In preparation for the upcoming festival next weekend, I spent the day counting cranes and scouting around the Willcox and Kansas Settlement area. To start the day, I assisted with the AGFD Sandhill Crane count for the entire Sulphur Springs Valley.  The morning was cold at 22 degrees, but warmed up nicely once the sun [...]

I led the two Southwest Winter Specialties tours during the 08 Wings Over Willcox festival, as I have mostly done since at least 1998.  The tour is taylor-made for those who wish to see as many birds as possible during a day of sampling the Sulphur Springs Valley’s different habitats.  This year’s birding was what I [...]

I was thrilled to fill in as tour leader for Bill Grossi and guide the Chiricahuas montane trip again. After a fun and successful trip yesterday with a great group today’s trip would be just as good! Another full tour with 12 birders and we set out with excitement and gazed at the snow-capped mountain [...]

I filled in as backup guide for Mike McGee who fell ill the night before, and together with experienced driver/guide Tom Wood and keynote guest speaker Rick Wright along with 12 excited and warmly bundled up birders, we had a fantastic day’s birding in the highlands despite the frigid temperatures and scored several key target [...]

Homer Hansen and I scouted the Owls by day tour this weekend. A local hunter tipped us off to a new Barn Owl spot and we got good long non-intrusive looks at them and manged a few photos in the process. I was amazed when I downloaded my photos for the day and found there [...]

Early this Tuesday morning I helped the Arizona Game & Fish conduct their annual count of the Sandhill Cranes in the Sulphur Springs Valley. The sandy road leading to Crane Lake was still wet from the night’s rainfall and a light fog hung over the valley, but soon that faded away leaving us [...]