Hummingbird Safari with Karen Krebbs

Difficulty: Moderate (Some mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces. Drive time to location approximately two hours.)

This small-group excursion is a “can’t miss” for beginner birders interested in getting to know some of the area’s most dazzling birds and a few popular hummingbird locales around Southeast Arizona. Peak hummingbird diversity is happening and you’ll have the chance to see anywhere from 7 – 10 species. Beatty’s Guest Ranch and Ash Canyon are preliminary destinations but locations are up to the discretion of the leader and based on current observations. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Lucifer Hummingbird by Peter Hawrylyshyn

Mt. Lemmon: Sonoran Desert to Mixed Conifer Forest with Jake Mohlmann

Difficulty: Moderate (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to final location approximately 75 minutes.)

Rising over 6,000 feet above Tucson, Mount Lemmon is the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains at 9,157 feet, and a popular escape from urban life and the Arizona’s dry early-summer heat (before the relief of the cooling monsoon rains). It is also an incredible birding experience and biology lesson. Traversing six life zones, from the Sonoran Desert at the base to mixed conifer forests at the highest elevations, the 25-mile drive up the wide, paved, two-lane Catalina Highway is equivalent biologically to traveling from Mexico to Canada. Our efforts will be concentrated on the higher elevations far above the desert below. We’ll look for typical mountain species like Steller’s Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Spotted Towhee, and Plumbeous Vireo. We’ll make a special effort to track down a variety of warblers; Painted Redstart and Olive, Red-faced, and Grace’s Warblers all breed in these mountains and by August they are beginning to form mixed-species foraging flocks. A few hummingbird feeders are scattered about our route as well. Combine the birds with temperatures nearly 30 degrees cooler at the top and unparalleled scenery, it is hard to beat the Catalinas in August! Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Red-faced Warbler by Axel Elfner

Ramsey Canyon with Troy Corman

Difficulty: Moderate to Hard (Some steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to location approximately 90 minutes)

One of the most beautiful areas in all of Southeast Arizona, Ramsey Canyon is full of giant Sycamores and amazing biodiversity. Hummingbird feeders at the Nature Conservancy could attract Rivoli’s, Black-chinned, Broad-billed, and Rufous Hummingbirds as well as possible Violet-crowned or Blue-throated. We’ll walk the preserve trails and look for birds of the madrean evergreen forest including Elegant Trogon, Greater Pewee, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and Painted Redstart. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Painted Redstart by Matthew Studebaker

Parker Canyon Lake Area with Jim Rorabaugh

Difficulty: Hard (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to final location approximately two hours on some rough and curvy road.)

This 130-acre, deep water lake is tucked back on the west slopes of the Huachuca Mountains and because of its location is under-birded but holds great potential. Grassy hillsides dotted with oaks may hold Montezuma Quail, Western or Eastern Bluebirds, Bushtits, flycatchers, and early migrants. Western Grebes and Ospreys have been seen catching fish out of the lake during summer and Cassin’s Kingbirds are quite common. Lunch included. Limited to 8 participants.

Montezuma Quail by John Hoffman

California Gulch Adventure with Scott Olmstead and David Simpson

Difficulty: Hard (Steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails. Drive time to location approximately 2 hours on some rough road.)

This trip sets out in search of some of the avian treasures (at the very northern edge of their ranges here) for which southeast Arizona is renowned. The main event for the day is the chance to bird the rugged and remote California Gulch in search of Five-striped Sparrow, Varied Bunting, Gray Hawk, and Montezuma Quail as well as other species from south of the border. California Gulch is set in the stunningly beautiful Atascosa Highlands and requires a full two hours in the van each way to get to this spot, including some rough roads. Depending on recent reports, we will try to maximize our time in this area by birding other nearby sites such as Pena Blanca Lake or Arivaca to look for other SE Arizona specialties. Note: this trip may include a steep mile-long (round trip) trek into the canyon or we may be able to simply take a short walk on a rocky jeep track. Access conditions are variable and can be impacted by the monsoon rains. Lunch included. Limited to 16 participants.

Five-striped Sparrow by Lois Manowitz

Bird Banding with Aya Pickett of Tucson Audubon

Learn what bird banding is all about, why it is important, and how it is done with Aya Pickett, Tucson Audubon’s Restoration Project Manager. We’ll meet at the iconic Paton Center for Hummingbirds and then walk over to our mist nest station along the Sonoita Creek in the Cuckoo Corridor. Drive time to meeting location from festival venue is about 70 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.

Catalina State Park with Gerry Hodge

Difficulty: Moderate (Some mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces.)

This state park on the northwest side of Tucson sits adjacent to the western slopes of the Coronado National Forest’s Santa Catalina Mountains and contains a good mixture of desert scrub, mesquite bosque, and riparian vegetation. These habitats support a varied mix of bird species including Brown-crested Flycatcher, Rufous-winged Sparrow, and Northern Cardinals. We will explore the Birding Trail which crosses a seasonal wash and depending on monsoon storms you may get your boots wet. $7 parking fee. Drive time to meeting location from festival venue is about 40 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.

Rufous-winged Sparrow by Jim Burns

De Anza Trail at Santa Gertrudis with David Griffin

Difficulty: Easy (Flat walking on some sandy/gravel trails)

The riparian forest along the Santa Cruz River is a fantastic location for three types of kingbirds (Cassin’s, Tropical, and noisy Thick-billed) along with a wide variety of other desert riparian species like Inca Dove, Gray Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Bell’s Vireo, and Blue Grosbeak. Drive time to the meeting location from the festival venue is about 50 minutes, specific meeting instructions will be emailed beforehand. Limited to 10 participants.

Thick-billed Kingbird by Martin Molina

Woodpeckers: Arizona’s Keystone Carpenters with Steve Shunk of Naturalist Journeys

Arizona Woodpecker by Mick Thompson

Woodpeckers represent one of the most specialized bird families in the world, and North America’s woodpeckers play critical roles in our continent’s forests and woodlands. In fact, nowhere else on Earth are woodpeckers such important characters in woodland ecology. Join naturalist and woodpecker specialist, Steve Shunk, for an exciting journey into the lives and times of Arizona’s amazing woodpeckers. Steve will share the secrets of woodpecker anatomy, and he will translate anatomical adaptation into the fascinating behaviors we love to watch among our woodland carpenters. Each species’ anatomy perfectly suits its unique lifestyle, with different woodpeckers possessing adaptations for aerial acrobatics; for drilling sap wells; for extracting wood-boring beetle larvae; or for extracting ants from underground burrows. He will demystify woodpecker feeding, courtship, and nesting behaviors, including the reasons why woodpeckers pound on our houses and what we can do about it. Steve will also reveal the keystone ecological roles played by our local woodpeckers, and he will send you home with a mission: Prepare to be entertained, educated, and inspired as ambassadors for woodpecker conservation. Sponsored by Naturalist Journeys. (Limit of 100)

San Pedro House with Kristy Gallo

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