For a few years now, I've been encouraged to travel to SE Arizona for some spectacular birds. Finally, we found a free long weekend to explore Madera Canyon.
The long 8-hour drive became a distant memory when we arrived. Before we could even unpack the car, new "life" birds appeared. Yellow-eyed Junco, Hepatic Tanager and Rivoli's Hummingbird. Amazing!
Living in Idyllwild, we regularly see the Mountain Chickadee and Oak Titmouse. Imagine if you could combine the two birds. I'd say this Bridled Titmouse fits the description.
The landscape of Madera Canyon shares some features of Idyllwild like Prickly Poppies, mountain views, grazing cattle, seasonal creeks, and pine trees but it has plenty of its own unique vegetation.
What animal does this bark remind you of? Any thoughts of a critter in the Okefenokee Swamp?
Sounds like a good name to me!
If you know the name of this beautiful cactus, please let me know.
Al, the Coati, strolls through the lodge where we stayed everyday or evening. Evidently, he has a sweet tooth and he loves to empty the hummingbird feeders.
Paton's House in Patagonia now owned by Tucson Audubon is world famous for seeing hummingbirds rarely seen anywhere else. Although I found the beautiful Violet-crowned Hummingbird on the sign above, I was out of luck when I tried to get its photo. It was busy preening itself in the shadows.
We were given a tip that a rare Rose-throated Beccard was discovered on De Anza trail - another nearby birding hotspot. We found some cryptic clues on ebird so we confidently went on a search. We needed to go "north of the bridge", to the "west bank", look for an "orange lid". Sounds easy, right?
We somehow missed the final clue! We did manage to give some other neat birds like the Gila Woodpecker, Chat and a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers. All of these birds and others I didn't mention were great to see but there are 2 birds that stand out.
Look at this beauty! I gasped every time I saw this Broad-billed Hummingbird.
I have saved my very favorite bird for last. I arrived wanting to see this majestic bird. I saw my very first and only trogon in the Amazon jungle last March after lots of effort. When I discovered another species of trogons visits Southeastern Arizona in the Summer from Mexico, I was ecstatic! This vibrant colorful beauty showed itself to me every day and woke me up every morning. What a gift!
If you ever get the chance to visit Madera Canyon, I highly recommend it!
Click on photos to enlarge.
Photos and Content by Robin Roberts
