I hadn't birded Tzintzunzan in a couple of months, ever since Lawrence, a very good birder and one of my favorite local birding buddies, left for Vancouver, BC. So, I made my way to Ojo de Agua. It's a pocket park on the north side of the village, and it's a special birding spot. Not only does it have water front access, it also has riparian habitat.
Eager as I was to have a quiet time at Ojo de Agua, as I rounded the corner and neared the entrance to the park, I was dismayed to see a large tent on site with a raised stage and a 5-piece band with speakers, each nearly as large as my vehicle ('05 Ford Escape). Ojo de Agua is typically crowded on weekends, but I thought I was safe to bird it on a Thursday. Who celebrates a boda (wedding) on a Thursday?!
Nonetheless, the birds weren't fazed by the commotion. Joined by a young Mexican girl (8-10 years of age from Zamora) who learned very quickly how to work my Leica scope, the following is a list of what we saw - all were lifers for her:
Double-crested cormorant
Great egret
Snowy egret
Cattle egret
White-faced ibis
Mallard
Turkey vulture
Common moorhen
American coot
Northern jacana
Killdeer
Mourning dove
Inca dove
White-eared hummingbird
Berylline hummingbird
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Greater pewee
Black phoebe
Vermillion flycatcher
Social flycatcher
Cassin's kingbird
Barn swallow
Canyon wren (heard)
Bewick's wren
Curved-billed thrasher
Blue mockingbird
Orange-billed nightingale-thrush
Rufous-backed robin
House sparrow (last month's ABA online photo quiz featured a female)
House finch
Lesser goldfinch
Yellow warbler
Common yellowthroat
Painted redstart
Hepatic tanager
White-collared seedeater
Canyon towhee
Song sparrow
Black-headed grosbeak
Red-winged blackbird
Great-tailed grackle
Bullock's oriole - bullockii and abeillei
Scott's oriole
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