The 14th Annual Wings Over Willcox Birding and Nature Festival, Thursday, Jan. 11 through Sunday, Jan. 14, has expanded its horizons this year with new seminars and tours and exciting banquet speakers, said Chairman Homer Hansen.
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Tours are filling up quickly, with at least 10 already sold out. People may register for tours at www.wingsoverwillcox.com or by calling 1-800-200-2272 or (520) 384-2272.
New tours include "Flora of Texas Canyon", where participants will see and learn about plants from the oak woodlands, desert grasslands, and riparian communities of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts at the 4,600-5,500-feet-above-sea-level Texas Canyon area. Another is "Owls by Day", where participants will visit a few locations seeking glimpses of Great Horned, Barn, and Screech owls.
"Spanish Beginning Birdwatching", a new and free tour, will be held on Saturday, Jan. 13, from 7:40 a.m. to 11 a.m. The tour will be held in Spanish and participants will receive a Spanish Birding Guide and learn and practice basic identification skills as taught in the Basic Birdwatching seminar. Time will be spent at the Willcox ponds and nearby areas observing and identifying common bird species.
Hansen said, "We want the festival to be broadly community-based. We want everyone to be a part of it."
This tour will require that you bring your own car and binoculars, although some loaner binoculars will be available.
Numerous other tours are also available from Thursday through Sunday.
Saturday's trade show in the Community Center will have live birds, reptiles, and other animals, Hansen said, "great for the kids in the community."
The annual banquet and Keynote speaker, "Watching Birds - A Video Perspective", will be presented by Michael Male and Judy Fieth, cinematographers who have done numerous video productions for such networks as BBC, Nova and PBS, and have recently finished a documentary on sandhill cranes, Hansen said. They will show their favorite footage and tell stories about filming and interesting anecdotes of bird behavior they have encountered.
Tickets are $25, including dinner, presentation and silent auction. Pre-registration is required by calling the chamber of registering on the website. The event will be held at the Willcox Elks Lodge, 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.
Throughout the festival, seminars will also be held at the Willcox Community Center. The seminars are free, although donations are accepted at the registration booth. Seminars are presented in either the Fireplace Room or the Dining Room.
Thursday, Jan. 11
Snowbirds and Other Vagrants: 4:30-5:30 p.m., Fireplace Room: Dr. John Ware will discuss 13,000 years of migration through southeastern Arizona, starting with Paleoindian migrants and taking the story up through 21st Century legal and illegal immigrants.
NEW: Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project: 7-8 p.m., Fireplace Room: Shawna Nelson will cover the status and classification, natural history, reasons for decline, reintroduction efforts, challenges, measures of success, and project direction and management needs for the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project.
Friday, Jan. 12
NEW: Birds of Prey in Urban Environments, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Fireplace Room: Dr. R. William Mannan will discuss the good, bad and ugly of birds of prey in urban environments. Why birds of prey occupy towns and cities and the benefits and problems of having predatory birds live close to humans will be discussed from the perspective of both birds and people. Solutions to problems will be presented, when they exist.
Basic Birdwatching, 3-4 p.m., Fireplace Room: All the basics you need for the identification and enjoyment of our feathered friends. Homer Hansen will discuss bird guides and books, binocular usage and fundamental elements of identification with a demonstrative slide show.
Sandhill Cranes 101, 3-4 p.m., Dining Room: Steve Marlatt will teach about the birds that started our birding festival. Everything you wanted to know about the oldest (going back over 65 million years) and one of America's most magnificent birds.
Basic Birdwatching, 4:15 -5:15 p.m., Fireplace Room
Sandhill Cranes 101, 4:15-5:15 p.m., Dining Room
NEW: Asteroid Impacts - Coming to an Area Near You, 7-8 p.m., Fireplace Room: Have you ever wondered about the mass extinction that happened 65 million years ago? Seventy percent of the plant and animal species on the Earth became extinct in a very short time. "Asteroid Impacts" will take us back to that time of ecosystem destruction. Presenter John Ratje will explain why scientists are exploring the night skies - looking for the next catastrophic impact.
Saturday, Jan. 13
NEW: A Million Dollar Journey, 10-11 a.m., Fireplace Room: The other U.S. crane, the Whooper, is the most endangered crane species. A new flock, costume-reared and taught to follow ultralight planes, is being established on a migratory route from central Wisconsin to the Gulf coast of Florida. Learn from Virginia Wolfe the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of this amazing million dollar journey.
NEW: Nest Box Building Class for Kids, 10 a.m. to noon, Dining Room: This nest box building class is for kids ages 8 and up! Open your eyes and your yard to the wonders of nature. Join Kate Scott, Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birdhouse Network Ambassador for Arizona, as she takes you through the steps of welcoming cavity-nesting birds-owls, woodpeckers, and songbirds-to your garden. You'll need to bring is a philips head screwdriver to assemble your nest box. All guardians, parents and grandparents are welcome to stay with the class!
Butterflies for Birders, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Fireplace Room: Join Hank and Priscilla Brodkin for a photographic adventure into the realm of Arizona's beautiful butterflies. Butterfly observation and ID of some of Arizona's 330 species will be discussed during this presentation.
NEW: Nest Box Building Class for Kids, 2-4 p.m. Dining Room
The Other Wings Over Willcox: Bats! 2:30-3:30 p.m., Fireplace Room: Ronnie Sidner will discuss the biology and ecology of bats of Arizona. She will explain the importance of bats in natural ecosystems, the wonders of these diverse and intriguing mammals that fly, and the reasons why bats need protection from all of us.
NEW: Mega-cracks in the Willcox Region, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Fireplace Room: Two types of large cracks occur in the Willcox region. One is caused by regional subsidence from groundwater pumping and the other is caused by the ground drying out during drought cycles. Ray Harris' talk will discuss the origin of these two different types of giant fissures, where they occur, and their impacts on the land and infrastructure.
Sunday, Jan. 14
California Condors in Arizona, 11 a.m. - noon, Fireplace Room: Learn from Kathy Sullivan about the condor reintroduction program in northern Arizona. Find out how biologists are bringing these amazing birds back from the brink of extinction. Discover how many condors live in Arizona and where you can go to see them. Come hear about the success of the wild-hatched condor chicks. Learn the obstacles that condors face in the wild, and what you can do to help conserve these prehistoric giants. The presentation includes a 10-minute condor video.
Shake, Rattle and Slither, 1-2 p.m. Fireplace Room: Through slides and live animals this presentation will dispel the myths and introduce you to the mysteries of all things creepy and crawly. Learn from Sandy Anderson to identify the few, which are truly dangerous and meet some friendly ones up close. Suitable for all ages.
The Willcox Historic Home Tour has been canceled this year because two of five homes on the tour were no longer available for touring, said Nancy Guerrero. The event was held for the first time in Willcox last year as a fundraiser for the Sulphur Springs Valley Historical Society, and the society plans to hold the event again next year, she said.
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