In Patagonia

We spent three nights at Patagonia Lake State Park, but then they kicked us out because they were full up for the weekend.

Patagonia Lake is famous as one of the few places in the US where you can see an elegant trogon and other rare birds that sneak up from Mexico, but they hadn't seen any trogons since January, so the pressure was off.  We didn't have to wait around for one to show up, we could just walk the trails at will and enjoy whatever birds we could find.

They have a group of feeders set up at the trailhead, so you can sit on the bench and watch the hummingbirds at the feeder while looking at a view of the lake and whatever ducks might be out there.

A few minutes after we put up our own hummingbird feeder a broadbilled hummingbird showed up to check things out.

Female broadbilled hummingbird near our feeder

The first evening we headed out onto the birds trail as soon as the temperature started to cool down, but our stroll was cut short by a group of very randy young bulls establishing their domineering and practicing their adult duties on one another.  We thought it best to back out of there.

The next morning we headed out early.  We were rewarded with a rare and prized violet-crowned hummingbird at the feeder and on the trail, black-throated grey and yellow warblers, a Hammonds flycatcher and a plumbeous vireo, the bird of the day!

The next day we headed for the Patagonia-Sonoma Preserve.

Freemont Cottonwoods protected in the Preserve

We were the first in the gate and we're rewarded with Coue's whitetail deer browsing in the fields.  They also had violet-crowned hummingbirds at their feeder, but that doesn't mean it's easy to get a good picture.

Highlights here were black vultures (versus the more common turkey vulture), lark sparrows

turkeys,

and Inca doves.

Later in the heat of the afternoon we sat in the shade of Patons hummingbird site, chatting with fellow birders and trying to get a picture of a violet-crowned hummingbird.

Better luck with the flashier, but more common broadbilled hummingbird:

This is a private home that opened their yard to the public so folks from all over the world could watch their feeders.  After the owners passed away their home was purchased by the Nature Conservancy so the tradition continues.

Later while stretched out on the campsite picnic table bench I looked up and spotted a turkey vulture overhead, which then resolved into a black hawk, another southeastern Arizona specialty.  Bird of the Day!

In the evening we walked the bird trail again and ran into the same group of bulls, but they were less rambunctious so we walked right by.  We didn't see any new birds, but we did spot the non-bird of the day, our first coatimundi of the trip.  He took off at the sight of us.