Archives: Festival Events

Difficulty: Moderate (some walking on mild slopes, drive time to location about 50 minutes on paved roads)

Enjoy birding where Tucson residents escape the summer heat in the 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

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

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.

Difficulty: Easy (Flat walking trails. Drive time to location approximately one hour.)

Tucson Audubon has been conducting nestbox experiments with Lucy’s Warblers (also known around here as the “Mesquite Warbler”), one of the two cavity-nesting warblers we have in the United States and designated by the Arizona Game and Fish as a Species of Conservation Concern. The De Anza Trail in Tubac is one stretch of trail where we’ve been monitoring these nestboxes. Come explore the area with Olya Weekley, Tucson Audubon’s Applied Conservation Project Manager and you’ll see and learn more about the nestbox program while also searching for Gray Hawks, flycatchers, Yellow-breasted Chats and fall migrants. Limited to 8 participants.

Difficulty: Moderate. (Some walking on mild slopes and dirt/gravel trails. Drive time to location approximately 75 minutes.)

Rolling high desert grasslands and grassy oak savannas create a unique ecosystem providing habitat for many avian species, notably grassland specialists such as such as Cassin’s, Botteri’s and Grasshopper Sparrows, Chihuahuan Meadowlark, Loggerhead Shrike, Horned Lark, and White-tailed Kite. Community Forestry Program Manager, Jay Snowdon, will share about Tucson Audubon’s role in preserving this habitat while legendary birder, Kenn Kaufman, helps us find the birds. Limited to 7 participants.

Loggerhead Shrike by Mick Thompson

Difficulty: Moderate to Hard (Walking a narrow trail with uneven surfaces and some increase in grade.  Drive time to location about 1 hour)

These two canyons are just north of the more famous Madera Canyon and offer fabulous birding in riparian areas flanked by upland desert and grassland. From the Florida Canyon parking lot we’ll keep our eyes open and ears alert for Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black-chinned and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, along with Varied Bunting.  Depending on water levels we could work our way up higher along the creek, we’ll look for Gray Hawk, three species of Myiarchus flycatchers, Bell’s and Hutton’s Vireo’s, Hooded Oriole, and perhaps even catching a glimpse of the soaring resident Golden Eagles. Next we will drive through Box Canyon hoping to find a rare Five-striped Sparrow or singing Scott’s Orioles. Sponsored by Sabrewing Nature Tours. Limited to 9 participants.

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour plus driving on gravel/dirt roads)

Las Cienegas is a 45,000-acre national conservation area with high desert grasslands, riparian strips and perennial streams, marshes, and juniper-oak woodlands. Here we can find grassland breeders such as Cassin’s, Botteri’s and Grasshopper Sparrows, Chihuahuan Meadowlark, and Loggerhead Shrike, as well as riparian-associated species including Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blue Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler, and Summer Tanager. Las Cienegas is great for mammals, too — we’ll visit a colony of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (road condition permitting) and keep an eye out for Pronghorn Antelope. Sponsored by Wildside Nature Tours. Limited to 9 participants.

Difficulty: Moderate (some walking on mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces. Prepare for possibility of chiggers. Drive time to location approximately 90 minutes)

The San Pedro River is one of the single most important biological features in the arid Southwest and serves as a migratory corridor for an estimated 4 million migrating birds each year. The conservation and restoration of the San Pedro River has been a long-standing priority for Tucson Audubon and this field trip will give you the opportunity to see it up close. Riparian specialties like Common Ground-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Gray Hawk are expected along with a good mixture of flycatchers like Western Wood Pewee, Cassin’s Kingbird, and plenty of Vermilion Flycatchers. Limited to 9 participants.

Gray Hawk by Bryan J Smith

Difficulty:  Hard (Total round trip hiking distance about 3 miles. We will be away from the vehicle for 3 hrs.  The trail is hot, of uneven tread, and steep.  Drive time to final location approximately 75 minutes) Located south of Tucson on the west side of the scenic Santa Rita Mountains, the habitat of Agua Caliente Canyon is typical of mid-elevation canyons in the Sky Island mountain ranges of southeastern Arizona. Possible species include Elegant Trogon and Montezuma Quail, and Black-cappped Gnatcatcher has been seen in the lower section of the canyon. Sponsored by Kuhl and Summit Hut. Limited to 9 participants.