On this page we do not list all information about all birding sites in southeast Arizona. Instead, we list sites for which there have been changes since the September, 2007 publication of the 7th edition of Tucson Audubon's Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona. For complete birding information on southeast Arizona, consult that book (available online from the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop). Check this page often for any changes that may have occurred since that publication date. These updates are in alphabetical order.
Atturbury Wash, page 34
Name Change
October 2007: The “Atturbury Wash Bird and Animal Sanctuary” has been officially renamed by the city council the “Atturbury/Lyman Bird and Animal Sanctuary.”
Avra Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant, page 50
Plant reopens to birders (August 5, 2009)
The Avra Valley wastewater treatment plant is again open to birders! It has been closed for an extended period due to construction that has created significant wastewater treatment upgrades at the plant. Tucson Audubon has been working with Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department to address issues associated with birder access when the plant reopens, and would like to thank the department for its cooperation.
Most of you know how to get there but directions to the plant are available in Tucson Audubon's publication, Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona .
There are changes in the system for birder access. PLEASE MAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BEFORE YOU GO:
1. Park in the same parking lot as before, located outside the main gate to the plant facility. There currently are no restrooms. In the future there will be an effort to provide restrooms, an information kiosk, picnic facilities, and some restored habitat near the parking lot.
2. The plant is open to birders every day from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. DO NOT BE INSIDE THE GATE AT 2 P.M. OR YOU WILL BE LOCKED IN.
3. Do NOT go inside the high-security fence around the main plant facility, including the building where you formerly signed in (it is now not necessary to sign in). You have access to all the large ponds west of the facility (as before) but not to the high-security area inside the fence.
4. From the parking lot, walk directly west and enter through a gate in the low fence between the parking area and the south end of the ponds.
5. Inside the gate, TURN LEFT and follow the berm around the south side of the ponds. DO NOT try to turn right and walk on the narrow part of the berm outside the high-security fence to your right.
6. Birders will normally have access to all the main pond areas, including some new ponds that have been added.
Additional Info
As stated above, turn left inside the gate and access all the other ponds by walking around the south side of the south pond.
There is a main east-west berm that runs through the middle of the ponds that may from time to time be cordoned off in places when heavy vehicles are accessing the ponds or the water distribution system that runs under that berm. Please respect chains and signs when they are up—plant staff will try not to simultaneously close all the places where other berms cross this E-W berm.
Stay on the berms—do not go down slopes into the basins.
The water draining into the ponds looks clean and does indeed represent a higher level of water quality than what was being produced before; however, do not touch or drink the water.
Banning Creek Field Station, page 166
This location closed in February 2010.
Benson Birding Trail, page 144
No longer open for birdingCorona de Tucson Waste Water Treatment Plant, page 43
Access Limited While Construction Continues (Oct 2008)
Since some of you may not have easy access to a fax machine, the Principle Operator of Corona de Tucson, Mr. Gary Richey, has generously agreed that you may either email or fax the facility. The email address is: coronadetucson AT wwm.pima.gov The fax number is: 520-762-0591
Here is a reminder of the rules:
Access to the ponds here, about 1.5 miles west of Houghton Rd on Sahuarita Rd, has been granted strictly under the following conditions:
- Site visitation MUST be prearranged. Normal hours are 6AM-4PM. All visitors must be off site before 4:00 pm. DUE TO UNFORESEEN WORK CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU MAY FIND THE FACILITY CLOSED PERIODICALLY EVEN IF YOU HAVE MADE PRIOR ARRANGEMENTS. RESPECT ANY CLOSURES!
- A list with names and contact information of the persons/group that will be on site needs to faxed or emailed one day prior to arrival, to the Corona de Tucson WRF (Fax# 520-762-0591) (email: coronadetucson AT wwm.pima.gov)
- ALL visitors must check in at the Facility office before they start roaming the site and again when they depart.
See: http://www.pima.gov/wwm/birdwatching.pdf for updates. Contact Laura Hagen Fairbanks with any questions regarding any of the Pima Co. WWTPs.
Laura Hagen Fairbanks
Pima County Wastewater Management
Community Relations Manager
201 North Stone Avenue , 8th Floor
Tucson AZ , 85701-1207
520-740-6532
Fort Huachuca, page 156
The U.S. Army prohibits the use of handheld cell phones and similar devices while driving at Fort. They will suspend your on-Post driving privileges for 30 days on your first offense. Only hands-free devices are allowed.
The use of recorded bird vocalizations or human imitations of bird vocalizations to attract birds is prohibited in ALL areas of Fort Huachuca.
Reminder-Don't Stop In the Road!
The Army is very concerned about the safety of birders who stop on the paved road into Garden Canyon to look at birds from their vehicles. This unsafe action effects military activity and traffic flow.
It is very important that you cease this and not undertake any birding activity from a car stopped in the road. You must pull off onto designated gravel roads off of Garden Canyon Road . Do not pull off onto the grassy shoulder, which could cause a fire in the grasslands from the heat of your catalytic converter.
Each and every one of us needs to pass this message on to all birders in our circles who ever intend on birding on the fort. If anyone comes across any birder vehicle stopped on the road, please, cautiously, approach them and tell to continue on the road to appropriate parking areas, or gravel roads. Failure to follow these instructions could adversely affect the future of birding at the fort. (Originally submitted by Wezil Walraven, August 2006)
Reminder-Heightened Security at the Fort
Entry to this active U.S. Army fort still requires valid photo ID, car registration and proof of insurance (or rental agreement). A new requirement is that foreign nationals must now be accompanied by a special trained military escort. Direct any questions about this rule to the U.S. Army at Fort Huachuca. Go to Fort Huachuca's website . The Sierra Vista Convention & Visitors Bureau (SVCVB) is working with Fort Huachuca to have certified military-related people available to accompany non-U.S.-citizen birders during their visits to the fort.
Contact SVCVB's Erika K. Breckel several weeks in advance to coordinate your visit:
Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 800-288-3861 or 520-417-6960
Fax: 520-417-4890
or visit SVCVB at
1011 N. Coronado Drive
Sierra Vista , AZ 85635
Green Valley Wastewater Reclamation Facility (Wastewater Treatment Plant), page 192
Parking and Signing In (Michael Marsden, 1/19/09)
Access to the Green Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant will be by way of a new sliding gate that has been installed at the old entrance to the northern section of the plant. This is about a half mile along the dirt access road from its junction with the Old Nogales Highway (directions from Tucson and Green Valley are set out on page 193 of the 7th edition of TAS's Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona).
The entrance now has what is called a smart pass gate entry pad box. This is on the left side in front of the sliding gate. To gain access, birders should follow the following procedure:
1. Press down on the "A" button (bldg. 229 will appear on the screen).
2. Press down on the "call" button (you should hear the number being dialed).
3. Just bear in mind that there may be no-one in the office at the time you call and you may not get a response for a few minutes (the Director apologizes for any inconvenience!). When one of the plant operators does answer, tell him or her that you wish to bird the facility and the gate will be opened so you can drive in.
4. The current sign in/out procedures still apply. Before starting to bird any of the ponds, everyone must individually sign the register kept just inside the door to the large office/maintenance building (reached by turning left at the entrance gate and then driving west and then north along the perimeter road). On the wall above the register is a plan showing where you can park. Do not drive anywhere inside the boundary fences except to get to and from the entrance gate, office and parking area. After birding return to the office to register the time you leave (one person can do this on behalf of a group).
5. Leave the WWTP by way of the entrance gate. As you approach it, slow down as you drive over the white box (this activates the sliding gate). For your safety, keep at least five feet away from the sliding gate while it is in motion.
It's clearly a privilege to be able to bird the WWTP. The staff there are extraordinarily friendly and helpful to visiting birders and I would urge everyone to help ensure that the present good relations continue.
Hereford Bridge, page 153
Parking
First paragraph should read as follows: – “the signed parking area on the right (south) side of the road just before (west side) Hereford Bridge.”
The parking lot has been moved to the west side of the bridge. (Herb Trossman, May 2008)
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, page 172
New Trail to Empire Gulch, March 2008
Update the first full paragraph on page 172 to:
After another 3.0 miles on Empire Ranch Road, a side road leads 0.4 miles north to the Empire Ranch Headquarters. Park near the new outhouse; from there the Heritage Discovery Trail winds gently downhill past some artificial frog ponds to a cottonwood lined, usually dry section of Empire Gulch and then around to the west of the 1950s house and back, a total of a few hundred yards.
The historic 1870s ranch house west of the trailhead is being restored and is open to visitors. http://www.empireranchfoundation.org/
Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, page 234-238
General updates (Dec 2008)
Page 234 - Getting to Puerto Penasco - Highway 8 is a "Hassle Free Road". This means that there are few or no police, no customs stops, no military check points, and very little chance of any drug problems that have plagued Rt 15 from Nogales to Hermosillo.
Paragraph 5 on Getting to Cholla Bay etc. line 8. Where it says to turn right onto the wide sandy road, this road is now blocked with large sand berms at both ends. You are forced to continue on the paved road past the entrances to the many hotels and businesses along Sandy Beach, continuing past the RV park at the far western end of the road, and drop down on one of the sandy roads to the western end of the old road and proceed to Cholla Bay and Pelican Point.
Page 235, first line. Plover pit is almost empty of water and has lots of trash and no birds. Mention of it (unless something changes) can be deleted. In that same paragraph, you could say that you can drive on the beach below the berm at low tide being careful to avoid wet areas and watching for the incoming tide.
Page 236, first full paragraph, line that starts "In off season..." change to read, "In off seasons, you can drive into the park by first gaining permission from the person in the office just south of the gate into the park itself." Then where it says "If you wish to take the sand road back to town..." has to be deleted as the road is blocked by sand berms as mentioned above. Return to Boulevard Benito Juarez the way you came out to Cholla Bay. Before the Birding the City section, insert "you can bird the city landfill by turning left off of highway 8 on Rio Suchiate street that runs east, crosses Dominguez and continues as a dirt road northeast to the landfill." (A new more detailed map of the area will be needed for all of this).
Puerto Peñasco Treatment Plant Ponds, Sonora, Mexico, page 237
Participants in the 2009-2010 Puerto Penasco CBC found that the ponds were closed to entry and a guard was on duty. Access was obtained only after getting permission from a city official.
Updated directions
The directions for birding the new sewage treatment plant ponds need some clarification, starting from the middle of line four in the second paragraph: "Drive until you see the elevated berms that surround the western end of the new sewage treatment facilities. Turn left under the high voltage electric transmission tower and pass a small plant nursery. Drive up onto the berm and scan the first pond that has an island favored by herons, shorebirds, gulls and terns.
The road is blocked to the north but you can drive along the south side of this pond on the berm only to the next north-leading berm separating two ponds. You can turn left and drive this berm north to its terminus where you must turn around. However, you can walk left and right (west and east) along the berm at the turn-around for some distance. The salt cedar is thick along both sides of the trail but is good for migrating warblers. The large area to the north is mostly dry but sometimes has thousands of gulls resting on it. The pond to the south is good for ducks, coots, gulls, and other species."
The next sentence may now be misleading as many of the dikes are now either covered by salt cedar, have been removed, or are off limits to birders. The "dry" loafing areas on the dike north of the new treatment facility are gone. We stopped at the security shack and asked if we could look at the birds there. After several phone calls we were allowed to walk only due north to the old central dike or to the west where we had already been. We were not allowed to bird any of the facility to the east. If you walk north on the old dike that was great for gulls in winter, you will find it intersected by a canal which you cannot cross. There were no birds there either.
Another note - on page 238, the first complete paragraph talks about a road leading to the oyster farms (Ostionera). Actually now there are two separate roads each leading to the north shore of the large estuary where there can be hundreds of gulls, shorebirds, and some waders. You will need a scope to scan the flocks. The two roads leave the Caborca (Fremont) road within a couple of kilometers of each other and go to two different oyster farms. The sand can be soft in places so stay on the well-worn tracks unless you have four-wheel drive. (Modified from a post made by George West to the AZ-NM listserv on 11/2/2007.)
page 238 - first full paragraph, second sentence. There are two well used dirt roads, both signed along the highway with advertising of the oyster farms that are on the shore of Estero Morua, a large area of mudflats, salt marsh, and oyster beds. If you drive in one road, you can drive a road just above the shoreline to the other road and come back to the highway. Keep an eye out for Sage Sparrow, LeConte's Thrasher, and Burrowing Owl. Sage Thrasher is rare here.
Reay Lane Sewage Ponds, Thatcher, page 109
Sierra Vista Environmental Operations Park (wastewater facility)
Friends of the San Pedro River, Huachuca Audubon Society and Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory lead tours inside the restricted area for close-up views of the treatment ponds. After all participants are inside, the gate will be locked. The tour starts at the viewing platform. Once inside the gate, you will not be able to exit until the tour is completed. The tours take from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours depending on the participants and the bird activity. This is followed by an optional tour of the recharge basins on Moson Road, which takes approximately another hour. You should bring water, a hat and insect repellant (usually not needed, but better safe than sorry). The start time of the walks is 7 a.m. April through September and 8 a.m. October through March. A calendar of other walks is available on their website www.sanpedroriver.org/ No pre-registration is required. There is no fee; however, donations are accepted and used to enhance the birding experience at the EOP. Special bird tours for other times may be arranged through the Friends of the San Pedro, 459-2555; SABO, 432-1388; or Huachuca Audubon, (Mike Guest), 378-0667. If you have any other questions, please contact Dutch , 378-7229. (8/4/05)
In the general write up on page 155 in the last paragraph before "Getting to etc" the last sentence, (A run-off pond along Moson Road 0.9 mile north of AZ 90 may be viewed from the roadside.) should be removed.
In the directions to the EOP, add the following:
Look for "binocular" sign on south side of highway. (Note; the entrance is shared with the Nancy Brua Animal Control Center).
Sweetwater Wetland, Tucson Page 54
New Hours (9/10/07)
The hours for Sweetwater had been 0600-1800, opening later on Mondays. There is a sign at the entry to the parking lot giving a new set of (extended) hours.
Tuesday to Sunday: Dawn to approximately 1 hour after dusk
Monday: 8 AM to approximately 1 hour after dusk
Gates are locked 1 hour after dusk. Don't get locked in!!
See map of the site
Tohono O'odham Nation, pgs. 228-230
Off highway travel prohibited without permit
- Kitt Peak – the last paragraph on page 228 should be omitted.
- Big Pond – (last paragraph on page 229-230). This area is no longer accessible.
- Caution – (page 230) Contact the Nation office only. See below.
At this time no permit is being issued by either the Nation or the Baboquivari District. The Nation contact info is
Tohono O'odham Nation, PO Box 837, Sells, Arizona 85634, phone 520-383-2028
In general, non-tribal members are not allowed off the paved highway and turn-outs. If people roam off the paved highway and right-of-way they may be cited for trespassing. We discourage people from parking on grassy non-paved turn-outs to prevent spread of invasive species by vehicle and foot traffic.
These procedures may be subject to change in the future. If there is interest to visit the Nation past the paved highways please contact the District in which the activity will take place and, as it relates to birding or other related wildlife or plant concerns, my office. Our Himdag Ki Cultural Center and Museum in Topawa is now open to the public and may provide opportunities for outside viewing in the immediate area. You may contact them directly at 520-383-0201 for further information. (Karen Howe, Sept 2007)
Western Sod Farms, Page 71
New weekend closing hours
Due to some theft activities on the farm, ALL persons not employed at the Western Sod Farm (e.g. birders) are requested to vacate the premises by 5:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. This is a new security policy for the Sod Farm, so that they can more easily identify anyone who might be a threat to their livestock and supplies. So birders are still more than welcome, but please leave by 5:00 PM if you're there on a weekend. (John Yerger, Nov 2007)
Some Areas Closed To Birding Subsequent to Prior Editions- Reminders
- Banning Creek Field Station, page 166 (February 2010)
- Cocoraque Ranch- State Trust Land Permit needed
- Guevavi Ranch
- Hendrix's Home in Nogales
- Nogales Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Vaca Ranch Corral and Baird's Sparrow Hill
Your Feedback is Critical
If you know of changed circumstances at an area covered in the 7th edition or know of a good birding area within the geographic area of coverage that is not in the book, please email the information to the Main Nature Shop.
Annotated Species List - Additional Species
(See pages 240-309 in Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona )
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - One found and photographed in Marana 8/31-9/4/07. This is the 3rd state record of this species.
*Mew Gull (Larus canus) - An adult found and photographed at Lake Cochise, Willcox, February 3, 2010
Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) - One found and photographed at Roper Lake State Park, December 2-8, 2007.
*Sinaloa Wren (Thyrothorus sinaloa) - One found, recorded and photographed in the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve on August 25, 2008 (and remaining into 2009) was accepted by the Arizona Bird Committee as a first state record and by the ABA Checklist Committee as the first record of this species for the ABA area.
Tufted Flycatcher (Mitrephanes phaeocercus) - One found and photographed near Herb Martyr Campground in the Main Fork Canyon of Cave Creek, Chiricahua Mountains, 5-17 May 2008 at least. There is only one prior state record.
Additions to the Index
Red Rock Feed Lot, Page 69
Santa Cruz Flats, Pages 69-71
Errata
Page 43: Corona de Tucson is misspelled Coronado de Tucson in the header
