Southeast Arizona Birding Festival

Kim Aikins
Kim is a special education teacher of students with multiple disabilities, and loves being in nature. This combination developed into a passion for wanting to make nature as accessible as possible. As a result, she founded a local non-profit, Southern Arizona Accessible Wildlife Refuge (SAAWR), with a goal to open a fully accessible nature preserve in Southern Arizona. Currently, Kim partners with the Tucson Bird Alliance to lead monthly accessible outings.

Vernie Aikins
Vernie fell in love with birding in Southern Arizona in 2011 through his love of photography, starting out with just a camera and guide book. He started guiding in 2021 with his wife’s non-profit S.A.A.W.R. and the Tucson Bird Alliance leading bird outings for people with disabilities. Though Vernie is primarily the Office Administrator at Naturalist Journeys, he does get the chance to guide from time to time. His excitement in seeing a Turkey Vulture (his favorite bird) for the 50th time or a lifer is contagious, and he has a true passion for helping others find, identify, and enjoy birds.

Mike Amico
Always having a creative passion for the arts, Mike Amico entered the photography industry as both a trainer and a salesman. This is where he has spent the past twenty-six years of his life, observing many changes in both camera technology and processes. Through his wide range of subject matter, Mike enjoys teaching others about the art of photography and his process in order to help others to achieve a better understanding of the craft. Mike is a Technical Account Manager for OM-Digital Solutions Corporation representing the OM System Micro 4/3 line of cameras.

John Amoroso
John owes it all to his mother, Joanne, who took him at age 8 to a beginner birdwatching class at a park in Longmont, Colorado. That sparked a life-long passion for birds. Over the next 17 years he participated in Winter and Spring Bird Counts with Foothills Audubon. During college, he surveyed Boreal Owl for Montana Natural Heritage Program, Wintering Raptors for USGS in Colorado, and co-led the first Breeding Bird Survey of Alaska’s Alagnak Wild River in Katmai National Park. John co-authored a comprehensive checklist for Eagle County, CO with life-long friend, Brad Benter, and discovered its first Curved-billed Thrasher at 8,832ft! He moved to Tucson with his family in 2015 and his knowledge of local birds and birding hotspots expanded rapidly. Since then, he has been an avid birder in both the US and internationally, and continues to volunteer on bird counts and other conservation efforts in Southern Arizona. He guides part time with Arizona Birding Guides.

Kathe Anderson
Kathe is an avid birder, leading bird walks, teaching classes, and counting birds for several bird surveys to help real scientists with data collection. For over 10 years, she’s led hundreds of walks for individuals, conservation organizations, private groups, and life-long learning programs, and taught dozens of hands-on birding-related classes for organizations such as the Verde Valley Nature and Birding Festival, Southwest Wings Nature Festival, Mesa Community College, ASU’s Osher Life-long Learning Program, Arizona State Parks, The Nature Conservancy, the Desert Botanical Garden and others. She loves sharing her passion with others. She’s an active member of the Phoenix area Audubon Societies. If it’s not fun, it’s not worth it.

Christina Baal
Christina is an artist, birder, writer, and naturalist. Her dream is to meet and paint 10,000 different species of birds over my lifetime. Going after this dream has afforded her the opportunity to see hundreds of beautiful birds, travel to incredible places, and meet wonderful people. It is important to her that each creature in her paintings is recognizable and creates an emotional response with the viewer. She hopes that her artwork can inspire people to fall in love with the natural world and want to protect it. 

Jeff Babson
Jeff Babson got his start in birding when his grandfather gave him a copy of The Golden Guide to the Birds of North America when he was 6. That was the beginning of a wonderful obsession, not only for birds, but the entire natural world.  Jeff currently works for the Pima County Department of Natural Resources, Parks, and Recreation, as the county’s Wildlife Viewing Program Specialist.  He also owns Sky Island Tours, an environmental education and eco-tour company, offering programs and tours for birds, butterflies, and dragonflies, among other things.

Rich Bailowitz
Just to keep all you natural history enthusiasts humble, it’s time you get re-acquainted with the notion that all gorgeous, glamorous, complexly-behaving animals that fly are not birds. I’d like to remind you about the world of insects. I’m an entomologist, specifically a lepidopterist, an odonatist, and a dipterist. Although born back east, I’ve lived, studied, and played in the splendors of Arizona for over 50 years and am more at home in the southeastern Arizona wild lands than anywhere else on the planet. Broaden your scopes a bit and join Alex and me for a few hours at Sweetwater Wetlands admiring the dragonflies!

Paul Bannick
Paul is an award-winning author and photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat. Coupling his love of the outdoors with his skill as a photographer, he creates images that foster the intimacy between viewer and subject, inspiring education and conservation.

Paul is both the author and photographer of five well-received books, including two best sellers, Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls (Braided River, 2016) and The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds (Mountaineers Books, 2008). The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, located at the University of Washington, created two traveling exhibits based on The Owl and the Woodpecker. Owl received the gold medal in the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Award’s “Animals/Pets” category. Paul’s latest book, Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers, was launched to rave reviews and has been nominated for several awards.

After graduating from the University of Washington, Paul worked successfully for 15 years in the computer software industry, beginning as one of the original 75 employees of the Aldus Corporation. He later served as a director for Adobe Systems before working as a senior manager at Microsoft. Wishing to combine his passion for wilderness conservation with his career, Paul turned his attention to nonprofit work and served as a director for conservation nonprofits for more than 20 years. Paul now works full time on his conservation photography, including writing, speaking, teaching workshops, and leading trips in service of wildlife and wildlands.

Ethan Beasley
Originally from Michigan, Ethan Beasley first developed a love for birding in that state. Experiencing a warbler fallout in Southwestern Michigan in May and participating in a Spring Migration banding program along Lake Superior, near Whitefish Point, contributed to his passion for wild birds. He moved to Tucson 19 years ago to take advantage of the excellent birding in Southeastern Arizona, and he has avidly birded the area ever since. He has participated in numerous bird surveys in Arizona, and Sonora Mexico, and led Field Trips for Tucson Bird Alliance, and served as a private guide. Ethan loves introducing people to birding in the wild, scenic canyons of Southeastern Arizona.

Chris Benesh
Chris loves sharing his passion for the natural world with others and has spent the past 36 years as a bird guide with Field Guides, an Austin, Texas based professional bird tour company. Birding connects us with nature and we benefit from time spent out in it. Chris aims to be informative without losing sight of the joy and serious fun to be found exploring the world.

Carlos Bethancourt
Carlos was born in Panama City in 1978 and raised in the small rural village of Huile, next to the Canal Zone. It was here where he learned many lessons of nature from his mother and grandmother, both of whom were deeply connected to nature and involved with conservation. After high school Carlos was awarded a scholarship to Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon, where he studied natural resources and received his first formal training in ornithology. Carlos began his career at the Canopy Tower in October of 2000 and has since attended numerous birding conferences and conventions in the US and Great Britain, where he led tours, workshops and presented programs on Panama’s birds. Carlos is a very popular and a much-requested guide, a testament not only to his birding ability, but also to his sincere friendly demeanor.

In 2018 he was awarded “Best Nature Tour Guide” by EcoTripMatch, as part of their mission to support conservation through ecotourism and the desire to recognize outstanding guides. EcoTripMatch accepted nominations from all over the world to crown the guide who is best at connecting tourists to the natural areas they are visiting. When not guiding, Carlos is busy at the office working on marketing and other projects for the Canopy Family.

Bonner Black
Bonner was raised in the unincorporated town of Hot Rock, Tennessee and moved to Nashville a week after she turned 17 to pursue music. In 2016 she received the Artist Entrepreneur Award from The Oxford Center of Entrepreneurs at The Times Center in New York City. Her songs have accumulated 900k+ streams with the release of two EPs and her debut Album, “Hopeless RomANTICS,” featuring songs that landed placements on the New York Times 2023 Spring Playlist, Spotify’s Fresh Finds Pop, Apple Music’s Breaking Singer-Songwriter. Over a decade of touring has taken her from the West Coast, to her headlining US “Fall Migration Tour” on the East Coast, and across the ocean to the UK where she will be returning this year for her second tour. In 2026 she will release her fourth studio project, a 5 songs EP titled, “Little Bird In A Big Sky”.

Also an avid birder and conservation advocate, her videos about birdwatching gained over 15 million views in 2025. She has collaborated with The Audubon Society in the US, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the UK, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In 2025 she was asked to be a keynote speaker at the Delta Birding Festival in Catalonia, Spain, and appeared on birding podcasts like “Life List” and Tommy Seigel’s, “Extremely Accurate Birds” as well as receiving recognition from the American Birding Association. Integrating her enthusiasm for birds and songwriting, she has cultivated a unique and devout community of 142 social media followers and hosts bird & nature walks before her live shows teaming up with local wildlife groups to highlight conservation efforts and nurture the local communities she travels to.

Ken Blankenship
Ken is the owner and lead guide of East West Birding Tours: a full-service company offering professional bird guiding and tour packages for individuals and small groups. After a rewarding career as a public educator, in 2016 Ken realized his dream of sharing his avian expertise with others in Southeast Arizona, the Rio Grande Valley & Coastal Texas, Minnesota wintering owls, and the Southeast US. And in recent years, EWBT is very excited to offer all-inclusive experiences to Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador — and more to come!

Rick Bowers
Rick began birding at age ten while living on Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, USA. In less than a year he was leading birders to the specialty birds of Southeastern Arizona. The owners of the Mile Hi Guest Ranch in Ramsey Canyon, Huachuca Mountains were so impressed with his abilities they would send all their guests with wish lists of birds to him. Of course, they provided their guests with a map to his house (still a little young to drive) and the heads up that they were going to be led by a child, but not to worry, he would find them their birds. And he did! During high school and college he led individuals and groups on tours in Southeastern Arizona. He received a BS in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Arizona (in a year we won’t mention here!). Before graduating from college, Rick received a letter from Victor Emanuel asking if he would like to lead tours for his company, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. Rick led tours to many destinations from Alaska and Siberia to Antarctica but with a specialty in North and Central America.

In 2002 he left VENT to work on a series of books with his wife, Nora, and Kenn Kaufman. They completed the first four books in the Kaufman Field Guide series, Birds, Mammals, Butterflies and Insects of North America with Rick and Nora providing the majority of the images for all but the insect guide. Rick and Nora then did a series of field guides to Wildflowers of Arizona, Texas, and the Carolinas. In addition they did field guides to Cactus of Arizona, Texas, and the Southwestern US. Rick has a special interest in nightbirds. He and Kenn Kaufman hold the one day owl record having SEEN eleven species of owls in one 24 hour period (Big Owl Day article). After completing nine books and two decks of playing cards, Rick has returned to his first love – leading tours and sharing is vast knowledge of natural history and photography with fellow nature lovers.

Jeff Bouton
Jeff Bouton literally stumbled into birding with a fortuitous view of a Snowy Owl through a spotting scope as he walked home from school. In the 40 years since, he’s worked as a seasonal field researcher, bird bander, and professional guide documenting rare birds with a disposable film camera behind the eyepiece of his spotting scope. The passion for the birding community and his appreciation for high performance optics eventually led him to his now 20-year career as liaison to the birding & nature markets for Kowa Sporting Optics! Digiscoping is a passion and he set a world record capturing images of over 1,000 bird species through the spotting scope in 2023!

Thomas Brown
Tom grew up in south-eastern Oregon, where his love of birds started early, and has continued thru his extensive photography. Starting out with a hand-me-down Leica camera at age 14, his photos can now be found in magazines, websites and calendars in several countries. At some point it became quite obvious that a deeper knowledge of all things bird was not only great fun, but helped with some much improved photos. This in turn has lead to many years of getting to know as much about the behavior of our avian friends as possible, and he is still learning to this day. Living in Baja Sur Mexico for nearly 8 years, Tom is the owner and operator of Focus On Feathers, Photography and Guided Bird Tours, based in La Paz, Mexico. He has presented bird seminars, photo exhibitions, as well as bird tours for groups and individuals for many years. For the last three years, Tom has written a weekly article for the bird website 10000Birds.com, and used that format to share his photos from around the world, visiting 10 different countries in 2018.

Jehudy Carballo
Born in the late 1970s in a family of loggers and developers, he is a living proof of the changes in the Costa Rican society in the last 40 years. An early childhood surrounded by chainsaws and lumber trucks made a deep impression in his life and at age 15 he flipped the coin becoming a volunteer for the National Parks System. He earned a degree in Ecotourism and since 1998 has been leading natural history and birding tours all around Costa Rica.

His great knowledge of the birds and nature of his country and his understanding and contagious love for the history, politics and culture, together with the passionate way of delivering information makes a tour with him a fun, educational and delightful experience for nature enthusiasts. His interest for birds has taken him to Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Southern California, Northwest Ohio and Cape May in the USA, plus Colombia and Ecuador. He has been an international guest speaker and is part of the organization of the Arenal Annual Bird Count.

Sneed Collard
Author Sneed B. Collard III has written more than one hundred books for children and adults including the humorous award-winning adult guide Birding for Boomers—And Everyone Else Brave Enough to Embrace the World’s Most Rewarding and Frustrating Activity. Collard began birding with his son Braden more than a decade ago and their bird-related travels have taken them across the US as well as to South America, Europe, and Asia. These birding experiences inspired their blog FatherSonBirding.com as well as a host of Sneed’s children’s books such as Birds of Every Color; Fire Birds—Valuing Natural Wildfires and Burned Forests; Woodpeckers—Drilling Holes and Bagging Bugs; and Waiting for a Warbler. Sneed is a regular contributor to BWD, Montana Outdoors, and other magazines and is a popular, award-winning speaker. He has keynoted birding festivals and conferences in California, Washington, Texas, Colorado, and Montana. To learn more, visit his websites www.sneedbcollardiii.com and www.FatherSonBirding.com.

John Coons
John combines birding excellence with a natural ability as a tour guide. He has been leading tours since 1985. Since then, his great group skills, attention to detail, easy laugh, and unfailing sense to spot (and remember!) what’s fascinating in things large and small have brought delight to innumerable Field Guides participants on tours from the High Arctic to the tip of South America and throughout Australasia.

When not on tour, John enjoys exploring and birding the remote mountains, canyons, and mesas of his home in northern Arizona. His ambition of developing a completely sustainable yard of native wildflowers, grasses, trees, and shrubs is a goal that consumes more time than expected each spring and summer.

Troy Corman
Always outdoors and exploring the natural world from an early age, Troy has been an avid birder since high school. Raised in rural south-central Pennsylvania, he moved to Arizona in 1980 to pursue higher education and new adventures. For several years, he conducted bird, reptile and amphibian inventories on the upper San Pedro River for the Bureau of Land Management. He has worked for the Arizona Game and Fish Department since 1990. As the Department’s Avian Monitoring Coordinator, he conducts surveys, assists with annual survey training for T&E species, and coordinates statewide bird projects. Troy was the coordinator of the Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas Project (1993-2000) and was the co-author of the Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas (2005). He also co-authored the recently published 3rd edition of Birds of Phoenix and Maricopa County. Established in 2005, he was one of the original founders of Arizona Field Ornithologists and served as its first president until 2013. Troy enjoys traveling and sharing his knowledge and passion for birds and other creatures. He also loves exploring new and seldom visited areas, and observing and documenting the changing seasonal status and distribution of birds.

Laura Couchman
Laura Couchman has been birding since 2004, and moved to Tucson from Chicago in 2014. She and her husband Bill love to bird wherever they travel and have enjoyed birding overseas and at festivals all around the U.S. During the pandemic Laura taught herself Merlin and eBird, free smartphone tech tools for identifying birds and keeping track of what you see. She loves to help other birders learn and incorporate these into their birding practice. Laura also creates and teaches online courses about birds and birding at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Tucson. Laura loves birding in Arizona because: the varied habitats and elevations attract many species; if you go somewhere with water you’re guaranteed birds will be there; and because Arizona’s trees are short and have few leaves it’s easier to see the birds!

Joshua Covill 
Josh’s interest in the natural world started young, he began seriously birding around the age of 13. Growing up in scenic western Montana with Glacier National Park as his backyard fostered a deep love of mountains and wild places that he carries with him today. Josh started bird guiding at 15, leading trips with the local Audubon chapter around Montana’s Flathead Valley. He has continued to hone his birding skills through work with the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch, conducting IMBCR bird surveys with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, and leading field trips during the Ohio’s Biggest Week in American Birding. He recently launched his own company, Glacier Birding Adventures, where he spends summers guiding custom birding and wildlife tours in Montana. His taste for adventure led him south of the border, where he now spends several months each year practicing Spanish, exploring the cuisine, and seeking out the wonderful birds and animals of the tropics. His experiences in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Chile have shaped his perspective on eco-tourism, and he is keen to introduce these ideas going forward.

Jamie Cunningham
Jamie has had a lifelong interest in all nature and wildlife, but especially birds. A visit to Magee Marsh in NW Ohio during the Biggest Week festival turned her interest into a passion. That was in 2012, now she is a field trip leader for the festival. Since then Jamie has dove headfirst into birding and especially bird photography. Her award-winning images have been featured in a number of publications and were even featured in her own gallery. Jamie was instrumental in forming a Nature Photography club in her hometown, where she shares her wealth of knowledge with members. She also serves on the board of directors for the Tri-Moraine Audubon Society. Jamie is most proud of her involvement as an advisor for the Ohio Young Birder’s Club. She is passionate about sharing her love of birds with youth.

Marie Davis
Marie grew up with a love of birds, but didn’t realize that “birding” was a thing until her husband saw a banner downtown advertising the Tucson Bird Alliance festival! She started birding in 2015. As a former elementary teacher, she’s thrilled to work with kids again by leading family bird walks. She enjoys volunteering with in a variety of roles. She is also a former professional violinist, loves learning, spending time with her family and friends, and praising God for the beautiful world that He’s blessed us with. Her favorite bird is the American Robin – as a child, she enjoyed watching them run through the lush yards in northern Idaho and the Chicago suburbs. Her other birdy favorites are: birds she hasn’t yet seen, places she hasn’t yet birded, and of course, the amazing friends! To new adventures!

Ray Deeney
A Brooklyn native, Ray Deeney began birding seriously about 1990 in New Jersey where he spent most of his adult life prior to moving to Tucson in 2011. At that time he retired as an attorney specializing in law and mental disability issues. Previously he had been a special education teacher, a social worker and a teacher at Seton Hall Law School for twelve years. In New Jersey he was also very active with New Jersey Audubon including field trips, Christmas bird counts and various citizen science projects. Currently, Ray regularly leads bird walks at Tohono Chul Park and seasonally at Arthur Pack Park and the Mason Center. In these roles connecting with out of state visitors looking to understand and appreciate Southern Arizona birds are a special source of fun and satisfaction for Ray.

Henrey Deese
Henrey Deese was introduced to birding by a local forest preserve ranger in the Chicago area at a young age and has never looked back. He grew up birding with his mother and brother, roaming around the hotspots of the Chicago area and taking trips across the country in pursuit of new and exciting birds. This love of birds developed into a passion for science, as he earned a B.S. in Biology from Hillsdale College and a M.S. in Biology from Georgia Southern University. He is now a PhD student in the University of Arizona’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where he studies the interactions between birds, ticks, and their environment, and how birds contribute to the spread of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Henrey has over 20 years of birding experience across North America and has been banding for the last 2 years as a part of his dissertation research. In addition to birding, he enjoys nature photography, music, and playing tabletop RPGs.

Louie Dombroski
Inspired by a Blue Jay at a bird feeder when he was five years old, Louie Dombroski has been watching and studying birds ever since. He fist ventured to Arizona from his native Michigan while in his twenties, and has birded the region extensively ever since, including years-long stints at the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon and at the Tucson Bird Alliance’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia. Field work has taken him from Alaska to northern Mexico, but he keeps returning to southeast Arizona. Louie’s enthusiasm is evident whenever he runs into people trying to connect with birds. He finds that showing people birds that he’s seen many times over but are “life birds” for them is like reliving the experience of seeing them for the first time himself.

Jeremy Dominguez
Jeremy is a southeast Arizona–based birding guide and U.S. Navy veteran with a deep love for the region’s birds, landscapes, and seasons. He has spent years birding and guiding across the United States. Jeremy completed a Lower 48 Big Year with 724 species and brings that broad field experience into every outing. His guiding style is relaxed, friendly, and focused on making Arizona birding fun and accessible for birders of all levels.

Adam Dudley
Originally from the UK, Adam became interested in birds from a young age, starting out recording bird songs onto tape from his bedroom window years before he owned a pair of binoculars, something he credits with his passion for “ear birding”. After ten years of birding around the UK and Europe, he traveled extensively in Australia, New Zealand, SE Asia, India, and Africa looking at and studying all kinds of birds and wildlife. He developed a particular passion for banding during this time when he helped the Australasian wader study group cannon-net migrating shorebirds. After a few years back in the UK, Adam relocated to the USA where he and his wife have lived for nearly 25 years. Together they have traveled and birded in all 50 States in search of birds, wildlife and wild places, and have lived and worked in the East, West and Southwest of the USA. He lived in Tucson for 5 years and became very familiar with the birds and birding places in this corner of Arizona, leading international birding tours here (and across the USA) for the UK tour company Naturetrek before relocating to California where he has served on the board of the San Mateo County Bird Alliance. Here he was responsible for designing and leading field trips near and far in this diverse state while indulging his passion for identification of gulls! Newly re-resident in Tucson after missing Arizona and its incredible birding, Adam loves all aspects of wildlife but particularly loves “local patch” birding – when not traveling around America, Adam is an avid local patch watcher at a creek near to where he lives.

Marc & Peggy Faucher
Marc and Peggy Faucher have recently moved to Patagonia, Arizona from Vermont where they started serious birding in 2013. We have spent the last 40 years traveling extensively around the world and have birded on all 7 continents. Since retiring we enjoy volunteering on citizen science projects involving habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring, hummingbird banding and bird surveys. We enjoy leading bird walks on the Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve and Patagonia Lake State Park’s birding trail. Marc is an avid wildlife photographer and has documented over 2700 bird species worldwide. Our passion is exploring wild places and looking for wildlife.

Tony Figueroa
Tony is Tucson Bird Alliance’s Invasive Plant Manager, and a Tucson native, born and raised. He has lived on the east side of town for the majority of his life and fell in love with nature while adventuring through Mt. Lemmon and Redington on his days off. He was always fascinated by plants, animals and rocks, but didn’t realize that he could find a full time job working in nature until later in life. He and his wife traveled around the country on month-long summer road trips, and it was during these trips that he would keep on ending up in National Parks, monuments and forests, and had the realization that there are people working in these amazing places, so he said to himself “why don’t I figure out how to get a job that lets me work at these places?” Tony went back to school after being a pharmacy technician for 13 years, to get a degree in Natural Resources with an emphasis on Wildlife conservation and management. After graduating in May 2018, Tony  landed an internship at Saguaro National Park as a member of the invasive plant management crew. Starting this role in the middle of summer in Tucson was only further affirmation that he made the right decision, because even when it’s over 100 degrees out, you’re drenched in sweat and it’s not even noon, and he was having the time of his life and didn’t miss being under fluorescent light bulbs one second, even if it had air conditioning. After that Tony worked at the Grand Canyon as an invasive plant management bio-tech, during the 2019 summer season. Now he’s happy to be back in the place he loves, Tucson, working for a great organization. Not many things in life are easy, but chasing your dreams can pay off with hard work and dedication.  When you are working in places that are spectacular and overflowing with natural beauty, it makes you excited to go to work everyday.

Melissa Fratello
Melissa lived much of her life unaware of the joys of the living world, frequenting shopping malls and other atrocious places she now considers hell on earth. Her son became enamored with birds as a child, and transformed her entire perspective on the world and how we interact with it. Her mission is to share the natural world with others while encouraging them to protect it, and to convince birders that birds need us to prioritize saving them over watching them. She is the Executive Director of the Tucson Bird Alliance, co-founder and co-leader of Feminist Bird Club Tucson Chapter, co-author of Birds of Arizona and New Mexico: A Timber Press Field Guide, and a proud slow birder.

Robert Gallardo
Robert is originally from Santa Paula, California. From a very early age he developed a fondness for the natural world and this eventually led him to get a degree in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation at Humboldt State University, California in 1992. He is a devote Naturalist that has resided in Honduras since 1993, after having served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer there for three years. He avidly studies Honduras’ birds, butterflies and orchids, but admires all fields of flora and fauna. He has authored and produced numerous natural history productions such as the Guide to Birds of Lake Yojoa, a CD-Bird Songs of Honduras, a CD-Orchids of Honduras, two editions of the Guide to the Birds of Honduras (in English and Spanish), and with his wife, Olivia, the Guide to the Butterflies of Honduras. He and Olivia reside at the Emerald Valley International Butterfly Center; a picturesque 85-acre sanctuary at Lake Yojoa that harbors nearly 800 species of butterflies, 200 species of birds, and abundant small mammals. There, they have opened a small, luxury eco-lodge.

Kristy Gallo
As a Michigan native, Kristy grew up in a family with a passion for nature and birds, spending countless hours camping, canoeing, hiking, and birding throughout the country. She is currently the co-caretaker of Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary where she helps to continue the legacy of Mary Jo Ballator and enjoys sharing it with visitors. She also runs her own guiding company, Redstart Birding Tours. She competed in powerlifting for over twenty years and broke the world record in the bench press.

Jim Gessaman
An ornithologist, ecologist, and physiologist at Utah State University from 1968-2003, Jim has authored more than 50 publications on bird migration; energetics of flight; physiological adaptations of mammals and birds (with emphasis on hawks, eagles and owls) to inclement environments; and validations of new methodologies for studying animal energetics and metabolism. Since moving to Tucson in 2006, Jim has volunteered at Tucson Bird Alliance for several years with leading bird walks at the Mason Center and now at Arthur Pack Regional Park during the winter months, and helping survey birds in several Important Bird Areas.

Genavieve Gray-Sandoval
As a third-year PhD student in Dr. David Enard’s population genetics lab at the University of Arizona, Genavieve delves into the intricate world of viral adaptation in Myotis bats. Combining her passion for genetics and wildlife, she explores how these fascinating furry creatures adapted to past ancient viral epidemics, shedding light on crucial evolutionary mechanisms. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion with fellow community members.

David Griffin
I’m a wildlife and field biologist and I’ve studied the flora and fauna of the Desert Southwest for more than 25 years. I’ve observed the birdlife of Arizona and New Mexico extensively and have in-depth knowledge of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and plants. I’m an adventurer and love to explore overlooked areas. I studied the ecology of Yellow-eyed juncos and Aplomado falcons, and for my graduate work wrote a Conservation History of the Peregrine Falcon in New Mexico. I was a field team member on the Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas and have traveled and studied birds in Arizona ever since. I live nearby to Madera Canyon where I regularly hike and explore. I’ve led field trips for Tucson Bird Alliance, Mesilla Valley Audubon Society, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, South East Arizona Birding Festival, and I’m the Compiler for the Green Valley-Madera Canyon CBC. I love to share, educate, and expose people to the wonders of the Natural World. As a birding guide, I’m able to do that with birders from all over the world. I also love bikes, cycling, and bikepacking/touring! I’ve volunteered as a Race Marshall, Children’s Bike Safety Course Instructor, and helped provide holiday bikes for underprivileged children. Since 2020 my wife and I have provided free- or low-cost bicycle service to families in southern Arizona.

Matt Griffiths
Starting at Tucson Bird Alliance in 2004 as a habitat restoration field tech, Matt is currently webmaster, editor of the Vermilion Flycatcher magazine, and social media manager. He also participates in many Arizona Important Bird Areas surveys all over southeastern Arizona, has two Tucson Bird Count routes, and tries out a new Christmas Bird Count every year. His interest in birds reached new levels during a season of surveying for Southwestern Willow Flycatchers in the Grand Canyon. Now he can imagine nothing better than listening to Whip-poor-will and Canyon Wren song in one of his favorite Sky Islands! He considers the Loggerhead Shrike to be the coolest local bird.

Manuel Grosselet
An ornithologist by training, Manuel has participated in numerous bird monitoring programs since 1988 in Europe, North Africa and North and Central America. Over the last two decades, he has monitored of birds in the Santo Domingo Botanical Garden in the Mexican city of Oaxaca. He has worked as sub-director in the Federal Environmental Law Enforcement Agency and in the Division of Wildlife in the Semarnat. He teaches courses on bird identification through sight and sound in France and Mexico, courses on use of mist-nets, bird banding, and moult in various parts of North America. He is certified as an official trainer by the North American Bird Banding Council. He has been a bird guide since 1993, beginning with “la Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux en France”, and in Mexico since 2001.

Manuel also serves an Ornithological Specialist Advisor in Technical Services for the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Conabio), National Federal Commission for Electricity (CFE), Mexican Petroleum (Pemex), Fonatur, National Institute of Anthopology and History (INAH), Technological Institute of Agriculture in Oaxaca (ITAO), Chemical and Hidrology Institute (IQH) and Grupo Ha´, amongst others.

He is also a recognized bird photographer, and his work has been exhibited in various places, and published in National Geographic, México Desconocido and in various books such as Handbook of the Birds of the World, Lynx edition. He has produced three bird field guides for Mexico and over 25 peer-reviewed ornithology publications.

Kari Hackney
Kari grew up in the most altered state in the country and recognized from a young age the importance of a connection to nature. Since then she has lived in Alaska, Phoenix, and England, all a personal case-study in how a society values and relates to their natural environment. This has ultimately drawn her to the world of conservation, where she helps others on their journey to be good stewards of our planet as the Director of Habitat Stewardship for the Tucson Bird Alliance. She holds her M.S. in Parks and Resource Management, with a B.S. in Biology. She leads the organization’s efforts in habitat restoration in both wildlands and urban settings. 

Homer Hansen
Homer is a native of Willcox, AZ and while growing up, had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the Sandhill Cranes in winter and the Cassin’s Sparrow in summer. Homer earned his B.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona and now works as an environmental scientist with Aplomado Environmental assessing contaminants in soil and groundwater. Homer has presented many workshops on sparrows, raptors, flycatchers, and bird ecology over the past 13 years and has led many birding tours in southeastern Arizona. He especially enjoys the challenges of complex identifications and loves to learn about the nature of birds.

Tim Helentjaris
As a Midwestern transplant to the West ~40 years ago for graduate study, I was stunned by the scenery out here, never having been west of Ohio before then.  Since that awakening, I have spent much of my free time out-of-doors intrigued by questions of natural history.  It also spurred my interest in birding, where I focus primarily on bird behavior and biology.  Now retired, I get my science kick by volunteering with the IBA program and by contributing to eBird as often as I am out in the field.  Having spent a career creating and contributing to databases, I get the purpose of these programs and enjoy being a part of them, thinking about questions as to bird distribution.  It’s been amazing to see the changes here in Arizona since the 80’s!  I also regularly volunteer in the shop, enjoying my interaction with visitors and helping them to find the birds here they came out to look for.  I try to lead a few field trips per year, usually to under-birded areas, as well as help with special projects, lately installing the streaming webcam at the Paton’s Center for Hummingbirds.

Jean and Mark Hengesbaugh
Jean and Mark live near Sabino Canyon and consider the creek their back yard. In addition to leading birding field trips in the recreation area for Tucson Bird Alliance, they also survey three Important Bird Areas along lower Sabino Creek. They are Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists for the U.S. Forest Service.

Mike Henry
Mike grew up in the Midwest but became an avid birder after moving to Tucson in 1998. He has been photographing and documenting Sonoran Desert birds since 2018 and has had his work published by the National Audubon Society, BirdNote and the Purple Martin Quarterly. Mike currently writes the Tools of the Trade column for the American Birding Association’s Birding magazine.

Mike Hillman
Based in Tucson just minutes from Saguaro National Park, Mike has been leading birding, photography, and wildlife watching tours since 2015. His guiding experience spans the globe, including Australia, Greenland, Canada, and over a dozen U.S. national parks. As the Photo Expeditions Director at Natural Habitat Adventures, Mike combines his passion for birding and photography with his expertise in wildlife education, bringing his enthusiasm for the natural world to every tour.

Gerry Hodge
A Western Washington native, Gerry has been a “rain-chicken” in Tucson for 10 years. He spent 20 years sailing, then 15 years sea-kayaking in Puget Sound and British Columbia where he led over 300 kayak trips. His close proximity to sea birds drew him to his current passion. Gerry and his wife Terry, have chased birds in 15 countries (Iceland is his favorite) and enjoy getting out in nature wherever they may be. He retired in 2003 after teaching math and science in grades 6-12 for 26 years in the State of Washington. When not birding, Gerry does astronomy outreach events for Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association. If we spot a Tufted Puffin, Cassiopeia, or Harlequin Duck, Gerry will be able to identify it immediately.

Wesley Homoya
Wes Homoya was born and raised in Indiana, and as such is a firm believer in practicing Hoosier hospitality- living graciously with each other on this planet we all call home. This ethic was instilled in him by his parents: Barb, a nature-loving nurse who taught him compassion for little things like salamanders, and Michael, a botanist and author who exemplified not only why it’s important to know the names of the flora and fauna around you, but why we must share this knowledge with others. Eventually this desire to learn led to studying ecology and ornithology at Purdue under Dr. Barny Dunning. Various employments since have allowed him to live, work, and bird in places as varied as Australia, Maui, Brazil, the Galapagos, Hungary, Hong Kong, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, and Ecuador. Currently, Wes resides in Indy and spends his days conducting avian surveys in Colorado, foraging wild ingredients for his brother’s libations at Ash & Elm Cider, and being an ambassador for birds and conservation in any way he can, whether via the Lights Out Indy project for the local Audubon chapter or getting folks pumped up about birds n booze at his popular event series Feathers & Fermentation.

Karen Howe
Karen spent the last 30 years living in Portland, OR with frequent visits to her parents in Tucson. She held program management and business operations roles for IT, energy efficiency and environmental organizations and spent the last few years on habitat protection and restoration. Now retired, Karen volunteers at Mt Rainier National Park, Tucson Bird Alliance, Tucson’s Mission Garden and Citizens’ Climate Lobby. She’s an obsessive gardener, intrepid hiker, enthusiastic bird watcher and budding writer.

John Hughes
John was born in Dallas, Texas where, at a young age, he learned all the birds in his suburban neighborhood. Originally more into herps, he collected and raised every form of reptile and amphibian he could catch. This lead to graduate research on temperature preference and reproductive ecology of the Texas Spiny Lizard. After moving to Northwest Montana, his interest in birds grew into a life passion. John served on the board of the Flathead Audubon Society where he lead birding trips and focused on saving and restoring bird habitat. He remains a member of the Flathead Audubon Society and serves as a content editor for their bird of the month articles. Currently a member of the Tucson Audubon Society, John volunteers with Tucson Audubon’s restoration crew at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. He volunteers at Patagonia Lake State Park leading birding trips, and prefers to be out in the natural environment observing and learning about the natural world.

Brian Jones
Despite always having had an affinity for nature, and even though Brian worked as a field tech on Cinnamon Teal, Northern Goshawk (before the name change) and Mexican Spotted Owl projects in college, it took his honeymoon in Costa Rica to turn him into a birder. Back then he marveled at people who could miraculously hear or barely glimpse a bird and know what it was. He is now one of those people with a growing number of birds, always trying to learn more. A rare Arizona Native, Brian loves birding everywhere he goes and most often visits El Rio Preserve, which is practically his backyard. He is looking forward to sharing his love of the place with others.

Keith Kamper
Keith got an early start as a birder when, in middle school, he had a section in science class focused on birding.  He discovered he could have birding adventures year round and was hooked. Keith grew up in Michigan and attended Grand Valley State University where he majored in Sociology and worked as a social worker.  He moved to Tucson in June of 2003 where he currently is a devoted caregiver, when he’s not birding. Keith is an expert birder, leading private tours and groups locally as well as in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. He is also co-founder of the group, Arizona Field Ornithologists; served the group as vice president and has written articles for its publication, Arizona Birds.

Ethan Kistler
Ethan hails from Ohio and began birding at the age of 10 when he literally woke up one morning and decided that he wanted to become a birder. Since then he’s worked field jobs from Ohio to Alaska, traveled to over 40 countries, and led birding trips throughout North America, Europe and Africa (where he lived for 7 years). When not leading tours for WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, he’s chasing rarities, off on spontaneous birding jaunts, and reviewing data as one of eBird’s data reviewers for much of the African continent. Previously the Education and Outreach Specialist for Black Swamp Bird Observatory and currently a director-at-large for the Ohio Ornithological Society, Ethan’s main focus now is guiding and filling in gaps between tours with ornithology-related field work. Ethan has recently written the ABA’s Field Guide to Birds of Ohio, published in 2019.

Karen Krebbs
Karen worked at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for more than 26 years and has extensive knowledge of birds and mammals.  Her passion for hummingbirds has resulted in a book, book chapters, scientific papers, and also a husbandry manual for captive hummingbirds for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.  Her research on hummingbirds includes migration, nesting biology, behavior, song development, and longevity.  Karen regularly advises zoological institutions and aviaries on the proper care and husbandry of captive hummingbirds.  She has conducted educational workshops and seminars on birds for various organizations, schools, yearly bird festivals, and local bird groups.  Karen has also studied bats for more than 30 years and carries out lectures and workshops for bats.  Her long-term monitoring and inventory research project for bats in the Chiricahua Mountains is in its 16th year.  She also trains government employees on the proper protocol and handling techniques for studying bats.  She has led and co-led natural history trips in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Mexico, Baja, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galapagos, and Africa.  Karen has a B.Sc. in Wildlife & Fisheries Science from the University of Arizona.

Gordon and Lori Lam
AZ Borderlands Master Naturalists Gordon and Lori Lam are passionate educators whose love for birds and their habitats has inspired more than a decade of leading nature and history walks across the United States, with a special focus on Southeast Arizona. They have collaborated with organizations including the National Park Service, the American Littoral Society, the Linnean Society, and the Southwest Wings and Wings Over Willcox birding festivals. The Lams also serve as docents at the beautiful Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, where they enjoy sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with fellow bird lovers. Their guiding philosophy is simple: A.B.B., or “Always Be Birding,” a spirit they bring to every walk as they help others notice more, learn more, and maybe even start seeing birds everywhere they look, whether they planned to or not! 

Alex Lamoreaux
Alex has been an avid birder and naturalist his entire life. The ubiquitous Red-tailed Hawk was his spark bird and continues to be his favorite bird today! Alex has been a nomadic biologist, working in multiple countries and in dozens of US states for over 15 years before settling into full time bird-guiding as a senior leader and North America specialist for Wildside Nature Tours. Alex’s love for nature shines through in his ever-enthusiastic approach to guiding, and he strives to bring the birding community together to conserve and protect wildlife.

Addison Lander
Addison is a bat researcher who has been working with them in research and rehab capacities for a few years, though his fascination with these flying friends has been lifelong. Though a PhD student, he eventually plans to teach; come ready with any questions you might have about bats!

Bill Lisowsky
Birding has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. Even as a youngster, birding my local patch was my favorite hobby. I became a member of the fledgling American Birding Association as a teenager — back when the only way to get rare bird information was by calling a telephone “hotline” once a week and the ABA Birding magazine was actually an occasional hard copy newsletter from Jim Tucker that came in the mail. My interest in nature, the outdoors and natural resource conservation led to a 35-year career with the US Forest Service that took our family all over the United States, until my retirement in 2012. During this time, I served on bird record committees, compiled Christmas Bird Counts, conducted Breeding Bird Surveys, prepared Regional Summaries for various national birding publications and led field trips in many parts of the country. My wife Paula and I have four children and eight grandchildren, live in Tubac, Arizona and continue to actively bird wherever we are.

Andrew Lydeard 
Andrew was born in South Carolina and spent his formative years exploring the diverse woodlands and stream systems in Alabama, which led to a lifelong fascination with the diversity of the state. He graduated in 2011 from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, and his ‘spark bird’ was the Red Crossbill during an ornithology lecture on bill adaptations. In 2018, he became a seasonal Least Tern and Snowy Plover steward in Baldwin County, AL for Alabama Audubon (formerly Birmingham Audubon) and has focused on bird advocacy and conservation ever since.

Andrew has returned to Alabama Audubon after completing graduate studies at Murray State University and a two-year position as Lab Manager at the Savannah River Ecology Lab. He currently resides in the Birmingham area with his dog, Pickle, and spends his spare time admiring and photographing the birds of the southeast and especially Alabama.

Jennie MacFarland
Jennie has lived in Tucson for most of her life and loves SE Arizona and its birds! In 2010 she graduated from the University of Arizona with a BS in Wildlife Conservation and Management from the School of Natural Resources. That same month she was hired by Tucson Bird Alliance to work in the Arizona Important Bird Areas Program and has a fantastic time at work! When not watching birds, Jennie enjoys many other “geek chic” activities!

Jake Mohlmann
Raised in rural northeast Pennsylvania, Jake is a lifelong birdwatcher and conservationist. He has worked for New York City’s Museum of Natural History and for Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Science and made significant contributions to the field work for the most recent edition of the Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas. Since then he has worked on projects involving Burrowing Owls at the Salton Sea and counted secretive marsh birds in the lower Colorado River basin. He also spent a summer leading tours on St. Paul Island and has worked on the identification and monitoring of endangered species in South Texas and various areas in the Mojave Desert of southern California. It was on St. Paul that Jake lived a birder’s dream, with the first Western Hemisphere record of Brown Hawk Owl, subject of a subsequent cover photo and article in North American Birds in 2007. Jake is always excited to return to sunny southeastern Arizona to live and bird as a co-owner of The Adventure Birding Company. He is also an associate leader for WINGS bird tours leading trips to Utah, Arizona and Mexico.

Rosemary Mosco
Rosemary is an author, illustrator, and speaker whose work connects people with the natural world. She creates acclaimed science books for kids and adults, including the national bestseller A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, which was featured on Real Housewives of NYC. She’s written and drawn for The New York Times, Audubon, the PBS Kids show Elinor Wonders Why, and more, and makes a regular comic strip in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Living Bird magazine. Her nature comic Bird and Moon won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic and was the subject of an award-winning museum exhibit. Her climate change comics were exhibited at AAAS headquarters and the Peabody Essex Museum. She gives engaging talks and workshops at events all over North America.

Rosemary is a graduate of the Field Naturalist Program. She judged a bird tattoo contest (twice!) and co-founded an event celebrating invertebrate butts. You can learn more about her at rosemarymosco.com.

Scott Olmstead
A high school Spanish teacher during most of the year and part-time birding tour leader with WINGS Birding Tours during the summer, Scott gets a real thrill out of sharing birding and nature experiences with others. In addition to leading field trips, he has volunteered with Tucson Bird Alliance on IBA surveys and the Tucson Bird Alliance Youth Birding Committee. Scott is completely obsessed with birding in Central and South America and he led the Tucson Bird Alliance birding tour to Ecuador in 2012. His bird-related pursuits include sound recording and photography.

Bob Orenstein
Bob relocated to Tucson in 2018 following a 27-year career as a patent attorney and engineer at the General Electric Company, having worked across a broad spectrum of projects related to clean and efficient electric power generation. Bob earned a Bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolution from Cornell University, has served as a director of and consultant to The Biodiversity
Group based in Tucson, and has been an avid amateur naturalist, birder and certified SCUBA diver since childhood.

Jack Parlapiano
Jack’s birding career sparked 12 years ago after going to The Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache with his grandmother. Since then, he has grown into a birder, naturalist, and photographer traveling across New Mexico to see the incredible biodiversity the state has to offer. Jack currently studies Biology, Chemistry, and avian migration at the University of New Mexico. Here, he hopes to apply his extensive knowledge of the state and its avifauna toward the conservation of imperiled areas. His fascination with migration has led him to spend many hours at migrant traps, observing morning flight, hawk-watching, and studying how birds use their habitat. In the summer, he conducted endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher surveys south of Albuquerque, and worked with Leiothlypis warblers in Texas’s sky islands. When the holiday season rolls around, there is only one day Jack looks forward to, the Albuquerque Christmas Bird Count: where he has been an annual participant since he was a young birder.

To extend his passion for birds and the community, Jack has fallen in love with guiding, both within New Mexico and across the United States. He has been fortunate to guide with Sabrewing Nature Tours in High Island, Texas, become a Junior Instructor at Hog Island Audubon, Maine, and lead bird walks around Albuquerque with the Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico. He loves nothing more than sharing a special moment with clients, friends, and his grandmother.

Alex Patia 
Alex was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois where his obsession with birds was first sparked after seeing a Great-horned Owl being mobbed by crows at age 9. His passion for sharing the joy of wildlife with others is what prompted him to get a Masters in Environmental Education in 2013. He has since worked in seven states including leading puffin cruises in Maine, as a naturalist in all three of Washington’s national parks, on whale watching trips in the Puget Sound, leading overnight trips
to Santa Cruz Island, handling raptors for education programs at the New Mexico Wildlife Center, and as a wildlife guide in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Alex has birded in all 50 U.S. states but Arizona has been his favorite state to bird in almost every year since first visiting in 2011. Alex is excited to now call Arizona home and share the amazing diversity of its wildlife and stunning landscapes with visitors!

Alex also shares his passion for birds as the Sweetwater Wetlands Coordinator for Tucson Bird Alliance. He has participated in multiple Christmas Bird Counts, bird surveys, banding stations, and was formerly the eBird Regional Reviewer for Teton and Park counties Wyoming.

Rob Ripma
Rob is a lifelong Indiana resident and co-owner of Sabrewing Nature Tours. He has traveled and birded extensively throughout the Americas and taken pelagic trips into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Rob is currently the President of the Board of the Amos Butler Audubon Society (ABAS) in Indianapolis and is also on the board of directors for Ohio’s Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). He also serves as the Field Trip Coordinator for the largest birding festival in the United States, BSBO’s Biggest Week in American Birding. Prior to joining the ABAS and BSBO boards, he served on the executive board of the Indiana Audubon Society for three years as Treasurer and Vice President. Rob is co-founder of the Indiana Young Birders Club and speaks at a variety of organizations and schools about birds and birding to share his knowledge and experiences in the field. He served as the primary bird blogger for Birds & Bloom’s Magazine from 2013-2017. And prior to establishing Sabrewing Nature Tours, Rob worked at Wild Birds Unlimited for seven years.

Rob loves working with new and experienced birders of all ages and believes that teaching people about birds will not only increase interest in birding but also help them better understand why we must work to protect birds and their habitats. A graduate from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in 2008 with a degree in Marketing, Rob lives with his wife Stephanie in Carmel, Indiana.

Max Roberts
Max is a PhD student in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on how landscape patterns affect the biology of reptiles and amphibians. For his masters at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, he worked on Project RattleCam, a community science group that uses livestreaming-technology to study wild rattlesnake behavior and change public perceptions of snakes. In addition to his work in herpetology, Max is an experienced birder who has worked numerous field positions across the American West, from surveying for goshawks in Northern California, to conducting songbird point counts in Colorado for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Max was also a trip leader for the 2025 Morro Bay Bird Festival, and he is excited to bring his experience leading birding trips to this year’s Southeast Arizona Birding Festival.

Chris Rohrer
Greetings! And thank you for joining Tucson Bird Alliance’s Southeast Arizona Birding Festival! My name is Chris Rohrer and I’ve loved birds since I’ve been a kid but didn’t turn into a birder until 2011. Now I am addicted to all things avian. I am a teacher by day and birder anytime I’m not working. In the birding world, I collect a lot of bird data and do quite a bit of study in Mexico and Guatemala. I’ve done extensive travel around the world, write for my blog Las Aventuras. I have also sold my photography and have contributed quite a bit of my work to various research papers. Some of my photography is also used in our bird ID guides/books both locally and nationally. I occasionally guide around Southern Arizona when I get the chance away from work. And finally, I’ve also published articles for various bird magazines around the country. In short, I love birds. I will do my best to help all of you learn about our amazing wildlife here in Southern Arizona. This will be my 3rd year guiding for the festival and I can’t wait to show you some of my favorite birding hotspots. See you soon or as we say in Spanish, hasta pronto! And welcome to the amazing birding world of Southern Arizona!

Jim Rorabaugh
Jim earned BS and MS degrees in Zoology and Animal Ecology, respectively, from U.C. Davis and then went on to a 30-year career as a wildlife biologist for various federal agencies, mostly in Arizona and California. He spent his last 20 years working on threatened and endangered species in southern Arizona while employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Phoenix and Tucson. Mostly known for his work in herpetology, Jim is the senior author of A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Sonora, Mexico, as well as many other published works in herpetology. He has worked extensively in Sonora as well as southern Arizona. Jim began birding in Arizona in 1979 and enjoys sharing with others what he has learned over the years about birds, other animals, and plants. Now retired, he lives off-the-grid in a remote area of Cochise County where the lizards are strong, all the snakes are good looking, and all the birds are way above average.

Rob Rutledge
Rob started birding in his twenties while he was a Park Ranger at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. He lead bird walks for the Indianapolis Audubon Society for many years and has birded in almost all 50 states and around the world. He started leading walks for Tucson Bird Alliance in 2012 at the Arivaca Cienega and now does bird walks at the SweetWater Wetlands and Pena Blanca Lake and for the Tubac Nature Center. He loves to share the birds and make new birding friends.

Michael Sadat
Michael Sadat is a lifelong Tucsonan with nearly thirty years of birding experience in southern Arizona. He began identifying backyard birds with his grandpa at age ten & quickly became obsessed. Birding was also a gateway to Michael’s fascination with Sonoran plant life and its intricate relationship with native birds. Photography & field recording has further enhanced his birding experiences & ability to share his observations with friends & family. Michael is happiest wherever birds are thriving, from remote borderland habitat to urban backyard feeders.

Krisztina Scheeff
Based in San Diego, CA, Krisztina Scheeff is an award-winning and professional nature photographer. Recognized for her photographic work in National Audubon Society as well as a finalist in the prestigious Bird Photographer of the Year competition, Krisztina’s photos have been published in magazines and articles around the world, including National Geographic, Wild Planet Photo Magazine, California 101, San Diego Audubon Society, American Wild Magazine, Birders Digest, Marine Conservation Magazine – UK, North American Nature Photography Association, and more. They have also been featured in Art Shows and Galleries around the country. Krisztina operates a successful business leading Photography Workshops and Tours to Scotland (Puffins), Ireland, Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hungary, and Bosque del Apache, NM. She also leads workshops for bird festivals around the country and presents at various events.

Krisztina spent years studying and photographing the Rushing Grebes and guides her clients at Lake Hodges in San Diego to experience this amazing behavior and capture their own photos. In 2023 she was the Field Assistant and Grebe Expert filming the Courtship of Grebes with the BBC Natural History Unit. The show titled “The Secret Lives of Animals” episode #8 features her and her work, streaming on Apple TV.

To see more photos, check out KS Nature Photography at www.KSNaturePhotography.com, on Facebook, or on Instagram @KSNaturePhotography.

Jeffry Scott
Tucson-based Jeffry Scott is an award winning photojournalist who spent 25 years working at various newspapers and publications documenting the struggles and joys that come with everyday life. Since leaving the world of journalism, he has concentrated on photographing birds, and other forms of nature – a passion from his early years of college where he started studying wildlife biology before shifting to journalism to pursue his photography passion. That passion drives his craft – he approaches wildlife photography much like he did for publication: telling stories, capturing action and interaction of every day life.

David Simpson
David Simpson has been a birder and naturalist for the last 40 years and is a life-long resident of central Florida. He worked as a Park Service Specialist at St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park for 12 years and has held several other similar jobs. He started leading tours almost 30 years ago and has his own company, Birding with David Simpson, which provides custom guided tours of Florida and educational classes. He has led tours at many festivals in Florida including the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, Birds of a Feather Festival, Everglades Birding Festival, and many others. You can find out more and read about his adventures at www.BirdingwithDavidSimpson.com

Janine Spencer-Glasson
Janine is a retired wildlife biologist. As Environmental Project Manager for the Town of Marana, Janine led the establishment of El Rio Preserve. She’s Co-Chair of the Friends of El Rio Preserve, whose mission is: “To work with partners to protect and enhance habitat at the Preserve, promote compatible recreational activities, and educate about the Preserve’s unique natural resources.” A life-long birder, Janine has a BS from Oregon State University and and Master’s from Prescott College.

Cedar Stanistreet
Cedar discovered birding as a kid growing up in the Adirondack mountains of New York State, surrounded by fields and forests and a wealth of breeding birds. Being homeschooled allowed him to spend much of the spring and summer outdoors, learning the birds and nature. In high school he did extensive volunteer field work for the second Breeding Bird Atlas, from 2000-2004. After taking a break from serious birding for a number of years to pursue his other major passion, music, Cedar rediscovered the joy of birding and became a serious lister in 2012. For the last decade he’s been birding all over North America and beyond, leading field trips at bird festivals and for the local Audubon group where he lives in southern Vermont.

Alexis Stark
Alexis is a dedicated naturalist, avid birdwatcher, and lifelong Arizona resident whose passion for birds has guided both her personal and professional journey. With a background in wildlife ecology, avian monitoring, and bird banding, she has built hands-on experience in conservation while sharing her love of nature through education and community outreach. Alexis currently serves at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds, where she is honored to help protect an iconic birding destination and inspire others to appreciate hummingbirds and the birds of the Sonoran Desert. Whether in the field or connecting with visitors and volunteers, she is passionate about fostering a welcoming community of bird lovers dedicated to conserving birds and their habitats for generations to come.

Lindsey Stone
A Vermillion Flycatcher hunting in the front yard in 2011 sparked a love for birding in Lindsey (they/them) and they’ve been all about birds ever since. Lindsey’s interest in accessibility was born out of their experiences as a physics teacher, and their passionate pursuit to increase access and remove barriers to learning for their students. They have a Master of Arts in Education and were awarded the Arizona Science Teachers Association’s Novice Science Teacher of the Year in 2022. Currently, Lindsey is the Workforce Development Trainer for the Western National Parks Association, where they partner with the National Park Service to advance education, interpretation, research, and community engagement to ensure national parks are increasingly valued by all. They live in Tucson, Arizona with a librarian, 2 cats and 2 retired greyhounds.

Killian Sullivan
Killian is a 14-year-old birder from Columbus, Ohio. His birding passion began with a Steller’s Jay in Lake Tahoe and his love for birds continues to grow each day. Birding complements his love for travel, adventure, and rock climbing. His favorite destinations are southeast Arizona, New Jersey’s Cape May, and any pelagic. At home, he loves observing one of his favorite birds – the Carolina Wren. Killian was recently recognized as Young Birder of the Year by the American Birding Association and has observed over 730 species in the United States.

Alex Sundvall
Alex is a proud Minnesotan and truly a lifelong birder. His spark bird of a Dark-eyed Junco during a kindergarten field trip to his local nature center has sent him on an incredible journey of seeing life through birds and nature. Recently Alex has gotten his dream job working full time as a guide for Field Guides Birding tours and has been able to travel the world leading birding tours. Birds have always been Alex’s happy place, and he loves nothing more than showing them to other people and teaching folks about anything he might know about them! 

Ragan Sutterfield
Ragan began birding in his middle school years and has been watching birds ever since. He’s the author of five books, including Wendell Berry and the Given Life, The Art of Being a Creature, and, most recently, Watch and Wonder: Birding as a Spiritual Practice. He works as an Episcopal priest in his native Arkansas and serves as a regional eBird reviewer.

Clay Taylor
Clay became a birder in the mid-1970s, both watching and photographing birds in the Northeastern United States. One of his highlights of spring migration at that time was the passage of the Wood Warblers, many of which wintered in Central and South America and nested in Canada. They were fascinating to watch and challenging to photograph. He still enjoys photographing the warblers, using a Swarovski Optik spotting scope and a DSLR camera. Clay likes to take images where you see the personality of the birds, acting and reacting to the real world, taken in true field conditions – no photo blinds with water drips, or background manipulations.

Cameron Tescher
Cameron is a current Master’s Student at University of Arizona studying how grassland species are impacted by mesquite encroachment and removal. He started his journey into ornithology at age 12 when he took a photo of a fledgling Wedge-tailed Shearwater at a seabird reserve on vacation in Hawaii with a disposable camera. Since then, he began learning all of his common backyard species in his backyard from California Scrub Jays to Oak Titmice. This sparked his passion to dedicate his life working with birds. He attended UC Davis where he was the cofounder of the Birdwatching Club at UC Davis, published his undergraduate research on nocturnal flight calls for western migrants in the Central Valley and Coast Ranges, and conducted bird surveys with the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology. He then spent two years working several seasonal ornithology jobs such as setting up and taking down Spotted Owl ARUs for the US Forest Service, surveying waterbirds on salt ponds for San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, and documenting birds at WMAs throughout the state of Alabama for Auburn University. While attending University of Arizona, Cameron collaborates frequently with TBA by recruiting volunteers to not only have them help with his project but teach them general protocols and gain experience in bird surveys and identification.

Holly Thomas
Holly loves exploring and sharing two of her greatest passions — birding and mindfulness practices. Holly leads birding outings for local Audubon groups, has developed and led a series of mindfulness, yoga and birding workshops and leads mindful birding hikes for the Sierra Club. Holly is actively engaged with the Mindful Birding Network and is a co-host of The Mindful Birding Podcast.

Jake Thompson
Jake has lived in Arizona his entire life and has had the benefit of multiple generations of his family sharing their love for the state’s natural beauty – in particular, the White Mountains. Since finding himself in the grips of birding, he has locked down over 400 species in Arizona in a single year, and is always working to grow his state list. A habitat of special interest to Jake is Arizona’s high elevation mixed conifer forests. Jake is passionate about wildlife conservation and outreach, always looking to bring that appreciation to others through birding. Through leading family bird walks for both local and regional Audubon societies he has grown his admiration for even the most common species and appreciates getting a chance to turn novice naturalists into full blown birders.

Janice Travis
Janice began her passion for nature at a young age with curious exploration of her Michigan backyard and nearby woodland. She always had a variety of field guides to study wildflowers, birds, reptiles, rocks and insects. Janice discovered her true passion for birding in an undergrad ornithology class at Eastern University in Pennsylvania; she went on to complete her master’s degree in Biology with concentration in ecology at University of North Florida. She married a United States Marine, which gave her the opportunity to live and bird across the United States. She has also taken advantage of every travel opportunity to bird new places like Japan and Belize. Janice is currently a bird and nature tour guide at King Ranch in Kingsville, TX.

Steve Valasek
Steve was born in Pittsburgh but didn’t become a birder until he moved to New Mexico. He traded pierogis and Pilleateds for tacos and Trogons and now lives outside of Phoenix with his 2 kids. He has birded in dozens of states and countries and has led trips for the festival and walks for Phoenix Audubon for many years now.

Stephen Vaughan
Stephen Vaughan is a professional photographer and ornithologist. He has been photographing and studying natural history for more than 40 years. His photographs have been published in numerous books, magazines and calendars from publications including National Geographic, Audubon, and Arizona Highways.

Olya Weekley
Olya was born and raised in Ukraine where her geologist grandmother inspired her great interest in nature. Olya moved to Arizona at the age of 13, excited to eventually get an education in conservation. At University of Arizona she was one of the leading officers in the Fish and Wildlife Society Student Chapter strongly involved in student engagement in current conservation issues. In 2016 she received her Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resource Management with emphasis on Wildlife Conservation and Management with Summa Cum Laude and an Outstanding Senior Award. Starting as an intern at Tucson Bird Alliance in 2015, Olya is now Tucson Bird Alliance’s Applied Conservation Project Manager and is eager to continue her journey here.

Dan Weisz
Dan is a native Tucsonan whose career was in public education and his last school served the children of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Dan picked up photography when he retired 8 years ago and became more involved in birding at the same time. Dan has been a presenter for the Raptor Free Flight program at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for the past 7 years.