Trip Report - August 1-8, 2013

 

From left to right:  Hugo, Jeanne, Glynnis

Caveat:  I did not see/hear/experience the birds listed on this trip report.  I intended to bird with sisters Glynnis (from Wales) and Jeanne (from Sarasota, Florida) but a couple days before their arrival a neighboring dog bonged my chin knocking out several front teeth and I spent the next days and months in dental chairs.  Didn't I recently post how awful 2013 was to me?! 

Anyway, I hooked them up with Hugo and they spent nearly a week scouring the countryside.  Sad to say for me, they all had numerous lifers and found several new species for this area, which they reported to me each evening (they stayed in my casita).  I would have been thrilled to be with them any of these days. Notable sightings are marked with a star and in bright red font. 

Jeanne is president of Sarasota Audubon Society, and it is my greatest hope she returns soon with a group so she can show me around my turf in the hopes of spotting some of the unusual birds she saw and listed on this report. 

Species by location

Jaracuaro Bridge:

 

Jeanne and Georgia checking out the Black-polled yellowthroat

 



Common gallinule
American coot
Snowy egret
Little blue heron (one in white, one in calico phase)
Tricolored heron
Cattle egret
Great blue heron
Great egret
White-faced ibis
Mexican duck
Ruddy duck
Black-necked stilt
Northern jacana
Killdeer
White-throated swift
Black phoebe
Vermilion flycatcher
Cliff swallow
Barn swallow
Common raven
Bushtit
Bewick's wren
Yellow warbler
Black-polled yellowthroat
Song sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
Yellow-headed blackbird

El Chirimoyo (Georgia's house):

 

Glynnis in front of Georgia's House



Inca dove
White-throated swift
Broad-billed hummingbird
Berylline hummingbird
Magnificent hummingbird
Cliff swallow
Barn swallow
Gray silky-flycatcher
Blue mockingbird
Curve-billed thrasher
White-throated thrush
American robin
Black-headed grosbeak
Blue grosbeak
Varied bunting (juvenile)
Rufous-capped brush-finch
Canyon towhee
White-collared seedeater
Black-vented oriole

Erongaricuaro's Canal Area:

Northern jacana
Common yellowthroat
Black-polled yellowthroat
*Western meadowlark

Photo courtesy of Wikimendia Commons

Lesser goldfinch

La Estacion (old train station outside Erongaricuaro):

 

Hugo and Jeanne at La Estacion

Black vulture
Sharp-shinned hawk
Red-tailed hawk
White-tipped dove
Blue-throated hummingbird
Acorn woodpecker
Ladder-backed woodpecker
Northern flicker (red-shafted)
Cassin's kingbird
Tufted flycatcher
Pileated flycatcher
Pine flycatcher
Buff-breasted flycatcher
Barn swallow
Common raven
Canyon wren
Bewick's wren
Spotted wren
Gray silky-flycatcher
Blue mockingbird
Brown-backed solitaire
Orange-billed nightingale-thrush
Eastern bluebird
White-throated thrush
Slate-throated redstart
Painted redstart
Rufous-capped warbler
Hepatic tanager
Flame-colored tanager
Black-headed grosbeak
Blue grosbeak
Indigo bunting
Hybrid towhee (Spotted/Collared)
White-collared seedeater
Chipping sparrow
Stripe-headed sparrow
Rusty sparrow
House finch
Black-headed siskin
Lesser goldfinch

La Zarzamora, including El Columpio:

Turkey vulture
Red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
Peregrine falcon
*Long-tailed wood-partridge (OMG, they got this new species for the area...at least for us.  I haven't checked with the ornithologists in  Morelia)
White-tipped dove
*Ferruginous pygmy-owl (heard)

 Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

White-eared hummingbird
Berylline hummingbird
Mountain trogon
Hairy woodpecker
Cassin's kingbird
Transvolcanic jay
Common raven
Mexican chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted nuthatch
Brown creeper
Loggerhead shrike
Cassin's vireo
Hutton's vireo
Russet nightingale-thrush
Ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush
White-throated thrush
Crescent-chested warbler
Slate-throated redstart
Painted redstart
Olive warbler
Red warbler
Striped sparrow
Yellow-eyed junco
Red crossbill

Brian's Road (it is really the old road between Zarzamora and Erongaricuaro):

White-tipped dove
*Whiskered screech-owl (2 seen and photographed) - this is a new species for Hugo and me. 

Note there are two morphs!

Berylline hummingbird
Blue-throated hummingbird
Elegant trogon (male and female)
Ladder-backed woodpecker
White-striped wood-creeper 
*Western wood-pewee

 

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Greater pewee
Pine flycatcher
Transvolcanic jay
Common raven
Mexican chickadee
Bushtit
Gray silky-flycatcher
Plumbeous vireo
Warbling vireo
Blue mockingbird
Brown-backed solitaire
Eastern bluebird
White-throated thrush
Crescent-chested warbler
Grace's warbler
Black-and-white warbler
Painted redstart
Olive warbler
Hepatic tanager
Black-headed grosbeak
Canyon towhee
Hybrid towhee (Spotted/Collared)
White-collared seedeater
Cinnamon-bellied flower-piercer
Yellow-eyed junco
House finch
Red crossbill
Pine siskin
Black-headed siskin

Santa Juana Area:

White-eared hummingbird
Mountain trogon
White-striped woodcreeper
Tufted flycatcher
Transvolcanic jay
Common raven
Bushtit
Brown creeper
Hutton's vireo
Russet nightingale-thrush
Slate-throated redstart
Olive warbler
Red warbler
Golden-browed warbler
Rufous-capped brush-finch 
Hybrid towhee (Spotted/Collared)

Cerro Burro:

Lesser roadrunner
Mountain trogon
Acorn woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
White-striped woodpecker
Steller's jay
Common raven
House wren
Curved-billed thrasher
Eastern bluebird
American robin
Black-and-white warbler
Golden-browed warbler
Canyon towhee
Chipping sparrow
Yellow-eyed junco
Lesser goldfinch

Tacambaro's Cerro Hueco Park:

Acorn woodpecker
Greater pewee
Common raven
Spotted wren
Grace's warbler
Black-headed siskin

Tacambaro's Rio Corucha:

Cooper's hawk
Inca dove
Squirrel cuckoo
Lesser roadrunner
Grove-billed ani
White-naped swift
Golden-crowned emerald
Violet-crowned hummingbird
Russet-crowned motmot
Golden-cheeked woodpecker
Great kiskadee
Thick-billed kingbird
Pileated flycatcher
Vermilion flycatcher
Rose-throated becard
Golden vireo
Grey-crowned yellowthroat
White-collared seedeater
Blue-black grassquit
Striped sparrow
Streaked-backed oriole

Pedernales' Arroyo Frio:

West Mexican chachalaca
Squirrel cuckoo
Dusky hummingbird
Green kingfisher
Golden-cheeked woodpecker
Golden vireo
Grey-crowned yellowthroat
Fan-tailed warbler
Louisiana waterthrush

Hugo and Glynnis espying the screech-owls

 

International Hummingbird Festival, September 6-8,  2013

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato

 

 

 

 

(I am in the white t-shirt, happy to be among this auspicious group)

 

 

The original idea for this festival came from Jim McKeever and Alfredo Garcia Lucio, creators of Camino Silvestre, a company given to lovers of nature and appreciation of birds.  They have two stores in San Miguel de Allende. 

Beneficiaries of the festival were El Charco del Ingenio and Mexico Audubon Society. 

I've worked closely with the Audubon group these past few years and was happy to help recruit several key speakers and guides.  A special treat for me was spending the weekend with Sheri L. Williamson, author of the Peterson Guide to the Hummingbirds of North America, in the lovely home of Linda and Saul Whynman.  Believe me, I asked Sheri every question I could think of related to hummers and their behaviors. 

Most of the activities (presentations and bird walks) occurred on the grounds of El Charco, a wonderful botanical garden in San Miguel.  I cannot complement El Charco's staff too much for their hard work in making the logistics go so smoothly.  Hats off to Mario and his staff. 

Another half day was spent at Rancho Los Labradores on the highway to Dolores Hidalgo, where I was able to bird again with Drew (see previous trip report related to the Clapper rail) and finally met his lovely wife. 

The festival was bi-lingual and populated with many exceptional speakers, post-grad students, and serious hummingbird fans.  It was so successful a commitment has been made to organize another in 2014. 

If you're curious about the festival, check out the website:  www.festivaldelcolibri.org.  You can chose English of Spanish. 

And do consider attending the next festival.  There might even be a side trip to Lake Patzcuaro to see additional hummingbird species, ones not found in San Miguel de Allende. 

Linda Whynman, president emeritus of Mexico Audubon Society, and I enjoying the festival

2013 - it came and went, thank goodness

It has been more than a year since I've posted anything on my blog.  All I can say is I am glad to have 2013 pass by.....what a year of bad and sad things for me. 

Speaking of birds: here's to 2014, which is on a good roll what with yesterday's Super Bowl romping of the Broncos.  I am so proud of Seattle's Seahawks.

I lost my camera in a taxi in Istanbul in May and didn't replace it until November.  I listened to Mike Judd, Dennis Paulson, and a couple others, and bought a Canon PowerShot SX50 HS.  I am still getting used to it but feel competent enough to start taking and posting bird photos from here on.   

I birded this past year but most of it occurred in other locations and this blog is devoted to birding in and around Patzcuaro.  The next few postings will highlight some of my 2013 activities.  And then I promise to be better at 2014 bird sightings and trip reports.