Yuma Audubon Highlights Mittry Lake, Refuges With Weekly Walks and Field Trips

Yuma Audubon Society is running ongoing weekly bird walks at the East Wetlands and organizing field trips that regularly visit Mittry Lake and nearby refuges, reinforcing Yuma County’s role as a major stop on the Pacific Flyway. The activities provide regular outdoor access for residents, bolster local nature tourism and sustain volunteer-driven monitoring such as Christmas Bird Counts.

Weekly walks at the East Wetlands are paired with guided field trips that frequently include Mittry Lake and Imperial National Wildlife Refuge; regional highlights also include Cibola and Kofa refuges, the West Wetlands and stretches of Colorado River parks. The society has historically sponsored the Yuma Bird, Nature & History Festival, whose programming typically mixes guided field trips, evening presentations, nature-themed vendor booths and family-friendly activities. Those offerings create recurring opportunities for families, students and civic groups to connect with local habitat and participate in community science.

Yuma and the surrounding lower Colorado River wetlands draw birders from across the Pacific Flyway, making habitat access and interpretive programming locally significant. Regular Audubon outings contribute to civic engagement by converting casual visitors into volunteers and participants in bird counts that document seasonal changes. Christmas Bird Counts organized by the society feed long-term datasets that influence conservation priorities and inform land managers’ decisions about habitat maintenance and visitor access.

The pattern of weekly walks and targeted field trips also has practical policy implications for local agencies and land managers. Sustaining public access at Mittry Lake and the refuges while protecting sensitive wetlands requires coordination among landowners, refuge managers and volunteer organizations. Consistent programming by Yuma Audubon elevates the case for stable funding for trails, signage, parking and habitat restoration that support both wildlife and the county’s recreation economy. Attention to habitat protection along the lower Colorado River corridor will affect future birding visitation and the quality of data collected through citizen science efforts.

For residents, the practical benefit is straightforward: reliable, recurring opportunities to learn local birding routes, contribute to counts and enjoy outdoor recreation along the river. For civic leaders, the society’s work highlights the need to prioritize wetland stewardship as part of broader economic and environmental planning. Continued collaboration between Yuma Audubon, refuge staff and municipal partners will determine whether Mittry Lake and the refuges remain accessible and productive for both birds and people in the years ahead.