Travel Blog 379: Madera Canyon Magic
Madera Canyon
In the Santa Rita Mountains is a world-renowned bird-watching area called Madera Canyon. Our good friends Matt and Cyndi were on holiday from Florida, so we spent some quality time in the area with them.
Strong birders, they spotted may birds for us including the striking Elegant Trogan.
Santa Rita Lodge
Inside the canyon is the Santa Rita Lodge. This is a great place to sit and watch as the birds feast on the multiple feeders. Here is an acorn woodpecker, a black-headed grosbeak, a broad-billed Hummer, a Lazuli bunting, and a wild turkey.
Mini-Holiday
Our next planned stop was to make our way to Catalina State Park. However, because of needed coach repair (contributions welcome), we dropped off the coach and stayed for a week at a pup-friendly Tucson hotel. The pups had a great time, especially as the housekeeping crew spoiled them rotten. Nice to have a hot tub and pool and about 800 TV channels—it took 22 minutes to scroll through them all. 😉
One morning Jan was taking the car shopping, but she called me before getting into the Jeep at the parking lot. She alerted me to a potential alien space craft that turned out to be a high-altitude weather balloon.
Saguaro National Park
We took advantage of our time in Tucson to explore both sides of the Saguaro National Park a couple of times. Great seeing the blooming cactus. Here is a flowering saguaro, a gila woodpecker, and a curve-billed Thrasher.
See you next time.
In the Santa Rita Mountains is a world-renowned bird-watching area called Madera Canyon. Our good friends Matt and Cyndi were on holiday from Florida, so we spent some quality time in the area with them.
Strong birders, they spotted may birds for us including the striking Elegant Trogan.
Santa Rita Lodge
Inside the canyon is the Santa Rita Lodge. This is a great place to sit and watch as the birds feast on the multiple feeders. Here is an acorn woodpecker, a black-headed grosbeak, a broad-billed Hummer, a Lazuli bunting, and a wild turkey.
Mini-Holiday
Our next planned stop was to make our way to Catalina State Park. However, because of needed coach repair (contributions welcome), we dropped off the coach and stayed for a week at a pup-friendly Tucson hotel. The pups had a great time, especially as the housekeeping crew spoiled them rotten. Nice to have a hot tub and pool and about 800 TV channels—it took 22 minutes to scroll through them all. 😉
One morning Jan was taking the car shopping, but she called me before getting into the Jeep at the parking lot. She alerted me to a potential alien space craft that turned out to be a high-altitude weather balloon.
Saguaro National Park
We took advantage of our time in Tucson to explore both sides of the Saguaro National Park a couple of times. Great seeing the blooming cactus. Here is a flowering saguaro, a gila woodpecker, and a curve-billed Thrasher.
See you next time.