Madera Canyon...Hiking and Birding

Corona de Tucson

September 15, 2023 

I love this road to Madera Canyon...

Madera Canyon has been a long time favorite for Joe and I.  We first visited this gorgeous canyon years ago as snowbirds and these days, we say it is practically in our backyard.  Thursday, dawned a perfect morning...mild temps, a light breeze, and gorgeous blue skies.   Since we needed to be in Green Valley to pick up meds for Jack and Sally at our vets, we decided to take a walk in the canyon first.  Middle Madera Canyon was our choice for the day...

We always stop and listen when we hear the birds as we walk the trail.  Most of the time, we don't see them.  But there are a couple of birds that we can count on being very visible.  The Mexican Jay is at the top of that list.  I think perhaps that is because they live in family groups...they are never alone and if you see one, you could see up to a dozen or more.  To say they love acorns is an understatement as a single Mexican Jay might cache 7,000 acorns in a single year.  But on our visit this week, seeds from the Mexican Pinyon pine cones were breakfast.

The other very visible bird we see is the Acorn Woodpecker.  They also live in family groups and they also love acorns.  They store thousands of them by jamming them into specially made holes in trees with a member of the group on alert to guard the hoard from thieves.  All About Birds describes these medium-sized woodpeckers as a "troupe of wide-eyed clowns"...

Usually when we finish hiking this trail, we continue our walk down to the Santa Rita Lodge Gift Shop to sit on the patio for a snack and water break.  

There are benches to sit and watch the birds...there is a nice variety of seed and suet feeders and peanut butter blocks.   I have never counted them, but there must be over a dozen hummingbird feeders there as well.  

It is a common sight to see the wild turkeys busy foraging for seeds and berries.  

    

I was also thrilled to capture three new birds this week while sitting at the lodge...

A male Hepatic Tanager...

an immature female Black-headed Grosbeak...

and a male White-breasted Nuthatch

Madera Canyon is well known to birders all over the United States.  It is home to over 250 species of birds including 15 hummingbird species. 

Back at the oasis, the week started off on a hot note with temps soaring to 108 on Sunday.  I have no idea what the hottest temp ever recorded for Corona de Tucson is, but I do know this year 108 is the hottest on record.  We had 7 days that reached 108 (June-1, July-5, August-0, and September-1).  Looking ahead, summer temps are giving way to wonderful fall, winter and spring weather...and that is just one of the reasons why we live here !   We had awesome storms three days this week.  Because of flash floods that often occur with these storms, we don't go out, but Wednesday we had no choice as we had an appointment to keep.  

Wednesday about 12:30 pm...we were very happy the storms skirted all around us and our neighborhood had a wonderful rain while downtown Tucson had no rain.  

 Mornings are nice so walks are still early...  

I just happened to look out the bedroom window one morning and saw a hawk in our backyard.  It was on the ground under the bottlebrush tree and flew to the fence and perched there.  I didn't have my camera and by the time I got to the patio door with it, the hawk had flown off.  I'm sure it left empty handed and hungry as there was no evidence it had been successful.  

Backyard photos...

 

And that's a wrap on our week. Until next time...

 

HAPPY TRAILS!

Middle Madera Canyon

Corona de Tucson

April 22, 2022

Madera Canyon Road...

Last Wednesday, Joe and I had to make a trip to the vet's office in Green Valley to pick up meds for Jack.  It was a beautiful morning so we decided to hike Middle Madera Canyon.   

An Acorn Woodpecker was the official greeter for the day.

We began the trail at the Amphitheater parking lot (about 5,000' elevation) and hike up to the Wrightson Picnic area and walk the road back to the jeep.  There was a new kiosk at the parking lot explaining the different regions in the canyon.  This hike begins in the Upper Sonoran Life Zone...a new to us term.  

It's a fun trail with lots of ups and downs, boulders, shade and great views.  

I used to take trees for granted when we lived in Georgia.  Not anymore !  In this section of middle Madera Canyon, oak trees and pine trees "blanket" the landscape.  Emory Oak is common.  They are wintergreen trees and keep their leaves throughout the winter until new leaves are produced.  

Male tassels or catkins shed pollen that is carried by the wind to female flowers... 

Pine trees produce two types of cones.  The hard woody cones we typically see on the ground and soft spongy cones.  

Soft, spongy male cones shed pollen carried by the wind to the hard, woody  female cones.  

I was surprised that a nice variety of wildflowers were blooming at this elevation.  Wild verbena, 

 lupine, 

Indian paintbrush, 

and my favorite for the day...these tiny little yellow blooms along the water flowing down to Madera Creek...seep monkeyflowers.

 I loved the shimmering grasses swaying in the breeze.  

And the beauty all around us.

  

We have hiked this trail many times.  It never disappoints !  

Back at the oasis, Dr Huang, our vet in Green Valley, called to say that Jack's tests show he has moderate degenerative heart valve disease.  The medication prescribed can slow down the progression of heart disease.  We have all enjoyed our time on the patio this week.  Jack especially enjoys naps in the warm sunshine.

In addition to our hike, we got in three good walks around the cart path this week.  This photo was taken about 6:40 am on Tuesday.  I love the sun and shadows this time of day.  If you squint your eyes tight, you can see a grouping of prickly pear cactus...in the center of the photo...in the field.  

These prickly pear are the healthiest and prettiest prickly pear I have ever seen. I stopped on Tuesday to get a picture.  Look at all those buds !  And every pad was full just like this one.

This morning (Saturday) I couldn't help but stop again...what a beautiful color !

Joe and I are enjoying the bottlebrush tree in the backyard.  It is full of buds and just  beginning to bloom.

The birds and the butterflies like it too.

A huge thank you to the Cactus Wren...that's a mouth full !

A coyote across the fairway in the early morning light...

a Gamble's Quail in the flower pot...

Dover beginning her day...

and Sally waiting for supper finish out the week.

It's been a nice week.

Until next time,

HAPPY TRAILS !