Patagonia, Arizona attracts bird lovers from all over the state of Arizona and beyond to see the large variety of birds that are either year-round residents or that migrate through this area rich in riparian habitat. There are some species that venture only as far north in the United States as the Sonoran desert, like the Gray Hawk, which is known to nest in Patagonia. Other species only found in the very far south of Arizona in the US are the Violet-Crowned Hummingbird and Elegant Trogan. So, unless you plan to travel south of the border, Patagonia is a perfect place to see these special birds. Spending the month of March in town, we were on the early side for peak northward migration, but there was certainly some spring migration occurring. We visited the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve a couple of times and Paton's Hummingbird Haven several times, as it was just a short walk down the road from where we were staying. We discussed both these lovely places in a previous blog post, so I won't repeat the details here. We also saw birds around town, at the Patagonia Lake State Park, on the Train Track Trail, and on our many bike rides. We gathered most of the bird photos Barry took over the course of the month in this post. So without further ado, here are some of our best bird sightings in Patagonia. Wish we could have gotten photos of every species we saw, but that's always an impossibility! A very LARGE flock of Black Vultures came to roost nightly in the Cottonwood trees along Sonoita Creek back behind the house we were staying in towards the end of our visit. Although vultures are certainly not pretty nor my favorite birds, it was quite a dramatic sight to see them all come in for their nightly roost, high in the treetops. Barry got so many great shots of the lovely jewel-toned Broad-Billed Hummingbirds that I had to include an assortment; it was impossible to select just one. I especially love the action shots! And yes, just in case you were wondering, we did get to see the famed Gray Hawk -- more than once! What a regal creature it is, and worthy of more than one photo for sure. We were fortunate enough to see another of the birds very rarely seen in the US as Violet-crowned Hummingbirds only venture into the southernmost part of Arizona. We saw these beauties on our first visit to Paton's Hummingbird Heaven, but not on subsequent visits. We were so very lucky! Note that Barry's photo of the Violet-Crowned Hummingbird in flight (below) was chosen by Tripadvisor to be used as the photo for Paton's Hummingbird Haven, as there was only a generic image up on the site. I wrote a review of Paton's and uploaded several photos Barry had taken there along with it, and a week or so later got a notice that the photo below was chosen to represent Paton's. Certainly nothing we expected but is now Barry's claim to fame! And last but not least, one of our favorite "yellow birds" we saw so frequently in Belize... But alas, we never did see an Elegant Trogan. We will have to look for that on a future visit or south of the US border.
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Although we cooked and ate at "home" (well, in our VRBO rental) most meals while spending the month of March in Patagonia, Arizona, we did venture out for a few meals at local eateries. There aren't any chains in this small village (gotta love that!) and only a handful of restaurants. But those that we sampled all served tasty fare. An added bonus is that we could walk everywhere in town. We just love being able to walk to go out to eat! Mercedes CafeWe first thought that the name of this small place referred to the car of the same name, but once we entered the doors and discovered that it was a mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant, we realized it must be a family name instead. This unassuming little restaurant on the main street through town (Naugle Avenue) serves straightforward, simple Mexican food, and entrees are reasonably priced. There isn't any atmosphere to speak of, but the waitress is sweet, and her dad makes the salsa served with the complimentary chips himself. We went two Thursday nights in a row. On our first visit, we were the only people there, and the second time, there was just one other table of four retirees. Patagonia gets a lot of day trippers from Tucson and beyond and pretty much clears out and rolls up the sidewalks at night, so this wasn't too surprising. We often saw people eating lunch there (outside) when we took our daily bike rides. On our first visit, I ordered the Chile Rellenos, which tasted good but were a bit soggy. The beans and rice sides were good as was the Mexican beer (hard to mess that up!) Barry got chicken enchiladas, which he must have liked pretty well since he got them again the second time. I tried chicken soft tacos on our second visit and liked them better than the rellenos. Gathering GroundsThis combination coffee shop, bakery, ice cream shop, and restaurant is the most popular place to eat in Patagonia, and with good reason -- it's great! They only serve breakfast and lunch so get plenty of day visitors to town as well as cyclists riding on some of the supported bike tours we saw going through town. Locals like it as well -- always a good sign. We normally enjoy a bowl of oatmeal with lots of healthy fixings for breakfast pretty much every day, but we did finally get over to Gathering Grounds for one very hearty breakfast. I ordered an absolutely delicious breakfast sandwich on sourdough with green chiles, tomato, and avocado; and Barry raved about his breakfast burrito with vegetables and fresh homemade salsa. On the way out we just had to buy a few bakery items to take back to the house. To protect the guilty, no photos were taken! Velvet ElvisThis eclectic place has been in business in Patagonia for a long time and rightfully so. The quirky menu of salads, pizzas, calzones, and pasta offers a large variety of healthy, interesting choices. We never ate in but ordered takeout pizzas twice, and they came with whole wheat crust -- without asking for it! It was good crust, too. And the toppings included things like feta, fresh spinach and herbs, sundried tomatoes, roasted chicken, and thin prosciutto slices. The large pizzas weren't inexpensive at $24-26 each, but were a perfect foodie indulgence! Although we never ate in the restaurant, it always smelled delicious when I went in to pick up pizzas. I suspect the pastas and everything else are just as amazing and creative as the pizzas. Velvet Elvis has a very attractive website if you'd like to learn more about this interesting place and its colorful owner and executive chef, Cecelia, who hails from Quito, Ecuador.
Near the end of our month in Patagonia, Arizona, we finally decided to get our mountain bikes ready to explore some of the many unpaved roads in the area. We'd been concentrating on road riding, building early-season mileage and endurance, but the options were getting a bit repetitive since there just aren't that many roads to ride, Fat tires and suspension gave us the ability to see much more of this scenic area in comfort. The first time we rode our mountain bikes, we both neglected to bring a camera along and regretted it. The views were breathtaking! We made immediate plans to go out again so we could take photos to share here as well as to help us remember just how special this little-known area is. On a beautiful spring morning, we started out heading down Blue Heaven Road past the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve and down to Solero Canyon Road. This road starts low by the creek, then climbs up up up until you have a wonderful view of Patagonia and the dramatic mountains beyond. Red Mountain is especially gorgeous when it glows brilliantly in the afternoon sun. Here's just a small portion of the long climb up. We discovered that late morning was too early in the day for the best light (and thus photos) of the views from up high, so after getting to the top and catching our breath, we turned around and pedaled back to town, vowing to come back later in the afternoon for photos. I couldn't believe I was going to have to climb that beast of a hill twice in one day, but sacrifices are required for good art, right? At the bottom of the hill, we watched a couple of cars crossing the overflow from the creek. I guess they knew it wasn't too deep and had the appropriate vehicles for it! Next we headed east on Harshaw Road, a paved road that we frequently rode our road bikes on. On mountain bikes, we were able to take the fork onto unpaved Harshaw Creek Road to see some different sights and enjoy the virtually traffic-free nature of this road. It is really peaceful and feels a million miles away from civilization -- ahhhhhh. There are many spectacular white-barked sycamore trees back in these parts. One of the very coolest things from our entire time in Patagonia occurred along Harshaw Creek Road on this very ride. We heard a rustling in the brush by the side of the road and realized we'd disturbed an entire group of White-Nosed Coatimundi. I counted at least eight running away across the wash, but there were more. We couldn't get a great photo, but here's the best one of a couple of them that scampered up a tree to escape the perceived threat of these two ferocious mountain bikers. And coatis weren't the only wildlife we encountered along this road. A friendly cow was checking us out as we pedaled by. We rode up to the old ghost town of Harshaw where we'd take a break for a sandwich and a stretch. There's very little left here beyond the remains of one old home and a very interesting cemetery. Many of the graves were very old but freshly decorated with (fake) flowers. There must be family members still living in the nearby area, even though Harshaw itself is no longer populated. We found wandering among the graves kind of peaceful. This one caught my eye. I liked the simplicity of the cross fashioned of plumbing pipe. After a screaming descent back on the paved portion of Harshaw Road, we made a quit pit stop at the house for more water and snacks, then headed back to Solero Canyon Road, part dos. The climb was no easier this time around, but the light was much better for photos. However, be advised that these don't even begin to do justice to the real thing in three dimensions. I felt like I was in Patagonia, South America instead of Arizona and couldn't stop oohing and ahhhing as I rode down the steep hill. I ended up with 35.7 miles on the day -- fairly long by mountain bike standards. Barry, the animal, actually went out on his road bike for an additional 35 miles (for over 70 miles total) after this! I'd had enough, but it was all worth it as the sights we saw were truly special. We found ourselves wishing we'd done more mountain biking in the Patagonia area as there are tons more back roads to explore. Hopefully another opportunity will present itself in the future!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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