Bronzed Cowbird

This is a new guy for me.  These central American birds (range map)are here from April - October for breeding season, generally following Hooded orioles.  Only 10% of them, however, reach further north than Mexico.  One of the interesting things about them is that they are brood parasites.  They lay their eggs in other birds' nests and the "host" birds nestle them for about 10 days before they take off on their own. 

For a change, this foray to Madera Canyon was planned in advance.  I usually take off on a whim. I wanted to get there in the morning, much earlier than I usually arrive.  The platform feeders that the bears destroyed have been replaced and rows of spikes have been attached to the beams.  I found out that those aren't for the bears but the coatimundi, who have been caught up there with their cubs pulling up on the chains holding various types of feeders...anything within reach.  It makes me really sad that the mammals in the mountains are literally running out food because of the severe drought.  There really isn't much humans can do to help.  It's just nature and likely climate change.  We haven't had any Monsoon thunderstorms so the good news is that the lightening over the mountains every night throughout the rainy season hasn't caused any wildfires here yet. But it's brittle up there.  Even the grills located around the park are forbidden to be used.  There are warning signs everywhere.

Anyway, I went with a different mindset today.  I was going to try to shoot anything except hummingbirds. I met a few nice people, all from Tucson.  For the longest time I was alone with one person.  It was kinda funny because we were using the same exact camera (Canon 7D Mark II) and the same Canon 100mm-400mm lens. About an hour earlier walking on a nearby trail, she got the most awesome photo of an Elegant Trogon I've seen.  She won't even have to crop that baby.  I've been searching for that elusive bird for 12 years.  I just know this is the year I nab one.