Due to frantic late summer activity, our blog posts slow down in August. Fortunately, the pace of birding does not! And today we report on one of the summer’s highlights, Sneed’s participation in the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival. This is one of the country’s top festivals and is put on by the Tucson Bird Alliance. This year’s festival attracted 960 registrants and offered 151 field trips. A total of 241 species of birds were found—including one discovered by the FSB team that had never before been observed at the festival! To learn about this—and why you should consider signing up for next year’s fest, read on!
Birding Arizona in August??? That is exactly what the SE Arizona Birding Festival offers—and lucky attendees are happy that it does.
I was fortunate to be invited to speak at and co-lead field trips at this year’s festival, which ran from August 12 to the 16th, and my first thought was “Why would anyone choose the hottest month of the year to bird in the desert?” However, Luke Safford, the festival’s dynamic engagement director, explained to me that a) June and July are actually hotter than August and b) when the weather gods cooperate, monsoon rains can lead to a flurry of August bird activity. “Why not give it a try?” I thought. To make it even more fun, I asked my friend and FSB guest contributor Roger Kohn (see, for instance, Cock-of-the-Rock Extravaganza—with Video!) to join me.
As many attendees do, Roger and I decided to head south several days early. Arizona has a well-earned reputation for being one of the best birding states in the country, and both of us felt eager to learn more about its spectacular bird life (see, for example, our post Arizona 2022, Part 3: Trogons and Border Walls). For our first three nights, we made our base camp in Sierra Vista, a spectacular birding location, and one I’ll probably write about in another post. For now, though, let’s focus on this year’s festival.
The festival headquarters was at the Doubletree Hotel just east of downtown Tucson, and kicked off with a party sponsored by Vortex Optics in the exhibition hall. I was thrilled to attend this because it was my first chance to personally meet several people I’d been fortunate enough to work with the past few years, including Donald Ditzenburger of Vortex and BWD Editor Jessica Vaughan. Both of them were just as charming and friendly as I imagined and put me in a great frame of mind for the rest of the event—which for Roger and me kicked off promptly at 5:30 a.m. the next morning, Thursday.
When one is invited to a birding festival, the understanding is generally that one will both give a presentation and be a “celebrity leader” on several field trips. The real field trip leaders, however, were the local experts and for our first trip, Rog and I were lucky enough to accompany Adam Dudley on an extensive tour of riparian habitat on the Santa Cruz River and then up to world-famous Madera Canyon. Besides being as friendly as he could be, Adam had excellent ears that allowed us to detect way more birds than half-deaf birders such as myself. Along the river, we observed and heard 45 species, and got great looks at Inca Doves, Yellow-breasted Chats, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Cassin’s Kingbirds, and Summer Tanagers. For Adam, the coolest find was a local subspecies of Willow Flycatcher that has become increasingly rare. For many of the rest of us, the top score was probably a Rufous-winged Sparrow, another Arizona specialty.
Madera Canyon offered fewer species—but birds Roger and I had especially hoped to see since we wouldn’t be ascending Mt. Lemmon for high-altitude species. I was delighted to find both Yellow-eyed Juncos and Red-faced Warblers, along with Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Arizona Woodpeckers, and an absolute stunner of a Hepatic Tanager. Alas, despite a pretty tough three-mile hike, we did not find the day’s number one goal, Coppery-tailed (formerly Elegant) Trogon. Honestly, I didn’t mind a bit since we’d seen so many other great birds.
Even better, Adam made a quick pit-stop in between our two destinations so we could see Botteri’s Sparrow—another Arizona specialty and a lifer pour moi.
Friday was the day of my talk, so Luke booked us for a half-day field trip with Rob Rutledge, a very knowledgable guide who took us almost to the Mexican border for a tour of Peña Blanca Lake and a couple of riparian spots along the famed Anza Trail along the Santa Cruz River. I was amazed at how verdant the desert looked in the wake of the monsoon rains, which apparently have been excellent this year. We also saw a nice variety of birds including Varied Buntings and Gray Hawks—both adults and juveniles. This was my first real experience with the latter in the US, though Braden and I had recently enjoyed their company in Costa Rica. That night, after a nap and a shower, I delivered my talk to a fun audience of bird enthusiasts, most of whom laughed at my jokes. Can it get better than that?
On our final full day of the festival, I drove the trip van ninety minutes to another iconic Arizona birding destination, Ramsey Canyon. Once there, our terrific guide Kristy Gallo first walked us around Brown Canyon Ranch, where we got outstanding views of Blue Grosbeaks and a surprise Olive-sided Flycatcher—in migration, no doubt. As a bonus, I made out the silhouette of a Loggerhead Shrike on a distant tree, backlit by the rising sun.
Ramsey Canyon itself got off to a slow start, with the birds staying fairly quiet and out of sight for the first hour. As the day warmed up, so did the birds. We enjoyed wonderful, leisurely views of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Hutton’s Vireos, and the always dazzling Painted Redstarts. Afterward, we picked up seven species of hummers including Rivoli’s and Berylline, which elicited Oohs and Ahs from the crowd. We finished our regular schedule with a brief visit to the Ash Canyon Bird Observatory, watching more hummers as an impressive storm enveloped the Huachuca Mountains. However, upon re-entering Tucson, we got lost on a little side road when suddenly, a familiar shape scurried across the road—a Greater Roadrunner! In the heart of Tucson! It was Roger’s first GRRO of the trip and a lifer for several people in our group!
Much to our amazement, our birding discoveries continued after we returned home from the festival. I was going through my photos when I encountered a quick snap of a distant bird I had assumed to be a Western Wood-Pewee. Upon closer inspection, however, I realized “That’s no pewee!” I had a hunch about what it was, but asked Braden to take a look, too. “That’s a Lewis’s Woodpecker!” he exclaimed. I emailed Luke Safford about the find, along with the photo, and it turned out to be the first Lewis’s ever spotted during the festival! Maybe I’ll take more photos from now on!
The Southeast Arizona Birding Festival was by far the largest festival I had ever attended and, really, I can’t recommend it enough. The organizers do an incredible job putting on the event and with more than 150 field trips on offer, it caters to almost every birder interest. It is much more than a place to see birds, however. As Luke expressed on opening night, it is really a celebration of birds and a force for bird conservation. Every day offered a variety of talks, and I spent a couple of hours in the exhibit hall talking to vendors, conservation groups, and birding guides from many different countries.
“But what about that heat?” you may be asking. Well, it is something to consider. This year we actually caught a break as temperatures hovered only in the nineties. The year before, however, the mercury had exploded through the top of the thermometer, setting not-to-be-celebrated records. Then again, the early field trip departure times guarantee at least two or three hours of comfortable birding each day. Many of the trips are also at higher elevations, where temperatures are decidedly cooler. In other words, if you keep drinking plenty of water, you’ll probably do fine unless you have a serious health condition.
If you do go—and I hope you do—you may want to keep a few things in mind:
* Make sure you get a room with reliable AC. Our room at the Doubletree barely kept us cool enough to sleep, so call ahead to make sure. There’s plenty of free parking at the festival venue, so you can also consider staying at an Airbnb or perhaps another, nearby hotel.
* Get a room with a fridge. None of the restaurants open by 5 a.m. and you’ll want to have some good protein available before you start your day. The fest does provide snacks, but Roger and I were glad we had some protein bars with us, too. Eggs or yoghurt, though, would be even better.
* Bring plenty of sunscreen and insect repellent. Especially along the rivers, chiggers can really put a dent in your day.
* Make sure you have a good full-brim hat and drink lots of water and/or energy drinks throughout the day—even when you don’t feel thirsty. This will ensure you don’t have any problems with heat and sun.
Most of all, bring a good attitude. We were blessed with delightful people on every one of our trips, including many younger birders. That, more than anything, created a superlative experience for everyone. I can think of no other part of the world that offers the kinds of habitats found in Arizona, nor the selection of birds to go along with them. Why not take the plunge? I’m confident it will end up being one of your most memorable birding adventures ever.
Learn more about the festival HERE!
