ITINERARY
Day 1: Arrive at Tucson International Airport (TUS) before 2 pm. Participants will transfer to the hotel where a room will be reserved in their name. The hotel offers complimentary shuttle service from the airport. We will meet at the hotel lobby by 5 p.m. for a tour orientation and welcome dinner. Overnight stay: Home2 Suites Tucson Airport, Tucson.
Day 2: Tucson area – Sweetwater Wetlands and Santa Cruz Flats. We’ll spend today birding the low country around Tucson looking for Gilded Flicker, Greater Roadrunner and Costa’s Hummingbird and at the Sweetwater Wetlands Park for waterfowl and impressive numbers of Yellow-headed Blackbirds. The Sweetwater Wetlands are a series of constructed wetlands with ponds, cattail marshes, and mudflats surrounded by desert. Species found here include Mexican Duck, Common Gallinule, Vermilion Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Verdin, and Abert’s Towhee. We’ll also travel northwest on I-10 toward Phoenix birding along the way to the Santa Cruz Flats to look for some specialty birds that are hard to find elsewhere like Crested Caracara, Prairie Falcon, Sagebrush Sparrow, Mountain Plover, and potentially up to five species of Thrasher – Curve-billed, Crissal, Bendire’s, LeConte’s, and Sage. In recent years, Streak-backed Orioles have been sighted here, as well as Ruddy Ground Dove. The Tucson Audubon Society has counted more than 300 species of birds in this location. The Santa Cruz Flats is a well-known and heavily birded area in south-central Arizona. Hundreds of birders check out this expansive agricultural location primarily during the winter months. Other species of interest found here include Burrowing Owl and Greater Roadrunner, to name a few. Overnight: Home2 Suites Tucson Airport, Tucson.
Day 3: Sulfur Springs Valley and Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area. Today we travel east toward Sulfur Springs Valley. The valley stretches from north of Willcox south to the Mexican border. The Sulphur Springs Valley Loop provides a 35-mile driving tour. The focal point of the loop is the Willcox Playa – when the playa has sufficient water, it provides habitat for thousands of migratory birds. The agricultural fields, ponds, and desert scrub also offer excellent birding opportunities, especially in the winter months. The entire Valley is a major wintering ground for raptors including Prairie Falcon, Ferruginous Hawk and Golden Eagle. Specialty birds in this location include Bendire’s Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Scaled Quail, Curve-billed Thrasher, and Greater Roadrunner. Within this expansive valley is a wildlife area called Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area, where tens of thousands of Sandhill Cranes gather in this large wetland complex. Snow and Ross’s Geese and other variety of waterfowl can gather in large numbers here as well as Wilson’s Snipe, Horned Lark, Black Phoebe, and Vermilion Flycatcher. The surrounding Chihuahuan Desert scrub can be good for Lark Buntings and Sagebrush Sparrows. Overnight: Casa de San Pedro B&B, Hereford.
Day 4: Huachuca Mountains and San Pedro River. The Huachuca Mountains are the third highest of the Sky Island mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona. Today we visit the Nature Conservancy Preserve at Ramsey Canyon, one of the first well-known birding sites in Southeast Arizona. Ramsey Creek descends through oak woodlands, its banks lined with sycamores, maples, cacti, yucca, and agaves. Here we may find Wild Turkey, wintering warblers such as Townsend’s and Painted Redstart, Red-naped Sapsucker, and Hutton’s Vireo. We continue to the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary to look for hummingbirds such as Anna’s and Broad-billed, as well as other specialties of the pine-oak woodlands, which include the Arizona Woodpecker and Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay. Montezuma Quail frequent the area and may come into seed or water while we visit, offering spectacular views. We then drive a short distance to San Pedro House, a visitor center with walking trails. Located along East Highway 90, San Pedro House was identified as being significant for world bird conservation by the American Bird Conservancy. The riparian forest, one of the rarest forest types in the world, provides essential habitat for a variety of wildlife, including over 350 species of birds. Here we search for birds along the cottonwood riparian areas, adjacent mesquite woodlands, and grasslands including Northern Harrier, Loggerhead Shrike, Crissal Thrasher, Lark Bunting, Lark Sparrow, and Abert’s Towhee. Overnight: Casa de San Pedro, Hereford.
Day 5: Patagonia and Sonoita. We’ll start the day early in the grasslands north of Sonoita searching for the elusive Baird’s Sparrow in with the flocks of Savannah, Vesper and Grasshopper Sparrows. Several other open country birds can be found here like Chestnut-collared Longspur, White-tailed Kite, Say’s Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike and Chihuahuan Meadowlark. We’ll then head over to Patagonia Lake State Park, one of Arizona’s top birding hotspots. The hackberry and mesquite groves can be full of wintering passerines like flycatchers, vireos, and even an Coppery-tailed Trogon in recent winters. There is often a good selection of ducks on the lake, and Green Kingfishers can be found along the swampy edges on rare occasion. Notable species found in this location include Golden Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Gilded Flicker, Cooper’s Hawk, and Bald Eagle. This state park promises unforgettable wildlife encounters, breathtaking scenery, and an incredible opportunity to observe a variety of birds. We continue to explore Sonoita Creek and along the Santa Cruz River. Owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy, Sonoita Creek Preserve provides habitat for over 200 species of birds. We’ll spend the rest of the day birding the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. The center’s many feeders and water features are always full of birds including Anna’s, Costa’s and possibly Violet-crowned Hummingbirds, Lazuli Bunting, Green-tailed Towhee and Gambel’s Quail. Often a Western Screech-Owl is roosting nearby, and recent winters have hosted Ruddy Ground-Dove and Rufous-backed Robin. Overnight: Tubac Golf Resort & Spa, Tubac.
Day 6: Green Valley, Santa Rita Mountains, and Tubac. Today we will spend the day exploring the beautiful Santa Rita Mountains. We first travel south toward Green Valley to Canoa Ranch Conservation Park. The ponds at the park are magnets for wintering waterfowl, here we can also expect to see Costa’s Hummingbird, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Gambel’s Quail. The centerpiece to the Santa Rita Mountains is Madera Canyon, at a higher elevation than Tucson, the canyon forms a deep, wooded ravine that attracts birds to the sky islands. Here we will get our first taste of the birds that make birding Southeastern Arizona famous like Mexican Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Arizona Woodpecker, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Painted Redstart, Rock and Canyon Wrens. The feeders at the Santa Rita Lodge will give us an excellent serving of the diversity of juncos with three different forms of Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon, Gray-headed and Pink-sided) comingling with the Yellow-eyed Junco. In recent winters at least one Coppery-tailed Trogon has been seen roaming up and down the canyon. We continue birding in Tubac, Anza Trail along the banks of the Santa Cruz River through a lush cottonwood-willow riparian forest and mesquite bosque. The river is a corridor for migrant birds, here we may find Rufous-backed Robin, Rose-throated Becard, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Curve-billed Thrasher, and Lawrence’s Goldfinch, to name a few. We also explore the nearby Montosa Canyon, the less birded region of the Santa Rita Mountains - common sightings in this location include Canyon Wren, Abert’s Towhee, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Vesper Sparrow, Hutton’s Vireo, and Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet. Overnight: Tubac Golf Resort & Spa, Tubac.
Day 7: Tour Conclusion & Departures. Our Arizona birding tour concludes today. If time allows, we will stop at a few locations along the way back to the airport. Airport drop-off by no later than 12 pm. Participants may arrange departing flights from Tucson International Airport (TUS) after 2pm.
