Walk through the back of the Nature Expo and enjoy the local artwork from the Sonoran Plein Air Painters. You’ll recognize many of the landscapes as our favorite birding hotspots and some of the art will be for sale.
Explore the festival’s Nature Expo after a morning (or day!) of birding. Check the “Big Boards” (birds and wildlife checklists) to see if you can mark off any new birds, snakes, or butterflies seen that day on your field trip and engage with our exhibitors and volunteers who are happy to share their expertise and hospitality with you.
Spend an evening at Brother Johns Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ and enjoy some food and drink with your birding friends. Share your stories from recent bird trips and learn about new places to explore while drinking and eating–what could be better? Information on location to be given closer to event. Limited to 75 participants.
The “happy hour” of the festival is something you don’t want to miss. We’ll have special opportunities for you to win some awesome door prizes, and stop by the “Big Board” to see where we are at with festival bird sightings. This evening BWD will be on hand with copies of their newest magazine! A cash bar will be on-site along with free appetizers.
Explore the festival’s Nature Expo after a morning (or day!) of birding. Check the “Big Boards” (birds and wildlife checklists) to see if you can mark off any new birds, snakes, or butterflies seen that day on your field trip and engage with our exhibitors and volunteers who are happy to share their expertise and hospitality with you.
Explore the festival’s Nature Expo on the first night and talk with leaders and exhibitors about their favorite birding locations in Southeast Arizona while checking out new optics, beautiful nature-oriented art, and more.
Moderate (mostly easy with paved trail and overlook, but some steep grade if walking down to sandy trails)
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 scope the water to see a variety birds including waterfowl, shorebirds, and flycatchers. A walk around the new trail should turn up 35 or more species. Drive time to meeting location from festival venue is about 30 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.
Common Yellowthroat by Mike Henry
Difficulty: Easy
Join Victor Emanuel Nature Tours leader, Brian Gibbons, for a fall migration watch from his backyard, located in east Tucson near the Pantano Wash. Brian’s yard is noted for once having a Juan Fernandez Petrel fly over, and while we probably won’t have this notable of a species, we will experience fall migration in a unique manner, noting kingbirds, swallows, mockingbirds, tanagers, and more. Specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.
Migrating Blue Grosbeak by Nick Pulcinella
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, Steller’s Jay, Mountain Chickadee, and Cordilleran Flycatcher. Back by noon. Limited to 9 participants.
Red-faced Warbler by Axel Elfner
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, but also is the best field trip for Scaled Quail. Likely shorebird 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 Swainson’s Hawk, Chihuahuan Meadowlark 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.
Black-necked Stilt by Shawn Cooper