Archives: Festival Events

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. Sponsored by WINGS Birding Tours. Limited to 9 participants.

Black-necked Stilt by Shawn Cooper

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.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo by Greg Lavaty

Difficulty: 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. Limited to 9 participants.

Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet by Doris Evans

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, and possibly rocky/uneven surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour.)

Iconic Madera Canyon is one of the top destinations for any birder. We’ll start in grassland habitat around Proctor Road looking and listening for singing sparrows first thing in the morning along with walking the nature trail and looking for 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 riparian trail and investigating the hummingbird feeders 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.

Varied Bunting by Martin Molina

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, and possibly rocky/uneven surfaces. Drive time to location approximately one hour on mostly paved roads)

The Patagonia area is one southeast Arizona’s best-known destinations for riparian birds. Some of the specialties found around Patagonia are Gray Hawk, Thick-billed Kingbird, Varied Bunting, Violet-crowned Hummingbird and Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet. There are many famous places to bird here including the Patagonia Roadside Rest, Harshaw Canyon, and of course the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. Our exact itinerary will be at the leader’s discretion, based on where our target birds are being seen most readily. Limited to 9 participants.

Thick-billed Kingbird by Martin Molina

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. Limited to 8 participants.

Zone-tailed Hawk by Ned Harris

Difficulty: Moderate (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to location approximately 90 minutes, some gravel road.)

An interesting man-made lake makes a great water source and stopover for migrants and nesting birds. The adjoining canyon is a good location for Elegant Trogon, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and Hepatic Tanager. Montezuma Quail favor the hillsides surrounding the lake, while other interesting species could include Gray Hawk, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and Varied Bunting. Expect to walk on groomed trails around the lake and a gravel/loose rock forest service road through the canyon. Limited to 9 participants.

Elegant Trogon by Shawn Cooper

Difficulty: Moderate (Some walking on mild slopes, and possibly rocky/uneven surfaces.)

Molino Basin’s scrub oak woodlands is good habitat for species such as Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, Bushtit, and Scott’s Oriole. After searching for birds here and Gordon Hirabayashi Campground we’ll head up to higher elevations and new habitats. A stop in Bear Canyon puts us in a beautiful canyon where we’ll search for Mexican Jay, Plumbeous Vireo, and Grace’s Warbler among others in the sycamores and pines. Depending on timing and activity we may visit other locations as. Limited to 9 participants.

Scott’s Oriole by Mick Thompson

Difficulty: Hard (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to location approximately one hour with some gravel roads.)

While Madera Canyon has long been the most visited spot in the Santa Rita Mountains, this adjacent canyon to the south is deserving of more birders’ attention. Join us on a half-day exploration of Montosa Canyon, which supports some hackberry thornscrub habitat as well as a nice drainage with scattered oaks and mesquites. Our top target is the Five-striped Sparrow, a skulky sparrow which frequents the area.  We’ll also search for Black-capped Gnatcatcher, which has been breeding in the area for several years, and keep our eyes out for dazzling Varied Buntings on territory. Some more common species we might expect to encounter include Bell’s Vireo, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Canyon Wren, and Ladder-backed Woodpecker. Limited to 9 participants.

Five-striped Sparrow by Lois Manowitz