Madera Canyon. Wow. What a thrill it was to be on the hallowed birding ground of which I’ve only read about in books and blog posts. Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre had brought me here after an already successful morning of 18 life birds accumulated at stops on Mt. Lemmon and at Florida Canyon. Yet, my number one target was still not in the bag; the Elegant Trogon, or lack thereof, was now a pressing weight on us all. Despite this, we had about an hour’s worth of time before Tommy and Gordon would bring me to my Green Valley hotel. That time would be spent picking up miscellaneous lifers so that the next morning would strictly be all about the Trogon.
Again my stomach bug was preventing me from enjoying every second, but I kept dragging myself out of the car and taking pictures of birds, knowing that I’d be able to enjoy it all later. The first place we stopped were the feeders at Santa Rita Lodge. The first life bird was a Mexican Jay.
The Broad-billed Hummingbirds were as thick as flies around the feeding station. I am not sorry I am forcing you to look at another Broad-billed shot. Drink it in. It will be the last Broad-billed you see on this blog in 2015.
Acorn Woodpeckers were a little more down to earth at the Santa Rita Lodge. This guy and a buddy were clowning around, practicing their dismembered wing illusion for all the Santa Rita guests. Well-fed birds must occupy their surplus of time somehow after all.
The second lifer of Madera Canyon was a Red-naped Sapsucker. I am impressed with this bird’s limited range and rarity, but I have to say our Yellow-bellied Sapsucker variety back home has it beat, mostly because its name has better potential for insulting someone.
The third Madera lifer that Tommy and Gordon found me was a pair of nesting Canyon Wrens hanging out on the Santa Rita Lodge owner’s personal house and fence. As compensation for free lodging, the Canyon Wrens provide home security.
Tommy and Gordon were right–Canyon Wren is the best Wren.
Not long after this I was able to lifer on Bridled Titmouse. It was frustrating that these birds didn’t give better looks because this was a bird I had really wanted to see well. That brought the lifer total for Madera Canyon up to four, but Tommy and Gordon had gotten over that number since we shattered it at Florida Canyon.
After 20 minutes or so at the Santa Rita Lodge, we ventured further up Madera Canyon to the feeders at Kubo Bed&Breakfast. There were a few Hummingbirds around. One stuck out as it dwarfed the rest. It was my magnificent Magnificent Hummingbird lifer.
By this point my strength and time were completely gone. My stomach was churning and my head was spinning with a massive 23 life birds accumulated in about 7 hours. I didn’t even know my number then, though Tommy always knew what my tally was. Tommy and Gordon delivered me to my hotel at precisely 3:00, so I could join my family for vacation within a vacation in Green Valley.
The Elegant Trogon search would have to begin in earnest the next morning. I parted company with these two fine birders that afternoon under a certain level of anxiety and indecision. Their stress of finding the Trogon the next day for me was palpable despite my assurances that I’d already had a fantastic trip,Trogon or not. They were taking this way more serious than me. I know the risks in birding. Dipping is a big part of it, and I was mentally prepared for it (mostly because I know there will be more AZ trips in my future).
Indecision for the next day’s plan of attack was also clouding everything. Tommy was torn between Patagonia Lake State Park and Madera Canyon. A very easy Trogon had been seen all winter at Patagonia, but now in late March/early April, that bird would likely move to higher elevations any day. Madera Canyon, on the other hand, was the proper elevation, but its birds had not been as easy to locate. Decisions, decisions…. What would we do? At the moment, I couldn’t focus on the tough calls. I just wanted to stop being aware of my stomach 100% of the time. What would happen? How would this all end? Only the next day would hold the answers.
The 2015 Arizona series has eight chapters: 1) Maricopa Birds, 2) Mt. Lemmon, 3) Florida Canyon, 4) Madera Canyon Part 1, 5) Madera Canyon Part 2, 6) Evan’s Big Discovery, 7) Owling at Coon Bluff on the Salt River, and 8) Evan’s Nemesis.
There was too much going on–internally and externally–to worry about good photos, and we had to keep the main objective in front of us–finding an Elegant Trogon that had been reported in recent days in the shady, lower regions of Florida Canyon. Things eventually slowed down as we scanned carefully for the Trogon. The secondary lifering now came at a nice, steady pace. Lucy’s Warbler clinched the coveted #4 spot for this third stop of the day.
In my naivete’ I thought this was one my chance at a Painted Redstart and therefore wanted to stay on it until I could get satisfactory photos. But Tommy and Gordon had my best birding interests at heart along with the knowledge that this would not be the last Painted Redstart of the day, so they said it was time to move on to higher ground. Before we could make it back to the car, we had two more lifers–uncooperative, tree-top dwelling Pygmy Nuthatches and an equally stubborn Acorn Woodpecker.
We got to enjoy the sights and sounds of a Spotted Towhee who was calling voraciously at Cypress before we went further up the mountain to Rose Canyon. The lifering again started immediately at Rose Canyon as a calling Hutton’s Vireo was announcing his presence.
One bird that really fired up Tommy and Gordon was a calling Buff-breasted Flycatcher. I honestly hadn’t read up on the bird, but these guys were telling me what a good find this was especially this far north. I certainly understand how rarity can enhance a bird’s desirability, so I was pleased to tally this bird for which Kaufman gives no range map in his field guide.
And they were doing their courtship dances! It was an incredible thing to watch even from a distance.
Some fun history on Gyr is that this same individual was caught and banded in 2003 in the Duluth/Superior area. At the time it was a third-year bird. It ended up returning every winter for four years and then did not return until this year! Given when it was banded, the age of this male Gyrfalcon is estimated to be 14 years 8 months–the oldest Gyrfalcon on record!
There has been a gaping hole in our Minnesota bird collection. We have traveled extensively throughout the state and have pretty much seen all the specialty birds tucked into hidden nooks and little-known crannies. Despite that fact, we have neglected one of the state’s most important birding areas – Lake Superior. Here the possibilities for new birds abound with many sea duck species, northern gull species, oddball loon species and even three jaeger species. I have never known how to approach birding the big water from the vast 150 miles of shoreline between Duluth and the Canadian border. I had long ago figured that someday I might just have to hire a guide for a day to learn how to bird this sea-environment. A couple weeks ago, though, I saw that Clinton Nienhaus was leading a FREE field trip through the Duluth Audubon Society along the North Shore specifically to look for sea ducks. Free is always good, unless it’s a puppy, so I went for it. Visions of Scoters and Harlequin Ducks danced in my head while I awaited this trip.
I was hoping for closer looks, but distance was a factor…
Even Melissa and Marin enjoyed seeing this mysterious, petite bird. But a potential screaming fit caused the two of them to go off on their own birding venture to look at Mallards and such. All of us, from different vantage points, saw this Osprey come sailing over clutching a fat, little meal from someone’s Koi pond.
Evan was captivated by this bird. He never watches birds through binoculars, so he often misses just how cool some birds can be. Here he needed none to enjoy the bird. I wanted to capture him in this state, and Mr. Camera and his camera added some birding flavor to the background of the image. Plus he and Evan were visiting about birds as the guy was asking him questions and teaching him things. He was an incredibly friendly guy. Moments after I took this shot, the lady birder pulled me aside and whispered that Mr. Camera was Stan Tekiela, the famed author/photographer of the popular state-by-state birding field guides and other nature guide books!
Are you sick of Swainson’s Hawk photos yet? Too bad! It’s probably the coolest hawk I know, and there’s even more coming in a future post!
We also saw a couple of Brown Thrashers, and I even spied a Loggerhead Shrike in a bush as we flew past. I was too frustrated with the stop-and-go travel to make many voluntary stops for pictures, though.