Mike in the Wild

I hadn't seen an elegant trogon in almost four years - not since I'd spotted a nesting pair in Cave Creek Canyon located in the far southeastern corner of Arizona.  Before that, it was six years ago in Madera Canyon that I'd encountered one of these beautiful migratory birds.  In fact, in that sky island habitat only a two-and-a-half hour drive south from my Phoenix home, I hadn't seen any trogon at all on my last visit four years ago.  Nonetheless, I remained hopeful that I'd spot one when I returned to Madera over this past weekend. This spring was an especially excellent time to visit the mountains of southern Arizona because melting snowpack has been feeding streams at the same time migratory birds have started arriving from Latin America.  Lots of water meant lots of blooms and bugs and the birds that feed on them.  Madera Creek was actually flowing as strongly as ever while the towering peaks of the Santa Rita Mountains, rising over 9,000 feet, shed the la...

"There's a nesting pair of trogons on South Fork Road, just before you cross the bridge, on the left side of the road.  The trunk of the sycamore tree they chose seems awfully thin, but they're there."  These were the exact details the earnest staff at Cave Creek Ranch, my weekend's lodging, gave me when I set off for the hunt.  I had driven over four hours to Cave Creek Canyon in southeastern Arizona because the area is famous in the summer for its elegant trogons.  In addition, a pair apparently nests in that very specific area - if not that exact tree! - every year.  So why would I have any doubts? Well I might have suspected the advice was too good to be true when, the afternoon before I set off on my quest, another guest at the lodge told me he was unsuccessful in his own search that day.  "Yeah, I spent a lot of time looking, but nothing."  I left early the next morning undaunted nonetheless, visions of this neotropical bird dancing in my head....

It's not the third but the fourth time that's really the charm.  At least that's the case when it comes to spotting an elegant trogon in Madera Canyon.  Since I was bitten by the birding bug, I've made four trips to this area of the Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona with hopes of finding this tropical relative of the quetzal.  Two years ago I succeeded in finding one in neighboring Florida Canyon, but until this week, I hadn't found him in Madera. He’s quite uncommon in the state, let alone in a park that lies at the very northern edge of his geographic range.  He’s really a Mexican bird,  with a southern range that extends to Costa Rica.  In the summer he’s known to come into southeastern Arizona for breeding, and Madera Canyon might be as far north as this guy ever actually gets. A solitary male very frequently winters in the Santa Ritas, waiting for female partners to return in late spring.  It was just the case this year, when this attr...

I will soon be going back to Madera Canyon, located on a sky island in southern Arizona, not far from the Mexican border.  It's in a mountain range that has high elevation ponderosa pine trees but is surrounded by low Sonoran Desert, hence the reference to an island.  Every spring, many migratory birds pass through this area while other unique birds like the yellow-eyed junco and Arizona woodpecker call this home all year long.  But one summer visitor, the elegant trogon, has fascinated me since I became interested in birding and bird photography. He’s quite uncommon in the state, let alone in a park that lies at the very northern edge of his geographic range.  He’s really a Mexican bird, related to the quetzal, with a southern range that goes as far south as Costa Rica.  In the summer he’s known to come into southeastern Arizona for nesting, and Madera Canyon might be as far north as he flies. So what’s really the big deal about the elegant trogon?   B...