Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve with a Nature Conservancy Volunteer

Difficulty: Moderate (mostly flat walking trails on some uneven and rocky terrain)

One of the best known U.S. birding hotspots with tall cottonwoods and willows lining a perennial stream. Open fields, mesquite bosque and a cienega compound the habitat diversity that make it a birding paradise. Listen for the Gray Hawk’s whistle in the cottonwoods while looking for Common Ground Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Thick-billed Kingbird, and more. Please bring $8 per person for Nature Conservancy fees. Be prepared to wear chigger protection. Drive time to the meeting location from the festival venue is about 70 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand.  Limited to 10 participants.

Gray Hawk by Axel Elfner

Birding in the Buff with Rick Wright

Difficulty: Easy (Flat walking trails in the city park)

Have you ever experienced the joy of birding without binoculars hanging around your neck or packing a camera? Join Rick Wright at Fort Lowell Park, one of the locals’ favorite birding destinations in Tucson, to experience birding in a new way. Optics, including cameras, are absolutely prohibited, on pain of possible mockery. Instead, let’s test our ears and eyes and memories by getting to know some of our commonest desert birds without technology, focusing instead on all the little clues that can help us identify birds without the need to see fine details. Drive time to the meeting location from the festival venue is about 10 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.

Ruddy Duck by Greg Lavaty

Southwestern Songbirds at Saguaro NP East with Jennie MacFarland

Singing Pyrrhuloxia by Dan Weisz

Difficulty: Moderate (Some mild slopes, and soft, rocky or uneven terrain.)

Come for a hike to see and hear many songbirds unique to the Southwest in the cactus forests of Saguaro National Park East. Likely species include: Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Phainopepla, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Pyrrhuloxia, and maybe even a nomadic Greater Roadrunner.  We will walk about two miles on scenic trails that are sometimes soft, rocky, or uneven, with some slopes. Meet at the Broadway Trailhead for Saguaro NP East. Specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.

Pyrrhuloxia by Dan Weisz

Sweetwater Wetlands with Alex Patia

Difficulty: Easy (Just over a mile walking on excellent surfaces.)

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 10 participants.

Night Birding in Southeast Arizona with ZEISS and Cedar Stanistreet

Difficulty: 1 (Very short walks from vehicle at night, good hearing required)

This is a unique opportunity to try out the latest in thermal imaging optics with festival sponsors and friends, ZEISS. During this outing you’ll see the amazing capabilities these optics provide and enjoy the beauty of Southeast Arizona’s sky islands in Madera Canyon. We’ll try to find nocturnal birds like Elf Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, and Mexican Whip-Poor-Will along with a selection of mammals. This is a great time of year to see all sorts of wildlife activity in the evening. Limited to 8 participants.

Whiskered Screech-Owl by Scott Olmstead

Looking for Burrowing Owls with Dan Weisz and David Simpson

Difficulty: Easy (Mostly birding around vehicle, possible short walks over dirt trail or on road)

We’ll travel up towards the small town of Marana just northwest of Tucson with hopes of finding Burrowing Owls. Once we find them, we’ll spend some time at a respectful distance admiring these unique long-legged owls. The surrounding agricultural fields and nearby water treatment facility will offer us the opportunity for a variety of other birds, including possible Lesser Nighthawks at dusk. Leaves from festival venue in 15-passenger van. Limited to 9 participants.

Saint David & Benson Area with Jim Rorabaugh and Giovani Ortiz of Icaro Birding Tours

Difficulty: Moderate (Some mild slopes but excellent surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour on paved roads.)

Saint David is a curiously lush oasis bordering the San Pedro River, characterized by artesian wells and springs that support high groundwater levels and abundant trees and ponds. Summer Tanager, orioles, Tropical Kingbird, Gray Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and others are likely to be seen, as well as migrants. We will also search for Mississippi Kites, which nest nearby, and any other rarities that happen to be in the area. Limited to 9 participants.

Mississippi Kite by Dan Weisz

High Elevation in the Catalinas with Ethan Kistler

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 small mountain hamlet of Summerhaven.  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, Stellar’s Jay, Mountain Chickadee, and Cordilleran Flycatcher. Limited to 9 participants.

Grace’s Warbler by Jim Burns

Madera Canyon with Kathe Anderson

Difficulty: Moderate (steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails)

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 Elegant Trogon! Limited to 9 participants.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher by Jim Burns

Cochise Lake with Cameron Cox

Difficulty: Easy (Flat walking on groomed trails or roads. Drive time to location approximately 80 minutes.)

This half-day trip to the Willcox area and Cochise Lake will add a wide variety of shorebirds to your Arizona and festival species list. Likely species include Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Wilson’s Phalarope, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Western, and Least Sandpipers. The lakes also play host to an array of migrant swallow species, as well as birds of the open grassland like Scaled Quail and Lark Sparrow. With sometimes hourly turnover nearly every visit during migration has a good chance of turning up something unusual. This will be a very relaxed paced half-day trip with limited walking on level surfaces. Limited to 9 participants.