I spent a few days in Madera Canyon, the famous birding hotspot in southeastern Arizona. Days consisted of long hikes, interspersed with relaxing periods sitting on the patio watching the bird feeders.
Moonrise over the Santa Rita Mountains
Like other “Sky Island” sites in Arizona, the bird life in Madera Canyon changes with the elevation. The lower canyon was home to this Northern Cardinal, a bird of my youth in Indiana.
A couple of miles up the canyon, Wild Turkeys were common visitors to bird feeding stations.
Painted Redstarts are flashy and conspicuous.
Acorn Woodpecker
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Coues White-tailed Deer were a common sight.
One of the most sought-after birds in Madera Canyon is Elegant Trogon. They nest in the big sycamores along the creek in the upper canyon.
This is a view from the rim surrounding the canyon. It was a long climb to this point, to the land of Grace’s Warblers and Greater Pewees.
Yellow-eyed Junco was one of my favorite birds in the canyon, not as flashy as the warblers and trogons, but beautiful nonetheless. 
Ethical Birder 
John, Great pictures. I too like those yellow eyed Juncos. Will you remind me again of the camera you have? Would you buy it again, given the chance? With mother’s day coming up, I see there are some sales. I may take the plunge. Thanks again for a great field trip. Meg
Meg Ruby megruby@gmail.com
“You can have the other words-chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I’ll take grace. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ll take it. ”
— Mary Oliver
Hi, Meg,
My camera is a Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. It has a 50 power optical zoom (1200 mm equivalent) which provides good reach for bird photos. The quality of photos is not great (I keep maybe one in 100), but much of that may be my lack of knowledge about how to use the camera. It works well for blogging. I’ve only had it about six months, but would recommend it.
Thanks again for your help with classes and field trips the last two weeks.Â
John
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