Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival: Stoneman Lake Field Trip

Stoneman Lake is one of only two natural lakes in Arizona. We travel to over 6000’ elevation to the Mogollon Rim and enter Ponderosa pine country and then drop into the lake’s crater. Birding will include a variety of high desert, woodland and wetland birds. Species to look for include vireos, bluebirds, and pewees. We will be walking at higher elevation, so prepare for cooler weather. Rating: 3 Transportation: Vans Meal: Bring your own lunch Cost: $75 Trip Guide: Tim Weber   A New-Englander by birth, Tim grew up hiking over the cranberry bogs, barrier beaches and sand bars of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. At Middlebury College in Vermont, he began to hike, bike, camp and study the Green Mountains. Inspired by a flying squirrel and a hawk, he became enthralled by the world of nature and wildlife. Years later, he earned a Master of Science in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University where he studied the habitat of the reclusive northern goshawk in California. He then spent the better part of 20 years working as a biologist with the government, private industry, and non- profit organizations. Since moving to Flagstaff, Arizona in 2004, Tim has birded extensively in Arizona for work and pleasure. He visits the Sky Islands in southern Arizona annually and has guided at the Verde Valley Bird and Nature Festival since 2013. In 2016, Tim’s dream of starting a birdwatching tour company came to fruition. Birding Northern Arizona, LLC received an outfitters and guide permit to lead birdwatching walks on the Coconino National Forest in Sedona and Flagstaff, and beginning in 2024, Grand Canyon National Park. BNAZ is the only permitted and insured tour company in Northern Arizona dedicated to year-round birdwatching! BNAZ customizes each trip, offering easy and flat walks for a few hours, or an all-day adventure for the extreme birder. Let’s Bird the Heck out of it! He now leads professionally through his guiding business: Birding Northern Arizona