"Birds in your Backyard" - March 27th John Peel's presentation to students of a 5th grade classroom at Frontier Elementary School in Payson was a huge success! This presentation covered the top 20 feeder birds seen at backyard bird feeders in the Southwest Region. The PowerPoint that John used was provided by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, based on their Project Feeder Watch. Each student was given a copy of "The Beginner's Guide to Birds - Western Region", a checklist and some birdseed. The students used their bird checklist for two weeks and submitted them for a combined report on birds seen in their backyards. The fourteen Students that submitted their checklists reflected a combined total of ninety-one bird species seen. The nine most frequently observed birds were the Mallard Duck, Common Raven, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Goldfinch, House Finch, Western Bluebird, Turkey Vulture, Morning Dove and Steller's Jay. "What a great visit with the students. I had more fun than they did and if this presentation results in just one student becoming an ardent lifetime birder, then the world will be a better place" Photo - John W. Peel, Educational Presenter

Arizona Trail Maintenance Hardscrabble Mesa Trail Maintenance - April 14th Thirty hearty Arizona Trail supporters turned out at Pine Trailhead on a sunny April morning to help keep open the Hardscrabble Mesa passage of the Arizona Trail. The group included 8 representatives from Arrowhead Wildlife Society, 10 from Tonto Rim Search and Rescue, and a 7 member all-girl team and their sponsor from the Outdoor Adventure Club at Rim Country Middle School. Four trail dogs also came along for a chance to test the waters of Bradshaw Tank. Working in three groups, the volunteers brushed out a mile of overgrown trail, fixed clogged water bars and fallen rock cairns over two miles, and cut and cleared more than a dozen ponderosa pine trees that had fallen across the trail in the last six months. Several white-tailed deer observed activities at close range, and a raucus family of acorn woodpeckers monitored the tree cutters from branches above. Volunteers also got to see some early spring flowers in the high country, including Indian paintbrush, lousewort, and the bright pink Woodhouse¹s phlox. For their efforts, trail volunteers were served a post-event lunch of sandwiches and refreshments provided by Arrowhead Wildlife Society and Arizona Trail Association. Photo - Rick Heffernon, Trail Steward

Members' Rendezvous at Mormon Lake Five members of Arrowhead Wildlife Society attended the Arizona Trails Association sponsored rendezvous September 30, 2006, at Mormon Lake, Arizona. In conjunction with national Public Lands Day, the ATA members came out in force to celebrate the day, their trail and their association. AWS members attending were Rick Heffernon, Beverly Malmberg, Nancy Malmberg, John Peel and Jodi Lorenz. Photo - Nancy Malmberg, Membership Chairperson

2006 Christmas Bird Count The Three members of AWS again took part in the national Christmas Bird Count. Peggy Newman, Bev Malmberg, and Rick Heffernon hiked and binoculared for about six hours on Saturday, December 16, 2006 to cover the Tonto Natural Bridge-Buckhead Mesa portion of the "Payson Count." Payson area birders organized and joined the Christmas Bird Count only last year, and AWS was part of that inaugural group. During a day that started out cold and gray, but eventually became partly sunny with temperatures into the low 50s, the three birders spotted 25 species for a total of 709 individual birds. Most numerous were Dark-eyed Juncos and Western Bluebirds. Most unusual were a couple of immature or female warblers in faded plumage who couldn't be clearly identified and normally wouldn't be wintering this far north. The count also included two cardinals, one Anna's hummingbird, and 10 hermit thrushes. Photo - Rick Heffernon, Birder/Event Organizer

April 13, 2008 - HIKE OF THE MONTH Arrowhead Wildlife Society's "Hike of the Month" on Sunday, April 13, 2008, was a spectacular hike. This 4 hour hike on the southern half, approximately 7 miles, of Passage #18 of the Arizona Trail is known as the Picketpost Mountain-Reavis Canyon passage. This awareness hike started at 2,900 feet at the Reavis Trail Turnoff and then hiking downhill to 2,000 feet at Picketpost Mountain Trailhead. We met at 8:00 a.m. at the Picketpost Mountain Trailhead and then transported hikers to the Reavis Trail Turnoff to begin the hike. Segment #18 featured a beautiful Sonoran desert landscapes, with panoramic view of the Superstition Mountains to the northwest, Picketpost Mountain to the south, and the Apache Leap formation to the east. Lucky hikers saw a variety of wildlife, including deer, rabbits, and a variety of birds, especially a number of different species of hawks, including a nesting pair of Common black-Hawks. Photo - John Peel, Birder/Event Organizer