Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival: Beginner Bird Walk at Sedona Wetlands

Here is your chance to learn the basics of birding firsthand. If you’ve never been birding before or you consider yourself a beginner birder, there’s nothing that can help you more than being with a group of fellow beginners and a good leader. Rich’s enthusiasm and knowledge make this a fun and rewarding experience. You will get binocular basics and learn how to look for and identify a number of different types of birds. In about 90 minutes covering just a 1/2 mile you can see ducks, shorebirds, marsh birds, and maybe migrants. After the Wetlands, you will travel 7 miles to Rich and Nanette Armstrong’s house where you will see how to set up a yard (they have over 20 feeders) to attract birds and learn to identify different riparian birds. There will be binoculars to borrow if you do not have any, and you will get to look through Rich’s scope. Rating: 2 Transportation: Self-drive Meal: None Cost: $40 Trip Guide: Rich Armstrong Rich Armstrong became a serious birder with his wife Nanette 35 years ago when they lived in Texas. He has birded across North America, and now in Arizona for the past 11 years. He is the coordinator of the Sedona CBC, is the birding pal for the Verde Valley, and coordinates the North America Migratory Bird Count for Yavapai County. He is the local Audubon Chapter Steward for the Sedona Wetlands Preserve. Affectionately known as the ‘big mouth of the valley,’ he has led over 100 birding field trips at the Wetlands with his spotting scope always in tow-- the ‘fastest scope in the west’. Rich Armstrong received a PhD in Nuclear Inorganic Chemistry from Stanford University, retired as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserves, and was a chemist for Texaco Chemical for 20 years.       Part of the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival It’s the 2024 Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival! In 2024, join us as we explore the theme of migration and its impact on riparian areas in our environment. Our keynote speaker, Richard Crossley, will lead discussions, and the featured bird for the year is the common black hawk. The Free Family Nature Festival at the Verde Valley Birding & Nature Festival will be in the lagoon area on Saturday, April 27th from 9am to 3pm. There will be armchair birding and guided bird walks all across the Verde Valley from April 25th - 28th that you do need to register for.