Fall for Some, Spring for Others

Turn the calendar page to July, and many birds shift into autumn mode. That was certainly the case for the Allen’s/Rufous Hummingbird Sandy and Renee and I found in Madera Canyon this morning, the first of that species’ southbound migration to appear at the feeders among the abundant Black-chinned, Broad-billed, and Magnificent Hummingbirds.

But here in southeast Arizona, with July come the first of the monsoon rains, too, and other species take the welcome moisture as the sign to begin breeding; in effect, this is the start of their spring. Thus, on the way across the desert grasslands to the mouth of Madera, we enjoyed large numbers of singing Rufous-winged, Cassin’s, and Botteri’s Sparrows, chipping, tooting, and chirping all the way up.

Common birds, all, and a great morning watching them, along with such canyon ’specialties’ as Elegant Trogon and Flame-colored Tanager. Madera really is the place to be right now.