This past week, I had the privilege of participating in the annual Hummingbird Festival in Sedona, hosted by the International Hummingbird Society. Any time I attend an off-site event as a vendor, I treat it as a working vacation and squeeze in some birding.
Festivals are a lot of work. For example, from the time I arrived at the festival Saturday morning, until the time I got home that evening, it was a fourteen-hour day. However, I enjoyed interacting with hundreds of people at the festival. Many of the attendees were from northern Arizona and were former customers at our Sedona and Flagstaff store locations.
There were also a lot of people in attendance from out of state, who came to Sedona just for the festival. I talked with people from Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Nevada, and California.
Probably the most rewarding part of owning a backyard wild bird and nature gift store is the opportunity to share my love of nature with others. Over the weekend, I received a sweet thank you note from a customer who wrote, “Thanks so much for the two great bird walks I participated in.” And another customer texted, “I wanted to thank you again for a wonderful morning of birding! It was the highlight of my trip.”
Experiences with nature can be transformational. One person at the festival showed me a video of herself, holding a hummingbird in her hand, that had been captured for banding. Volunteers place banded hummingbirds in the hands of participants before they fly off. The experience of holding a hummingbird was a profoundly spiritual moment for this particular participant.
With the hummingbird festival behind us, we are now focused on the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival in Sierra Vista, Arizona this week. In addition to being a vendor, I will also be teaching a workshop on binoculars and spotting scopes, and I will be leading an optics bird walk where individuals will have the opportunity to try different makes and models of optical equipment.
My store manager, Ryan, will be with me, and he and I will go birding every morning and every afternoon – before and after the vendor booth opens. These “working vacations” provide us with the opportunity to go bird watching and see birds we don’t see here in the Prescott area.
As we spend time birding in the Sierra Vista area, sometimes we will be just a few miles from our shared border with Mexico. There are a number of bird species that occur in southeastern Arizona that are only found in the Sky Island mountains ranges of North America.
We will spend time in spectacular canyons in the Huachuca Mountains, such as Ramsey Canyon, Miller Canyon, Carr Canyon, Ash Canyon, Huachuca Canyon and Garden Canyon. There we will see specialty bird species such as elegant trogon, Montezuma quail, Lucifer hummingbird, white-eared hummingbird, and flame-colored tanager.
I realize most of our customers are what I refer to as casual, backyard birders. The extent of their birding is feeding and watching birds in their yard. However, I would encourage you to expand your birding experience and take in the opportunity to participate in guided bird walks. For over a decade, our store has been offering weekly free guided bird walks.
The opportunity to get out into nature with a local guide will expand your appreciation for the wonder of wild birds that are all around us. We are blessed to live here in the Arizona Central Highlands where there is such an incredible diversity of beautiful birds!
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Swarovski and Vortex optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
