Madera Canyon

We left my cousin David’s house in northeast Tucson, and headed south this time. Our first stop was Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, and specifically Santa Rita Lodge, for the birds, but also because there is a gift shop there that sells coffee. This spot hosts a bird watching area, with benches overlooking a large space filled with feeders. Though the birds are wild, the chances of spotting them are increased with a constant food source year ’round.

The Madera Canyon in Arizona is famous for birds. The morning was still cool, and we held the hot coffee in our hands, periodically setting it down to photograph birds.

While standing there, I did get to see a Rivoli’s Hummingbird. It zoomed in, tasted some nectar, and zoomed out again while I was still gaping in astonishment and did not have time to photograph. The Rivoli’s Hummingbird is an unexpectedly large hummingbird.

There at the lodge we stood behind lots of elder birders with binoculars, who sat on benches and watched, mesmerized. They may have simply showed up that morning, or they may have stayed at the Lodge. What an ideal way to spend a day. But we were ready to move on. We drove farther up Madera Canyon Road and found a trail to walk.

We were hoping for a very early sighting of the Elegant Trogon, which David has photographed here before. It is a rare bird, but he was hopeful that we might be on the early edge of the season in which we could spot one. But we did not.

On the way out of Madera Canyon, we did see this beautiful tiny Coues Whitetail Deer. A female Coues Whitetail, like the one I was stalking, is typically about 65 pounds – that’s smaller than a German Shepherd or Labrador Retriever.

Bird count: We saw some repeats, but there are six new ones that I managed to photograph, bringing my total as of the morning of day five in Arizona to: twenty-six!