Welcome, Jo, to Tucson Audubon's weekly update.

Please support Tucson Audubon through our Birdathon fundraiser. More information below or go directly to the page where you can make a donation to one of our Birdathon teams or sign up to be a "Birdathoner" yourself!

This time of year brings some of our most rewarding member activities. Help plant a monarch butterfly garden at the Paton Center. Help count Elegant Trogons in the Sky Island Mountains! Do some quick, local Tucson-area counts for the Tucson Bird Count. And come join us at a screening of The Messenger, a beautiful movie, at The Loft. More below.

The excitement of seeing a life bird is eclipsed only, perhaps, by unexpectedly finding at nesting bird. That happened to us at the Mason Center this week when we found a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher on a very well-concealed nest. There's a teaser photo here and more photos on our blog. Also see our recent blog post on engaging with nature in an increasingly screen-filled world. 

This email is brought to you by Yellow Warblers, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Elegant Trogons, Violet-crowned hummingbirds, monarch butterflies, Gray Hawks, Indigo Buntings, dragonflies and damselflies. Enjoy!

Kendall Kroesen, e-News editor, 520-209-1806

Join Exclusive Birdathon Trips and See More Birds!

Monarchs Galore!

Come join Tucson Audubon as we install monarch and other butterfly/pollinator gardens at our Mason Center for Hummingbirds! Thanks to a grant to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum with partners Borderlands Restoration and Sky Island Alliance, milkweed and other pollinator plants are being distributed throughout the regional landscape to create Monarch Waystations and pollinator gardens. Tucson Audubon is teaming up to provide locales for two of these waystations, which will help support the monarchs as they migrate through southern Arizona. Come be a part of it!

• Thursday May 12
• Friday May 13
• Saturday May 14

Patagonia is Perfect in Spring

Survey for Trogons in the Sky Islands this Spring!

There is an abundance of evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, that the ecological influence of tropical Mexico has grown over the last century in southeast Arizona. The expansion continues today with the birding community noting the recent increase in prevalence of Gray Hawks and rarities such as the recent first ever US nesting record of Tufted Flycatcher last year.

Elegant Trogons (image by Alan Schmierer) are also part of this story with their United States range expanding over the last century. To further our understanding of how many Elegant Trogons there are in the US, organized surveys happen every year in the Chiricahuas and Huachucas. They were led by Rick Taylor for many years but beginning in 2013 Tucson Audubon assisted Rick and helped expand the surveys to three more ranges: the Atascosa Highlands, Santa Rita Mountains and Patagonia Mountains.

If you would like to help in this effort and explore some great southeast Arizona habitat, see the survey dates and sign up here.

Ready, Set, Count Tucson's Birds!

Claim your route now, we still need help!
Tucson Audubon volunteers are gearing up for the 16th annual count of birds in the Tucson and surrounding areas.
   
If you can identify common Tucson area birds by sight and sound, you can help with this count. We've made it easier for you to locate an open route by seeing where they are in Tucson! View the map here.

If this sounds fun to you please visit tucsonaudubon.org/tbc for more information.

Special Presentation of The Messenger

Tuesday, May 3 at 7:30 PM
Co-presented by Sonoran Joint Venture and The Loft Cinema
Featuring a post-film panel discussion on the conservation of Arizona’s migratory birds with local experts from Tucson Audubon Society, Southern Sierra Research Station, Rain Crow Coffee and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

From Canada’s boreal forest, to Turkey’s wetlands, to New York’s night skies, the migration patterns of song birds are vital links in the global ecosystem. Current technological advances allow scientists to track individual birds’ journeys, providing detailed information on where and when they travel. The data is alarming, and the causes of the songbirds’ plummeting population are numerous and devastating. The elegance of these colorful creatures is captured in stunning slow-motion flight as ecologists, enthusiasts and everyday people work to protect them and petition for change.

See details of this event on Facebook and on the Loft Cinema website

Birds Aren't the Only Things Flying Around Out There!

Stop by the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop and check out the latest regional field guides. Locally written and published, A Field Guide to the Damselflies & Dragonflies of Arizona and Sonora is what you need this season whether you’re out at Agua Caliente Park or Sweetwater Wetlands.

From alpine tundra on the very highest peak to the northern limits of the American tropics, this, the first bi-national field guide for the USA and Mexico, covers all known 167 species of dragonflies and damselflies that occur in the states of Arizona and Sonora.

Available now $34.95 at the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop.

 

OPTICS

Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42
Made in Germany with the latest technology, the Zeiss Conquest HD is an outstanding value and offers premium performance. The new HD lens system provide exceptional views that set new standards for true color reproduction. Its slim line design makes the Conquest HD especially compact, while robust construction means it can handle the challenges of rugged use. The addition of LotuTec® lens coatings allows water to roll straight off the lens, dirt or smudges to be easily removed, and reduces the risk of scratches to the lens. The Conquest HD comes with a Zeiss limited lifetime transferable warranty plus a 5-year No Fault Policy.

MSRP $1,077.77 Member $969.00

Learn more about our shops and get directions

—Tucson Audubon Staff
(image by Angela Pritchard)