QUIT SEARCHING AND START LOOKING FOR TROGONS

March 2013

Looking for rare birds takes you to exotic places. Since my falconer days in southern Arizona, I heard stories about parrots and trogons wintering in the Santa Rita’s Madera Canyon near the Mexican border.  Often I would hike there looking for these birds only to exhaust many days with blistered feet a suburban with a dead battery and even a shy coral snake but no trogons. I was more determined to spot this secretive robin birdders dream.  Then while bass fishing the Comodero Lake in the heart of the drug ridden mountain near Cosala, Sinaloa, I saw wave after wave of military Macaws flying to roost after their daily ritual feeding on the compesino's  maize  crop.  They were considered a pest. Often netted and eaten by the local, they were glorious in their elements, fully colored against the deep green foliage of the mountain forest. But where were the elegant trogons? We were in the middle of the drug mountain and no one wanted to answer any question especially from a gringo crazy enough to be with his kids fly fishing for bass and looking for pests.

I began my quest for spot the elegant trogons and in between birds hunting trips for quail and doves, I would drive to the Cochise Mountain and hike the Canyons near Portal. Trogons are extremely shy birds and rarely make themselves known to the birders traveling from all part of the globe. I knew I had to go deeper into Mexico and my travels finally brought me back to Alamos Sonora.

My desires were fulfilled. I meant this woman a passionate birder who ran an eco lodge near Alamos.  She was preparing a salad with local foods and cheese when I first saw her. I told her of my travels and where might I find trogons.

“They’re everywhere, just find a fruiting fig tree.” she said laughing at my naiveté.  

“Oh ya, where?” I replied excited I had encountered someone so confident.  I was near a good source

“Well first you might want to quite searching and start looking.”

Was she something out of a Don Juan Carlos Castenda  bruja dream words. It was true that if I fulfilled my quest I might stop the search and retire to a rocker but then again I knew me and  would find and other challenge that has lead me to Marlin, Dakota Pheasant, Canadian waterfowl, New Zealand Brown,  Alaskan rainbows to Scottish grouse.

My crappy Spanish and Domingo’s patience brought us together. He lived in a small village Sabinito where he made house for Trogons nest, could find chaclaca, a large turkey like birds for food when times were tough and could mimic many birds. We would meet that afternoon and walk the arroyos quietly looking for fruiting Fig Tree.  After a mile   Domingo duck down, raised his cheap binoculars, and motion for me to quietly approach. Before I could raise my Steiner’s a most colorful birds the size of a large robin flushed and landed 100 yards. I raised the bionocs and there it was at last.  Beautiful male trogon turned his back to us and fulfilled his quiet shy reputation. The moment was exhilarating and Domingo was pleased that he help me find a birds I had long searched.