Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival is Arizona’s oldest birding festival. Since 1991 we’ve been offering small group trips through monsoons and droughts … and even a global pandemic. 

The Southwest Wings Spring Fling will run from Wednesday May 7 to Saturday May 10, 2025

Spring Fling 2025 festival will be mainly Group Van Field Trips (marked GROUP VAN) with a few small-group, car-caravan style guided field trips in participants' own vehicles (marked CAR CARAVAN). Van trips go to more remote or distant locations and car-caravan trips will require less driving.

Schedule

Thursday, MAY 8, 2025

6:00 AM - 3:00 PM

T1 Hummingbird Hunt - GROUP VAN

Sierra Vista is the Hummingbird Capital of the United States, so what better place can there be to hunt for hummingbirds. This exciting trip is led by professional bird guide Kristy Gallo, and will visit all of the best locations for hummingbirds in the Huachuca Mountains. As well as the regulars such as Rivoli’s, Broad-billed and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds there will be opportunities to look for Violet-crowned and Lucifer and maybe rarer ones like White-eared and Berylline. Visit locations like Ash Canyon Sanctuary, Beatty’s feeders in Miller Canyon, Ramsey Canyon, Casa San Pedro and wherever other interesting hummers have been seen. Lunch is included – please select your sandwich filling from menu below the Field Trip descriptions on the registration page. Hiking Difficulty: 2 easy. Guide Kristy Gallo.

Meeting place: Cochise College, Sierra Vista. Follow Campus Drive to east of Colombo Avenue and park in parking lot on the left. Map link

6:00 AM - 4:00 PM

T2 Garden and Huachuca Canyons - GROUP VAN

Join professional guide, Jeff Babson on a full day within Fort Huachuca where destinations will include Huachuca and Garden Canyons. We will explore a variety of habitats including foothill grasslands, sycamore-lined canyon woodland, and pine forest. We will search for regional and mountain specialties such as Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, Buff-breasted and Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Plumbeous Vireo, Painted Redstart, Grace’s Warbler and Hepatic Tanager. In the grassland areas, we may encounter Loggerhead Shrike, Cassin’s and Western Kingbirds, Black-throated Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Chihuahuan Meadowlark, and raptors. Bring hat, sun protection and walking shoes. Lunch is included – please select your sandwich filling from menu below the Field Trip descriptions on the registration page. Hiking Difficulty: 3, moderate. Guide Jeff Babson.

PLEASE NOTE: This trip enters Fort Huachuca and a visitor's pass is required. If you are eligible, please obtain your pass before the trip as there may not be time to get one on the day. See Visitor Access 

Meeting place: Cochise College, Sierra Vista. Follow Campus Drive to east of Colombo Avenue and park in parking lot on the left. Map link 

6:00 AM - 4:00 PM

T3 Patagonia/Sonoita Specialties  - GROUP VAN

Join professional tour leader Sharon Goldwasser on a search for the best birds of the Sonoita and Patagonia area. The Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve is one of southeastern Arizona’s best-known destinations for riparian birds. Stops will be made at the Preserve, Las Cienegas NCA, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia roadside rest stop, and Paton’s Hummingbird Center in search of a wide range of riparian and brushy grassland specialty species, hummingbirds, and possible Mexican vagrants. Search birds include Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Thick-billed Kingbird, Chihuahuan Meadowlark, Varied Bunting and Rufous-winged Sparrow. Our exact itinerary may vary based on where the target birds are being seen. We will enjoy a picnic lunch in the shade somewhere along the way. Lunch is included – please select your sandwich filling from menu below the Field Trip descriptions on the registration page. This trip is best suited for beginner to intermediate birders. Bring hat, water, sun protection, and wear trail shoes. Hiking Difficulty: 3 moderate. Guide Sharon Goldwasser

Meeting place: Cochise College, Sierra Vista. Follow Campus Drive to east of Colombo Avenue and park in parking lot on the left. Map link

6:00 AM - 3:00 PM

T4 Scotia Canyon - GROUP VAN

Join local bird expert, Steve Tracey, on an exploration of Scotia Canyon, a lesser-known 'hotspot' on the west side of the Huachuca Mountains. The rich Madrean woodlands and sycamore-lined riparian habitat hosts breeding birds like Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Elegant Trogon, Plumbeous Vireo, Painted Redstart, Red-faced and Grace's Warblers and much, much more. The area will be accessed along the road past Parker Lake, with a quick stop there to look for any interesting birds. Hiking will be along a rough gravel road, with moderate elevation gain. Bring hat, sun protection, and wear trail shoes. Lunch is included – please select your sandwich filling from menu below the Field Trip descriptions on the registration page. Hiking Difficulty: 3 moderate. Guide Steve Tracey.

Meeting place: Cochise College, Sierra Vista. Follow Campus Drive to east of Colombo Avenue and park in parking lot on the left. Map link

6:30 AM - 12:00 PM

T5 San Pedro River Trails - CAR CARAVAN 

The San Pedro River in May is a vibrant green ribbon of life, an avian super highway through the desert for millions of migrants. The dense cottonwood/willow forest is alive with bird song as those species that stay to breed set up territories and get down to business. Join naturalist guides Gordon and Lori Lam in an exploration of the lush cottonwood/willow forest which in May is home to Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, low elevation warblers including Lucy's Warbler, Abert’s Towhee, and many more. Bring hat, water, sun protection, and wear trail shoes. Hiking Difficulty: 2 Easy. Guides Gordon and Lori Lam.

Meeting place: San Pedro House parking lot. Follow Hwy 90 to the east of Sierra Vista and turn right just before the San Pedro River. Map link.

6:30 AM - 12:00 PM

T6 Ramsey Canyon - CAR CARAVAN

Join bird guide, Dan Hoobler on a visit to the world famous Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains. Owned by The Nature Conservancy, this area has been a hot spot for birding for decades. The lower canyon is good for Montezuma and Gambel's Quails, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Rufous-crowned, Chipping and Botteri's Sparrows, Blue and Black-headed Grosbeaks, and other canyon outlet species. Ramsey Canyon is a reliable location to find Arizona and Acorn Woodpeckers, Hepatic Tanager, Grace's and Red-faced Warblers and Painted Redstart as well as hummingbirds around the information centre. Be prepared for a slow hike covering two miles with a steep 200-foot elevation gain. Bring hat, water, sun protection, and wear trail shoes. Hiking Difficulty: 4 difficult. Guide Dan Hoobler.

Meeting place: Ramsey Canyon Preserve parking lot, at the top of Ramsey Canyon Road. Map link

8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

T7 Butterflies and Dragonflies of the Sierra Vista Area - CAR CARAVAN

Join leader Rich Bailowitz (co-author of several butterfly books as well as Field Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of Arizona and Sonora) as we search for some of the butterflies and dragonflies of the Sierra Vista area. The day will include stops in Escapule Wash (near the San Pedro River) and in Huachuca Canyon, at various elevations between 4,500 and 6,500ft. A net will be used to catch and release insects for up-close species identification. This trip is best suited for butterfly and dragonfly enthusiasts of all skill levels. Bring your own lunch, as well as hat, sun protection, and wear trail shoes.  Hiking Difficulty: 3 moderate. Guide Rich Bailowitz.

PLEASE NOTE: This trip enters Fort Huachuca and a visitor's pass is required. If you are eligible, please obtain your pass before the trip as there may not be time to get one on the day. See Visitor access

Meeting place: Cochise College, Sierra Vista. Follow Campus Drive to east of Colombo Avenue and park in parking lot on the left. Map link

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

TN1 Blacklight Adventure - CAR CARAVAN

After the sun sets, a whole new world awakens, largely unseen by most. Join Jeff Babson to explore the Huachuca Mountains at night and step into the nighttime world of moths and other insects. At historic Carr House, set at the entrance to Carr Canyon, we will set up a black (or UV) light to see what we can draw out of the darkness. Southern Arizona is as famous for insects as it is for birds, and is home to over a thousand species of moth as well as a great variety of beetles. This is an easy, casual way to get acquainted with nature after dark and we may even be serenaded by owls. Bring a camera, flashlight, light jacket, and hat. Guide Jeff Babson.

Meeting place:  Carr House, about 2.3 miles up Carr Canyon Road, off Highway 92. Drive through gate to park. Map link.

Date: May 6 - 10, 2025