If you look up “querencia” in a Spanish/English dictionary, you’ll find it is a noun meaning “homing instinct.” I first heard the term in Laurie Roberts’ Arizona Republic column of August 28, 2010 celebrating the life and death of Eddie Fouts, the legendary dean of Arizona backcountry explorers. Eddie died at age 94, but well into his ninth century he was still trekking through his beloved Arizona outback in his black ‘75 CJ-5 with no top or side curtains, guiding like-minded souls who crave wilderness like water. Roberts, alluding to Hemingway who wrote of querencia as that place the bull goes inside the ring where he feels safe and refuses to engage the matador, characterized the Arizona backcountry as Fouts’ querencia.
Madera Canyon was undoubtedly too tame a place for Eddie Fouts, but it draws me back multiple times every year. It’s my favorite place to disengage from Life, and it’s simply the best birding site in Arizona. It lacks a few of the specialty species found in the Sky Islands farther south and east, and the picnic areas can be crowded on warm weather weekends, but for diversity of species and beauty of scenery, both distant mountain vistas and intimate close-ups, Madera is Arizona’s birdwatching gem.
Part of Coronado National Forest, Madera Creek originates near 9,453 foot Mt. Wrightson and tumbles through pine/oak woods and granite outcrops toward the high desert far below. Through the canyon that is the creek's handiwork and bears its name, a single road winds upward for six miles past a small campground, two picnic areas, two bed and breakfasts, and a lodge with rental cabins. That road and the high country trails it accesses convey birders through four life zones from the hot, dry Lower Sonoran to the cool, wet Canadian. This striking change in elevation and habitat can yield a wildly diverse suite of birds in just a few hours birding.
Spring is the best time of year to experience Madera, from sparrows in the grasslands to tanagers and orioles in the foothills to Arizona’s mountain warblers along the high trails, always with a chance for Northern Goshawk, Northern Pygmy-Owl, or Berylline Hummingbird. You can hike your brains out running up a big list or just sit on the seat of your pants waiting for an Elegant Trogon to find you.
My portfolio of Madera memories includes a bathing trogon, a Red-tailed Hawk harassing a Golden Eagle, Wild Turkeys roosting overnight above a bed & breakfast cabin, a Whiskered Screech-Owl serenading at dusk above a campsite, and a Montezuma Quail walking toward me down a trail. I’ve also encountered Gray Fox, Bobcat, mama Black bear with cub, Coati, and two flavors of skunks along the trails.
Rarely do I go birding anymore with a target species in mind, but not so in Madera. The possibilities here are so myriad and delicious it’s best to go with an open mind. Every bend in the trail can be an adventure, every day is different, the only expectation the unexpected. See you there soon.