Southwest Wings: Summer Festival – S3 Saint David/Willcox Field Trip

The focus of this trip with professional bird guide Homer Hansen will be the Benedictine’s Holy Trinity Monastery, a 132-acre site on the east side of the San Pedro River in St. David, Arizona. A popular retreat center, the grounds include a 1.3-mile birding trail, several small ponds, a pecan orchard, mesquite woodland, a working farm, and magnificent cottonwoods. Nesting birds are numerous and include: Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Mississippi Kite (at one of its only nesting sites in Arizona), Bell’s Vireo, Vermilion Flycatcher, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Curve-billed Thrasher, Lucy’s Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Blue Grosbeak. Tropical Kingbird, another local breeder, can usually be found here. Time and weather permitting, we will make a trip to Twin Lakes in Willcox, where we can add a number of shore birds such as Wilson’s Phalarope, Least and Baird’s Sandpipers, Long-billed Curlew, and Horned Lark. 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: 2 easy. Guide Homer Hansen. Meeting place: The south-east entrance of The Mall at Sierra Vista, 2200 El Mercado Loop, Sierra Vista. Turn west onto Calle Marcancia from Highway 92, by the Wells Fargo bank, and the entrance is straight ahead. Map link ​       Part of the Southwest Wings Summer Festival. The 34th Southwest Wings Summer Birding and Nature Festival will be based at The Mall at Sierra Vista, 2200 El Mercado Loop, Sierra Vista from July 30 - August 2, 2025. This family friendly event is our main one with expertly guided field trips, pre-festival Jamboree, free programs, including some new ones just for kids, exhibitors, vendors, live animals and Keynote Buffet Dinner.