Arizona is a haven for activity of all kinds in April. The wildflowers are blooming, the snow is melting, majestic peaks and valleys invite hiking along with lakes and rivers for all kinds of boating. And the birds, well, the birds are out swooning and chirping! A beautiful sound of spring in the desert. Ever wonder about all those birds? Well the Audubon Society is a good place to start for any bird enthusiast or inquisitive mind.

The Audubon Society has 22 state programs, 41 centers and over 450 local chapters in the United States. Suffice it to say, they have birding covered. Arizona has 10 office/chapters along with two centers/sanctuaries. One of them very close by – The Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center is a nature center in the heart of the City of Phoenix’s Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area, a 600-acre park along the historic Salt River. They have a myriad of events from conservation to education and camp programs to Birds n’ Bikes. Interested in Adopt-a-Bird or Birds n’ Beer? Visit http://riosalado.audubon.org/ to find out more. Happy Birding!

Our End-of-Year Banquet will be held on Thursday, April 21 in the Navajo Room of the Sun Lakes Country Club from 5:00-7:30 p.m. A wonderful dinner will start the evening followed by our EOY Judged presentation. Please contact Judy Daidone or John Livoti for any questions or details regarding the event. A reminder that due to the early start, print drop-off will be between the hours of 2:00-3:00 p.m. that same day. Good luck everyone and see you at the celebration of another wonderful year of photographs!

Our Scavenger Hunt 2016 will take place at our first meeting of the month, Thursday, April 7. Group leaders contact John Livoti at 480-895-6880 or Ann Posiviata at 480-802-2157 with any questions and further details about deadline and submission.

Our Images of the Month were taken by Lynn Thompson and Janet Ballard. Lynn’s image of a Southern Red-Billed Hornbill was highly received in our February 2016 monthly competition. As you can agree, this little fella is quite photogenic. As the saying goes, “birds of a feather, flock together” or not. Janet’s image certainly supports the latter and reminds us to have some fun with our photographs.

The Sun Lakes Camera Club (SLCC) meets the first and third Thursday of every month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Navajo Room of the Sun Lakes Country Club starting in October through April. In the summer months, the club meets the first Thursday of each month in the Ceramics Room at the Cottonwood Country Club from 6:30-8:30 p.m. For more information about the SLCC, please contact the following: President John Livoti at 480-895-6880; Vice President Burt Williams at 602-354-0266 or past President Fred Giese at 480-220.-394; or visit us at sunlakescameraclub.com.