"You can't always get what you want." (Rolling Stones, 1964).
The lyric line clearly sums up two unsuccessful daylong attempts at finding an Elegant Trogon in Madera Canyon, Coronado National Forest, Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona.
It was a test of patience.
I finally found him on a third day of searching when he looked at me with profound indifference, as if to say "WHAT?"
Gracious though, he stuck around for several OK, albeit similar, portraits.
In the end,
"You get what you need."
Other birds, like this Red-naped Sapsucker, were more gracious. They cooperated by showing up. It was a secondary reward for sure but validation for thirty hours spent searching for an Elegant Trogon.
The racket of this Red-naped Sapsucker's hammering head attracted me to him. There was no real bird benefit in making noise, it's just the consequence of drilling hundreds of holes in a favorite tree.
These wounds eventually ooze sap which the Red-naped Sapsucker laps up with a brush-like tongue. The sticky sap also traps insects for consumption later.
A Hermit Thrush sings a sweet song between bites of last year's berries.
Spring arrives early in the desert southwest and this may be a tweet or retweet of a mating message.
Hermit Thrushes are medium sized birds, somewhat colorless, yet boldly marked with a reddish tail and white eye ring.
A Bridled Titmouse plucks a berry he'll place between his feet to eat.
Rarely seen in the USA but
wide-ranging in Mexico, the Bridled Titmouse is in the same family as the more common chickadees.
His name comes from the 'bridled' face pattern on the Bridled Titmouse's head.
(Click any picture to enlarge.)
He was gleaning insects through the olive-colored leaves with only the briefest of stops on a log... quick picture.
Painted Redstarts flash their white tail and wing patches to startle insects into revealing themselves.
The Elegant Trogon is a migrant into the USA, barely crossing the southern border from an extensive home range in Mexico. They prefer mountain canyons, building their nests among sycamores, pines and oaks.
Most certainly he doesn't comprehend the fascination he holds among people who love birds. His quizzical stare reenforces that belief.
Rarity surely enhances his popularity with size, colors, posture and perhaps attitude contributing more. The dozens of other 'birders' searching Madera Canyon for this uncommon sighting confirmed that.
Not a bird nor a common sight either, a group of White-nosed Coatis rummaging the valley floor looking for insects, invertebrates, carrion, fruits, snakes and eggs was a pleasant surprise. They are in the raccoon family, but where raccoons are nocturnal, coatis are out in the daytime. They're not shy, but will retreat if approached. They sleep in the trees at night and forage as this band of seven did, aware of me, but only mildly concerned.
"... if you try sometime, you might find, you get what you need."
Allan
Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley Guide to Birds
Wikipedia
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