Arizona: Photo Tour
Tour Summary:
Arizona is an incredibly unique and special combination of habitat and birds. As the third highest species recording state in the country, this “desert” state has a lot to offer. Habitats ranging from stunning and unique Sonoran Desert to the cooler areas of Madrean Oak Woodland in the canyons offer a range of birds, many that can only be found here in Arizona. This tour takes place in four main locations; Tucson (Catalina Mountains), Green Valley (Santa Rita Mountains), Sierra Vista (Huachuca Mountains) and finally Portal (Chiricahua Mountains). Many people ask why I run this tour during this time of year. While this is a hot portion of the year, this hybrid timeline gives us great chances at all of the great birds AZ has to offer. Spring time breeders are preparing to breed again as the monsoon season starts and monsoon breeders from Mexico and beyond have come and set up their territories. Because of this hybrid timeline, please note that it is NOT the ideal time for warblers. We have a great chance to photograph them but this tour is not designed to specifically target them with the same ease as it would be in early May. General Notes: • This tour will be run around a brunch and early dinner meal schedule to maximize cooler parts of the days, light for photography and bird activity. You will be supplied with plenty of snacks and water throughout the day. • Typically days are early starts and late endings due to early sunrises and late sunsets Please be comfortable having a lot of the day off to rest out of the heat. The birds are not active, the light is not good and it really is hot. This gives you plenty of time to edit photos, read, or rest. • Our typical days are usually from 5:00am - 11:00am outing (& brunch), 11:00am - 4:00pm rest, 4:00pm - 9:00pm (& early dinner depending on location) outing. This is a rough schedule and will also depend on cloud cover, rain, travel schedules and temperatures.
