Friday, August 4
We started out the morning birding the grassland at the entrance to Madera Canyon.  It didn't take long to see one of our target birds, the Varied Bunting.  Getting the Rufous-winged Sparrow turned out to be more challenging. We had many Botteri's and Cassin's singing. Finally we had one near the road and got a scope on it.  We then proceeded to the spot where the Flame-colored Tanager was hanging around, only to find out that it hadn't been seen for three days. So on we went to pursue the Aztec Thrushes seen along one of the trails. We hiked 0.6 miles up a fairly steep trail to the spot where it had been seen and waited with several other birders. Finally, after over an hour, two thrushes showed up and delighted the crowd.
We celebrated with lunch in Green Valley, then went back into Madera Canyon. We spent some time looking for the tanager as well as a Black-capped Gnatcatcher that had been seen recently, but dipped on both. However, it was a very good day.
 
Saturday, August 5
On our last day of the tour we headed to California Gulch a little after 5:00 am. We had heard that the road into the gulch had deteriorated in the last couple of years, and also from the recent heavy rains. High clearance vehicles were a necessity, and we all declared that road to be the worst we had ever been on. We got all the way in, but drove past the parking area and ended up on the property of a colorful character living there. He told us of the Five-striped Sparrows on his property and invited us in. As we contemplated this, a Black-capped Gnatcatcher made an appearance. We decided to go to the usual spot and hiked down the hill where we found our sparrow. After the arduous journey back out, we visited Sycamore Canyon where a Rufous-capped Warbler has been hanging out. We were unable to find this skulker. With sunny skies, the temperature was heating up so we decided to head back to Green Valley. Some of us visited the local sewage lagoons and added a few shorebirds to the list. We celebrated with a nice supper, and afterward observed Lesser Nighthawk and called it a trip.
 
 
Madera Canyon
Madera Canyon
Aztec Thrush
Five-striped Sparrow