Day 12--Madera Canyon with Bylsmas

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

We drove from Tucson to the Proctor road parking lot at Madera Canyon and met Carol and Dave Bylsma, they of our first day at Patagonia Lake. Before they arrived Deb and I went to the Santa Rita Lodge and Deb managed to capture a Cassin's Finch, Bridled Titmouse, and a Wild Turkey (Western race). We then returned to the parking lot to wait for Dave and Carol. 

I decided to pop back the two miles to the lodge for a cocoa and drove into a fence at the end of the parking lot, injuring the rental car. Tear the hair! The lodge was very nice, giving a shaken me the hot chocolate and snack free.They women in the gift shop called a guy named Steve who came up, assessed the damage . . . and said there was no damage. Steve told me that none of the split rail fence was broken and all he had to do was stand the fence up again. I had created no property damage . . . but I did damage the front left fender of the car. Steve soothingly told me about other similar mishaps in the Lodge parking lot, which ends with a fence and benches above a viewing area. One car drove into one of the viewing benches with two people on it, sending all to the hospital. After that occurrence, the Lodge installed large bollards behind the viewing benches. Another drove into a tree beside the benches. Fortunately, my parking spot contained nothing but a split rail fence, no benches or trees. I was in shock and could think of little else but the nasty man at the Thrifty car rental place and my State Farm insurance for the duration of the day.

The car was drivable so I drove back down to Proctor Trailhead parking lot to meet Carol and Paul. I told them about the rental car accident and Paul said he didn't think body shops gave estimates on rental cars. another thing to worry about. But, following the Dali Lama's philosophy, I tried not to worry about it . . . but did. 

Carol Bylsma, Deb Hirt, Paul Bylsma

We four walked a way on the Proctor Trail but saw little of consequence. Deb and I recognized the trail; we had walked part of it from the other end.

Mexican Blue Oak

Buddies?

A species of cholla

It was not until I saw these "mammary" boulders that I realized that we were on a Madera Canyon trail Deb and I had walked previously in the other direction; I would love to see Arizona when the washes and streams are roaring

Beautiful ocotillo cactus, beloved by hummingbirds and many others; ocotillos were their brightest in Madera Canyon while those farther north around Tucson were dropping yellow leaves and had faded blooms

It was VERY windy and only 60 degrees. We came off Proctor trail and then I followed the Bylsma's yellow jeep back up to the Santa Rita Lodge where we watched the birds at the feeders for a bit and all looked at the place where I had hit the fence. Steve already had the post-hole digger out. I took some photos of the area and the damaged car. Before we left, the fence was back in place and no one would suspect that Miss Daisy had knocked it down.

We left the Santa Rita Lodge feeders to go back down the road a bit to a picnic/parking area. Here we left the cars and headed up a trail into the canyon in hopes of seeing an Elegant Trogon that had been spotted in the canyon only the day before.(Always the day before?) Just below the parking lot was a sycamore with two nest cavities in it belonging to a pair of Northern Pygmy Owls. Here we left Paul to keep watch while we three women trekked up the canyon. Not too far from the pygmy owl site, we heard the trogon and were immediately on alert. Carol saw it but just as she did, a woman with her camera on the bird yelled TROGON! at the top of her lungs. The bird fled, flying up the canyon before Deb could get a look at it or a photo. We understood that there were only a pair of Trogons in the area.

Northern Pygmy Owl (Internet)

Carol and Deb wandered farther up the canyon in hopes of catching sight of the pair of Trogons, but I returned to Paul and the pygmy owl owl tree. Paul had gotten several photos of the pygmy owls, but we three women did not see it or the trogon. Bummer! Deb and Carol decided that the woman who yelled had used a recording to call the trogon in, and it was that recording that we had heard. Recordings to attract birds are prohibited in most of the birding locales we visited.

Paul had taken several photos of the pygmy owls. Carol explained that the pygmy owl's favorite food is songbirds such as chickadees and cedar waxwings. The owl bites the head off the bird and eats its brains. Such ghoulish behavior from a plump ball of a bird seems contradictory but I have seen Pygmy Owls in South America also. Their call brings mixed flocks of anxious birds--even hummingbirds to keep an eye on the villain. 

After the canyon trail and pygmy owls, we returned to our cars and Deb and I followed Paul and Carol to Tubac—about half an hour away— in search of the Rose-throated Becard that had been reported on e-bird to be near the Tubac bridge. Before getting to the bridge, we stopped at a grocery store and I fixed myself a big green salad—my first greens of the trip—and Paul and Carol bought themselves something for lunch. Deb had eaten her usual candy bar and coffee for breakfast and was not hungry, 

Next we went to the Tubac Bridge, which had been fixed up with orange netting, orange barrels, and signs to keep birders off the road. We searched and searched for the Rose-throated Becard, which was supposedly building a football-sized nest near the bridge. This may have been one of those times when too many birders scared the bird off its nest because we found no nest and no signs of the becard. When a rare bird is spotted in southeast Arizona, birders flock to it in droves. When a Sinaloa Wren was spotted on the de Anza trail near where we were, so many birders arrived on the scene that they cut new trails, and trampled the area. One must be careful with e-bird sightings not to list the GPS location of a rare bird sighting.

Paul and Carol and I went to the picnic tables at a nearby park and ate our dunch. Deb was not hungry and continued to search the area. When  the three of us returned, we spent another half hour searching . . . to no avail. 

After our bootless search, Deb and I said our goodbyes to Paul and Carol and drove back to Madera Canyon and the Santa Rita Lodge. We wanted to see the Elf Owls living in a telephone pole across the road from the lodge.For seven years the Elf Owls have lived in this telephone pole near a private house there. We waited until 7:00, and sure enough, an Elf appeared at its hole which was about the size of a flicker's hole. I think it was too dark by that time for Deb's camera, but the woman standing next to me got a super photo.

Elf Owl (Internet)

Deb and I got back to our Tucson Airbnb about 8:30. It had been a long day. I plan on calling my State Farm Rep tomorrow morning and hopefully getting an estimate for the claim.