Elegant Trogon – our target species for the day. Securely UTB (under the belt) by lunch-time

We spent today in Madera Canyon, situated on the northwestern slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains, which reach their highest point in Mount Wrightson, at 9,456 feet. Madera Canyon is considered to be amongst the top three birding sites in the whole of America –  over 256 species have been recorded here. Our target species was Elegant Trogon which, although I’d seen in Ramsey Canyon, the others still needed. We enjoyed an early morning stroll up the Carrie Nation trail and, on our return, heard the unmistakable ‘barking’ call of Elegant Trogon. At one point we had a pair directly in front of us with another, territorially challenging male, close by – fantastic. By the afternoon temperatures had reached 95deg so we spent our time in the shade at Santa Rita Lodge, watching the feeders, or walking slowly around the Proctor Road loop. Excellent birding at both spots. Tomorrow we head north to Tucson.

New for the trip and our America List – Lucy’s Warbler

Other warbler interest included this challenging female – possible Townsend x Hermit? Any comments on id gratefully received

No doubting the identification of this ‘bad boy’ but, wow, what a weird bird they are! These are of the Mexican race – Gould’s Wild Turkey