The Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival will return to Dead Horse Ranch State Park from Thursday to Sunday, April 25 through 28.
The annual festival began in 2001 as a celebration of birding and nature in the Verde Valley during peak migration season.
The festival will feature a wide variety of classes, birding tours, outdoor adventures and speakers throughout the four days. While centered at Dead Horse Ranch State Park, the festival will offer hikes and other programming throughout Sedona, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Clarkdale and Cornville with excursions in Prescott and Flagstaff.
The Verde Valley is home to the Verde River, Oak Creek and Sycamore Creek, making it a vital area for migrating birds as well as an area rich in natural biodiversity.
This year’s festival theme is bird migration and its effects on riparian areas.
The featured bird is the common black hawk. This bird is found among streams throughout the arid Southwest. It even wades in the water looking for small prey such as frogs and fish. Common black hawks spend their breeding season in parts of central and southern Arizona.
Richard Crossley, birder, photographer and author, will be the keynote speaker and will lead discussions. Steve Hoffman, a biologist and founder of HawkWatch International, will be the featured speaker. Other instructors, speakers and guides will lead other programs. These will range from armchair birding and moderate bird walks to more rigorous hikes and outdoor excursions. There will be classes on the basics of birding, bird behavior and bird identification. All events require registration.
On Saturday, April 27, there will be a free Family Nature Festival at the lagoon area of the state park.
In conjunction with the festival and in partnership with the Science Vortex, Friends of the Verde River will be hosting their BioBlitz, an event that involves residents and children taking photographs of plants and animals and learning the names of those species. This will take place from April 18 to 28. The event encourages residents to go out anywhere in or along the Verde River system to photograph the natural world and upload images to iScientist. This species data will be used to better understand the current state of the Verde River habitat.
To register, visit verderiver.org.
