Contributed article
WILLCOX — Registration has begun for the 30th annual Wings Over Willcox Birding & Nature Festival.
The event will take place Jan. 12-15, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, with a full slate of field trips, talks and activities, plus the return of the Saturday-night banquet and silent auction at the Elks Lodge.
A welcome reception with music and hors d’oeuvres will kick off Wings Over Willcox on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Willcox Community Center. The banquet keynote presenter will be Rick Wright, author of the American Birding Association’s field guides to birds of Arizona and of New Jersey, and the “Peterson Reference Guide to North American Sparrows.” Wright’s talk, The Incidental Sparrow, will share a richly illustrated look at sparrows and their history in southeastern Arizona, including surprising stories of the gold miners, soldiers, and grave robbers who introduced us to some of our most familiar, and most charming, birds.
The Nature Expo will be back in full swing again. Exhibitors like the popular Arizona Rocks geology display and Huachuca Area Herpetological Association’s collection of creepy, crawly critters are especially enjoyed by kids. Kids can also make their own nest box for a cavity-nesting bird at a free workshop. The Expo is open Friday and Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This year’s Associate Sponsor and Wings Over Willcox longtime festival partner, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, will have displays at the Nature Expo. Other festival partners will bring live wildlife, with Liberty Wildlife a favorite among young and old alike. Displays by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are always educational and informative.
Regular exhibitors like Tucson Audubon, along with Jay’s Bird Barn from Prescott, will be there selling books, birding gear and clothing. Artisans will be selling paintings, photography, jewelry and homemade items. The WOW committee is selling baseball caps with an embroidered WOW logo and shirts featuring a painting of a Black-throated Sparrow by artist Ian Rees; these are available as a t-shirt, long[1]sleeved shirt, and sweatshirt, and all can be ordered in advance online.
Of course, there are the field trips. The planning team set a goal of offering 30 field trips to honor the festival’s 30th anniversary, so check out the wide variety of offerings, many with limited ticket numbers that sell out quickly. In addition to birding, topics include geology, history, ranching, archaeology and even wine tasting. Birding trip leaders that volunteer at the festival are top-notch guides that scout areas ahead of the festival and know the best places to go.
There are also two full days of free seminars at the Willcox Community Center, including two about Sandhill Cranes. A fresh offering of topics include jaguars, bats, falconry, owls and other night birds, beginning birding, snakes, and bird calls.
“We truly appreciate the support of our many partners and participants over the past three decades,” said Homer Hansen, President of the Willcox Nature Association, which organizes the festival.
A list of current sponsors can be found at http://wingsoverwillcox.com/festivalSponsor.asp. The website, www.wingsoverwillcox.com, is undergoing reconstruction and will gradually contain more details. In the meantime, call Jeri Higgins, Wings Over Willcox Events Registration, at 520-384-2874.
