Check back with us on our website, AZFO.org, for two new Field Expeditions being developed. For October, we're planning an expedition to the Blue River and Greenlee County region to gather fall migration data. And plans are developing for an expedition to the Audubon Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch in January or February of next year. This site is a fantastic 8,000-acre living laboratory and wildlife sanctuary in southeastern Arizona.

Search for Breeding Mountain Plovers.

We travelled out to grasslands near Springerville in Apache County to answer the question that has been on our minds for many years: Does Arizona host any breeding pairs of Mountain Plovers? In the winter months, birders do find these buff-and-white plovers in the barren agricultural fields and turf farms in Arizona. Although a nest was found in the Springerville region in 1996, there were no further breeding bird surveys until the 13 participants joining our May 31-June 2 expedition explored the area. They found no breeding Mountain Plovers--real information, if disappointing. We hope to update this study in future years, of course..