also target rare species which have nested in the canyon in past years, including Five-striped Sparrow. We’ll also keep our eyes out for dazzling Varied Buntings on territory. Limited to 9 participants.

Five-striped Sparrow, Lois Manowitz