Tacambaro Trip Report - Tuesday August 12, 2008

Yesterday it was Tzararacua near Uruapan. Today we visited Tacambaro, south of Patzcuaro in the Tierra Caliente. Wayne and Susan C. made the trip again from San Miguel de Allende and Bruce C. joined me for a rich day of birds, butterflies and dragon flies/damsel flies. Each of us added lifers to our lists, plus we simply enjoyed this hillside path/camino.

Neon skimmer - Libellula croceipennis

This dragonfly is found from Southwestern USA to Costa Rica

Photo by Wayne Colony

Birds seen/heard (not in taxonomic order):

Black vulture

Greater pewee

Golden-cheeked woodpecker

Blue-black grassquit

White-collared seedeater

Streaked-backed oriole

Stripe-headed sparrow

Yellow-winged cacique

Russet-crowned motmot

Black phoebe

Lesser goldfinch

Great kiskadee

Gray silky-flycatcher

Squirrel cuckoo (one of those unimpeded views a photographer would love - red eye and all - only Wayne had his nose focused on a butterfly elsewhere!)

Barn swallow

Inca dove

Violet-crowned hummingbird

Vermillion flycatcher

House finch

Black-headed siskin

Black-chested sparrow (lifer for me)

Lesser roadrunner

Blue bunting (another life)

Rusty-crowned ground-sparrow

Blue mockingbird

Grove-billed ani

Flycatchers - a Pileated and a few others - any flycatcher experts who want to help us focus on the finer aspects of these non-vocalizing birds?!

Wayne and Susan returned next day before heading back to San Miguel. They photographed at least 39 species of butterflies and reported Banded quail, a species I'd love to add to my life list!