I am particularly thrilled to be participating again in Tucson Audubon’s Birdathon this year for the simple fact that I now do so for the first time as a full-time resident of Arizona. I do hope that my long time friends from back East and my new local friends will help me support this wonderful cause. The target of the Birdathon is to combine our love of bird watching during spring migration with support for bird conservation. Your support is particularly vital this year as we appear to be moving into an era when the powers that be are not only removing any focus on environment protection but are also enacting laws that could potentially cause major harm to our environment. Even the briefest of visits to the transformed Paton Center in Patagonia will give you a glimpse of the sterling work being done by Tucson Audubon in Southern Arizona and with your continued help that work will continue.

Throughout the month of April and into May teams of birders will be exploring many of the birding hotspots of southern Arizona, from Mt Lemmon to Madera Canyon to Pena Blanca to Patagonia Lake to the Paton Center for Hummingbirds where we expect to see such rarities as Red-faced Warblers, Elegant Trogons, Buff-breasted Flycatchers, Thick-billed Kingbirds, Violet-crowned Hummingbirds and the lovely Elf Owl.

I hope to be seeing in excess of 150 species over the forthcoming weeks so if you want to support our cause on a per-species basis then perfect, but if you don’t trust my counting skills then please support with a fixed donation. All donations will be very gratefully received.