“There is nothing in which birds differ more from man

Than the way in which they can build,

And yet leave a landscape as it was before.”

Robert Lynd

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I know a sky island

That is Heaven on Earth

It’s a sanctuary above the desert

Filled with wonderment and mirth

It’s a place called Madera Canyon

In the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson

And it’s filled with over 200 species of birds

An exotic natural paradise of which I’m quite fond

Sixteen species of delightful hummingbirds are here

As well as hawks owls jays flycatchers and desert wrens

And a most intriguing bird from Mexico – the Elegant Trogan

Which makes an arduous 2,500 mile journey here again and again

I’ve journeyed to magnificent Madera Canyon many times in my life

Last year for the very first time I introduced this heaven to my lovely wife

And this bird watching paradise inspired me to write a book for young boys

A tale filled with birds a ghost a boy his loyal wolf dog and many of nature’s joys

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If you have any nature loving young readers in your family aged 8-11,

Please check out my middle reader novel about this bird watcher’s heaven.

- Mystery of Madera Canyon -

And if you are searching for a little piece of Heaven on Earth,

You may want to plan a vacation trip to this Lovely Land of Mirth;

But you better hurry since today we pave them over as if they have no worth,

And very sadly to me, far too many of them have now vanished since my birth.

Birds in Photo Clockwise from Lower Left:

A Mexican Jay,

A female and male Elegant Trogan,

Rufous Hummingbird,

Broad-billed Hummingbird, Flycatcher,

Violet-Crowned Hummingbird, Screech Owl,

And the ever lovable Roadrunner – Beep, Beep!

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer,

It sings because it has a song.”

Chinese Proverb