What We Do
Mt. Lemmon & Mt. Bigelow
5:00 am – 1:00 pm
Difficulty: 2 (some mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces)
$50 per person
The Catalina Mountains, just north of the city of Tucson offer a respite from the heat of the desert floor, and access to high elevation forests that are more typical of those found in the Rocky Mountains. We'll depart Tucson at 5am and head straight up to the top of the mountains. Here, amidst dense spruce/fir forests and maple-filled draws we will seek out higher-elevation specialties such as Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Red Crossbill, Olive Warbler and Northern Goshawk. Mixed species flocks tend to be common here in August and often include numerous Red-faced, Townsend's, Virginia's, and Black-throated Gray Warblers. After a full morning at elevation we'll return to Tucson by one o'clock. This trip will involve some walking (one or two miles cumulatively) at elevations above 8000 feet. The walking will be on level and near level trails, however, and the pace will be slow.
Willcox Shorebirding Excursion
5:30 am – 12:00 pm
Difficulty: 1 (flat walking on groomed trails or roads)
$50 per person
When someone mentions birding in Southeastern Arizona, images of Elegant Trogons or flashy Painted Redstarts probably dance through their heads. Few visiting birders think about shorebirds. Although not a major flyway for waders, SE Arizona still supports good numbers of a wide variety of shorebirds on migration. Join us on this half-day trip to the Willcox Twin Lakes and Benson Sewage Ponds to witness migration in action, and to gain some insights on how to identify some of the shorebird species that, albeit briefly, call Arizona home. Likely species include Wilson's Phalarope, Long-billed Dowitcher, Pectoral, Stilt, Baird's, 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 Horned Lark. 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.
Cienega Creek & Davidson Canyon: An under-birded Gem
5:30 am – 11:00 am
Difficulty: 3 (steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails)
$50 per person
The perennial stream flow and lush riparian vegetation is an important nesting and migration corridor for a multitude of avian species. Home to Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Bell’s Vireo, and Lucy’s Warbler, the creek has also hosted of a number of vagrants. Under the shade of towering Fremont cottonwoods, we will explore this well-watered and increasingly rare habitat on a half-day outing. We will arrive back at the Riverpark Inn by 11:00am.
Madera Canyon Trogon Trek FULL
5:30 am – 12:00 pm
Difficulty: 4 (long walks away from road surfaces over hiking terrain)
$50 per person
On this trip to Madera Canyon we will make a special effort to locate the stunning Elegant Trogon. This may require a roundtrip hike of up to 3 miles, over generally well-groomed (but occasionally steep) trails. The trogon territories shift from year to year, and some years birds can be found a lower elevation. Once we have secured views of our main target species we will spend the remainder of the morning exploring the oak-filled lower Madera Canyon, where Bridled Titmouse, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager and Arizona Woodpecker might be in the offing. Time-permitting we will also briefly visit some of the hummingbird feeder arrays that make this canyon one of the best spots in the country for hummingbird diversity. Back to the Riverpark by lunchtime.
FULL-DAY FIELD TRIPS - August 18
Birds & Butterflies of Brown Canyon FULL
5:30am – 2:30 pm
Difficulty: 3 (steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails)
$85 per person
Join Tucson Audubon and the USFWS for a special access trip to beautiful Brown Canyon in the Baboquivari Mountains. This lush canyon supports large sycamore trees along a usually flowing creek, surrounded by oak forest and some patches of excellent thornscrub. Generally off the beaten path for birding, this canyon has healthy populations of Varied Bunting and Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, occasional Botteri's Sparrow and Montezuma Quail along with regular recent reports of Black-capped Gnatcatcher. We'll spend the morning walking along the riparian corridor with stops at feeders for hummingbirds and orioles. Bonus: butterflies and dragonflies are numerous and our expert leaders will help you identify these winged wonders! After lunch, time and conditions permitting, we may make a brief stop at the Avra Valley Sewage Ponds where an array of shorebirds may round out the day's bird list. Back to the Riverpark Inn around 2:30pm.
Patagonia & Sonoita
5:30am – 4:00 pm
Difficulty: 3 (steeper slopes or more rocky/rooted trails)
$85 per person
The Patagonia area is one southeastern Arizona's best-known destinations for riparian birds. Nearby, the grasslands adjacent to Sonoita hold an entirely different set of species. 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-Sonoita Creek Preserve, Harshaw Canyon, and of course the Patons' backyard feeder array. Our exact itinerary will be at the leader's discretion, based on where our target birds are being seen most readily. Our short visit to the open grasslands around Sonoita will complement the riparian habitats of Patagonia, with species such as Botteri's, Grasshopper, and Cassin's Sparrows. We should see a wide variety of species throughout the day. We'll enjoy a picnic lunch in the field and return to the Riverpark Inn by 3:30 pm.
Hummingbird Safari for Beginners with Sheri L. Williamson
6:00am – 2:00 pm
Difficulty: 2 (some mild slopes, but still on excellent surfaces)
$85 per person
This small-group excursion is a "can't miss" for beginner birders interested in getting to know some of the Tucson area's most dazzling birds and a few popular, nearby birding sites! Join Sheri Williamson, author of the Petersen guide to Hummingbirds of North America, for a field workshop that covers hummingbird basics.
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