by Janine Higgins Dear Friends, Walt Anderson writes an eloquent tribute to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in “A Sense of Place.”  We’ll begin today’s Notes with the first scene in the essay. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  – – – – – – – – – – – – –  Among Friends 5 May 2021. Spring is Galloping toward Summer, by Walt Anderson “To truly develop a sense of place, you need to listen to the conversations going on out there. You can learn to read between the lines, to marvel at the very existence […]

Bob Farrell first came out to the Refuge about 20 years ago to donate a microscope and that was the beginning of a dedication to BANWR and Friends of BANWR that included services such as photographer, vending machine maintenance, secretary and newsletter editor, bird counter and surveyor… He was a constant presence on the refuge and with the Friends doing whatever he could to help.  When Melissa Owens would tell Bob she spotted a new bird on her ranch he would go visit and they would hike her property to find the bird.  As Melissa said, “his enthusiasm for birds […]

Many thanks to our dedicated seasonal volunteers who spend several months every winter working tirelessly to maintain and support the Visitor Center area, camp sites, garden landscaping, quail facilities, trails and hikes, among many other things!  What would we do without them?  Especially during the past year — with several FWS staff pursuing other opportunities and restrictions of the coronavirus, the refuge has relied even more on the skills and experience of these volunteers!  Kudos to you and THANK YOU!

by Ricardo Small Mark and Lorry McConnell are from Renton, WA. near Seattle. Lorry worked in banking and Mark in manufacturing. They both retired in May 2018 and starting traveling mostly in the winters throughout the western US and Canada. They’ve been in Arizona the last three winters to visit family and to enjoy pleasant winter weather while hiking and backpacking. Lorry and Mark have a history of volunteering prior to retirement through their children’s interests, their work and even in an unorganized way. When they stayed in campgrounds during their travels, they cleaned campsites and fire pits to make […]

by Ricardo Small On the 1st of March 2021, a team of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Altar Valley Conservation Alliance personnel and volunteers planted native seedlings in an area that experienced a human caused wildfire three years ago in 2018 on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR). Morgan Walter and Geoff Bland, leaders of the Burned Area Recovery Project with the USFWS and Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, organized the group with the help of Reta Rutledge, vice president of the Friends of BANWR. This was the fourth planting in the same burned area. The previous three […]

Bonnie Swarbrick, President of the Friends, coordinates the Christmas Bird Count on Buenos Aires NWR. She has coordinated it since 1999! Here is the final tally for 2020 on Buenos Aires. Bonnie’s highlights: A total of 97 species! This is very good, considering that birds were sparse this year, due probably to dry conditions. A great day for Black-throated Sparrows (335) HYBRID SAPSUCKER!  Red-naped x Red-breasted Seen by David Griffin in area 2 (Arivaca Creek)   CLAY-COLORED SPARROW  Seen by Jim Ambrose and Barry Stevenson in area 9 (mixed habitat south of Arivaca Road) Other Highlights: 1 White-tailed Kite (area 10S) – only […]