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HEREFORD — The day was a wash. Rain poured from dark clouds, canceling the Sunday birding tour, but at Casa de San Pedro Bed and Breakfast in Hereford, spirits were high as brunch was served.
Jumping up from tables to see what bird landed in the courtyard outside the dining room, bird enthusiasts left their homemade quiche for a spot at the scope to get a close-up of the visitor. It was a White-winged Dove, a common sight. But for one who had not seen the large dove with white wing patches, it was something special, one more bird to add to the list of the more elegant and colorful birds of Southeastern Arizona and Cochise County.
Catherine Newell, from Pasadena, Calif., said it was her first time at the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival, though she had been to Cochise County several times to catch the unique and beautiful birds that migrate here.
“I just love it here. That’s why we bought a home in Sierra Vista,” she said.
 Catherine Newell of California takes a look at the local birds near Casa de San Pedro Bed and Breakfast on Sunday. This was Newell’s first time attending the Southwest Wings Birding Festival. (Suzanne Cronn•Herald/Review) |
She had been scheduled for a private tour up in the Mule Mountains and hoped to see a Montezuma Quail on this trip. The quail are one of her favorites, especially the babies and juveniles. But, Mother Nature had other plans, and the Montezuma Quail remain on her checklist.
“The fog was heavy. We couldn’t see a thing,” she said.
Patrick Dome and Karl Schmitt, owners of the quaint and comfortable bed and breakfast inn on the San Pedro River, were pleased to have the tour group for brunch.
“We have had a good crowd for the weekend. We were full,” said Dome between rushing hot plates of ham and quiche to waiting birders. “We get a lot of birders here. We’re in a great spot for the migrations. They come up or down the river and just fan out.”
Schmitt noted, “The bird festival is great. There is a lot of work that goes into it. So much coordination — the tours, the vendors, the menus, the lodging. You have to be really dedicated to pull it off. It just shows the dedication of the birding community in the county.”
He should know. He did it one year.
He explained the bed and breakfast gets birders all year long and is grateful for the return customers he sees at the inn. In the lodging industry, most establishments get around a 10 percent return rate. At the Casa, the return rate of their loyal customers runs at about 43 percent.
“Birders are great guests,” said Schmitt. “They’re well educated and intelligent. We enjoy having them and hearing the bird stories.”
The favorite bird for the B&B owners is the Vermilion Flycatcher, though they are just a bit partial to the Barn Owl. They have a pair roosting in a nesting box they built.
A neighbor and friend Anne Graf was busy hustling juice and coffee for the thirsty tour group who still had binoculars around their necks, just in case something flitted by the window. She was just there to help.
“I’m a birder, too,” she commented. “I moved here in the river valley because I wanted to see the birds.”
The five-day event was a success for Southwest Wings, which has been sponsoring the birding festival for the past 16 years, according to Priscilla Brodkin, Wings organizer.
Attendees came from as far away as Ontario and Maine, she said.
“We were booked up for every event,” Brodkin said. “Thursday night alone, we had 170 people signed up for the mixer. This has been one of our best years with over 200 people attending.”
Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.
