We departed Green Valley around 8:00 and travelled south to Nogales, Az, then northeast towards Patagonia, Az. We made 3 stops to search for birds. Well, actually the stop at Mrs. Patton's house cannot be described as "searching for birds" as all we did was sit in the backyard and wait for the birds to appear.
Our search for the Elegant Trogon was the highlight of the day. We found him at the Patagonia Lake State Park. We had a bit of a problem finding him. The direction to the location of the bird was a bit vague. We overshot the turnoff for the bird and had to double back on the trail until we spotted what looked like a stream crossing that would take us to the trail where the bird has been spotted. Sure enough once we got across the stream in the right location we spotted a few birders through the trees. Within no time we got to the location and there he was, the Elegant Trogon. Elegant certainly describes the bird. I have included a picture so you can see for yourself. Once again, it is not my picture.
One observation we made of the area we were birding in is that it seemed we had gone back a month of so. There was very little green vegetation, except for some of the cottonwood tree that lined Sonoita Creek. The elevation of the area was around 4,000 feet and this must have been a factor. Also, we are not sure if they got the winter rain that we got in the Valley of the Sun. All this could have impacted the variety and number of birds in the area. While we were thrilled with the 9 new species, overall we were a bit disappointed in the variety.
New birds and their location:
Patagonia Lake State Park
- Bullock's Oriole
- Chipping /sparrow
- Lucy's Warbler
- Elegant Trogon
Mrs. Patton's House in Patagonia
- Lazuli Bunting
- Scott's Oriole
- Pyrrhuloxia (male and female)
Patagonia - Sonoita Creek Preserve
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
Highway I-19, north of Tubac (just before CBP Checkpoint at Chavez Siding)
- White-tailed Kite
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| Elegant Trogon |
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