Marana Area Hotspots with Jack Parlapiano and Steve Valasek

Difficulty: Moderate. Mostly flat walking trails along roads or dirt/gravel trails, but does involve some incline and uneven path along the river.

The agricultural fields of Marana northwest of Tucson provide some vital habitat for the localized Burrowing Owls and also opportunities for other open-land birds such as Western Kingbird and Horned Lark. Blackbird flocks are also regular which may include Yellow-headed Blackbird or Bronzed Cowbird. We’ll check out a number of birding hotspots in the area including the Wastewater Reclamation Facility (Stingray Drive), Hardin Road, and the Santa Cruz River near Trico Road. Limited to 9 participants.

Burrowing Owl, Ned Harris

Madera Canyon with David Simpson

Arizona Woodpecker by Mick Thompson

Difficulty: Moderate. Walking will mostly be on road or groomed trails but may have some steeper slopes with possibly rocky/rooted trail areas. Bathrooms available.

We’ll start in grassland habitat around Proctor Road looking and listening for singing sparrows first thing in the morning. Along with sparrows we will be looking for birds of upland riparian habitat including Bell’s Vireo, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and Varied Bunting. Next we’ll head into the mid-elevation oak-juniper habitat, looking for desirable southeast Arizona species like Arizona Woodpecker, Painted Redstart, and Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. After this we’ll spend some time walking along the nature trail and investigating the hummingbird feeders at the Santa Rita Lodge that make Madera one of the best spots for hummingbird diversity in the country. Maybe we’ll find an Coppery-tailed Trogon! Limited to 9 participants.

Arizona Woodpecker, Mick Thompson

Patagonia Area with Chris Rohrer

Difficulty: Moderate. Some walking on mild slopes, and possibly rocky/uneven surfaces. But mostly even and easy walking. Bathrooms available. Drive time to location approximately one hour on mostly paved roads.

The Patagonia area is one southeast Arizona’s best-known destinations for riparian birds. Some of the specialties found around Patagonia are Gray Hawk, Thick-billed Kingbird, Varied Bunting, Violet-crowned Hummingbird and Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet. There are many famous and wonderful places to bird here including the Patagonia Roadside Rest, Harshaw Canyon, and of course the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. Our exact itinerary will be at the leader’s discretion, based on where our target birds are being seen most readily. Limited to 8 participants.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Dan Weisz

IBA Focus: Atascosa Highlands with Jennie MacFarland

Difficulty: Moderate. May involve some steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails, but most of walk will be on dirt/gravel roads with little incline. Bring 2 liters of water. Drive time to location approximately 90 minutes, some gravel road.

The Arizona Important Bird Area website describes this area beautifully: Oak savannah and oak woodland with a heavy Madrean influence dominate almost all of the Atascosa Highlands with undulating bajadas of oak savannah, spectacular intact canyons and highly valuable riparian habitat, alive with streams and precious pools. The exact location will be at the discretion of Tucson Bird Alliance’s Conservation Biologist, Jennie MacFarland. We’ll search for a myriad of Arizona specialty species including Brown-crested Flycatcher, Bridled Titmouse, and Varied Bunting. Expect some walking on some rocky trails and/or forest service roads. Limited to 9 participants.

Varied Bunting, Martin Molina

Oaks to Pines in the Catalinas with Jeremy Dominguez

Difficulty: Moderate. Will involve some walking on mild slopes with some elevation and possibly on some rocky/uneven surfaces. Bathrooms available. Drive time to first location about 45 minutes.

We’ll explore the oaks to pines of the Catalina Mountains starting at the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground scrub oak woodlands which is good habitat for species such as Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, Bushtit, and Scott’s Oriole. We’ll then head up into Bear Canyon which puts us in a beautiful canyon with sycamores and pines where we’ll search for Mexican Jay, Plumbeous Vireo, and Grace’s Warbler among others. Depending on timing and activity we may visit other locations. Limited to 9 participants.

Mexican Jay, John Hoffman

El Rio Preserve with Jim Gessaman and Kim Warner sponsored by the Town of Marana

Moderate. Mostly easy with paved trail and overlook, but some steep grade when walking down to sandy trails. Bathroom on-site.

Explore this nature preserve area just northwest of Tucson in Marana along the Santa Cruz River which is also part of the historic Juan Bautista de Anza Trail. You’ll enjoy the view from the overlook where you’ll be able to scan for a variety of birds including waterfowl, shorebirds, and flycatchers. A walk around the lake trail should turn up a good variety of species including Lazuli Bunting, Hooded Oriole, Green Heron, and Cinnamon Teal. Drive time to the meeting location from the festival venue is about 30 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.

Lazuli Bunting, Mick Thompson

Birding with Bonner at Sweetwater Wetlands with Bonner Black, Andrew Lydeard, and Alex Patia

Green Heron by Hemant Kishan

Difficulty: Easy. Just over a mile walking on flat paved and hard packed surfaces, with some shaded benches along route. Bathrooms on-site.

This artificial wetland is the premier birding hotspot in the Tucson Valley, offering a stunning variety of species that can be found here at any time during the season. Green Heron, Common Gallinule, Tropical Kingbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Abert’s Towhees are some of our prime targets. Drive time to meeting location from festival venue is about 20 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 15 participants.

Green Heron, Hemant Kishan

Oaks to Pines in the Catalinas with Rob Ripma and Jehudy Carballo

Difficulty: Moderate. Will involve some walking on mild slopes with some elevation and possibly on some rocky/uneven surfaces. Bathrooms available. Drive time to first location about 45 minutes.

We’ll explore the oaks to pines of the Catalina Mountains starting at the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground scrub oak woodlands which is good habitat for species such as Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, Bushtit, and Scott’s Oriole. We’ll then head up into Bear Canyon which puts us in a beautiful canyon with sycamores and pines where we’ll search for Mexican Jay, Plumbeous Vireo, and Grace’s Warbler among others. Depending on timing and activity we may visit other locations as well. Drive time to initial meeting location from festival venue is about 40 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand.  Limited to 10 participants.

Scott’s Oriole, Matthew Studebaker

Florida Canyon and Adjacent Mesquite-Grasslands with Cameron Tescher

Difficulty: Hard. Trail that has some inclines and uneven slopes with soft, rocky or uneven terrain for about one mile total. Bring 1-2 liters of water.

We’ll spend the early morning exploring the Florida Canyon area on the west slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains. There, we will hike along the local Florida Canyon Trail as well as birding at local areas in the canyon as well as in the adjacent Santa Rita Experimental Range grassland operated by University of Arizona, with some sites not usually accessible by birders. Birds more likely to be encountered in Florida Canyon include Gray Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker, Bridled Titmouse, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Varied Bunting. This canyon has also had several rare birds in the past such as Nutting’s Flycatcher and Rufous-capped Warbler, and while we should not expect to see these birds, it’s always fun to dream. Afterwards, we are planning on exploring some of the adjacent grassland areas of the Santa Rita Experimental Range on our way out. Species that we might expect to see in these grasslands include Botteri’s and Cassin’s Sparrows, Crissal Thrasher, Scaled Quail, and Chihuahuan Meadowlark. Drive time to initial meeting location from festival venue is about 60 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand.  Limited to 8 participants.

Bridled Titmouse, John Hoffman

Bird Research in Action Demonstration with Henrey Deese and the McNew Lab at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds

The McNew Lab studies disease ecology of birds and their parasites and pathogens, and this will be your chance to see this work in action. This research specifically investigates associations between birds in ticks in the region, so we will be mist-netting and banding birds, checking them for attached ticks, and taking small blood samples to test for tick-borne diseases. The working group will demonstrate the techniques that are being used and discuss the research. We’ll meet at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds and specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Drive time to the meeting location from the festival venue is about 70 minutes. Limited to 10 participants.

Summer Tanager, Hemant Kishan