Success in Uruapan

The first sight of the waterfalls

Today Mike Judd and I birded La Tzararacua, the waterfalls located 10 km south of Uruapan. (I have mentioned this location previously, and you can look at that posting for additional information and photos.) Until today I wasn't able to get good enough looks to identify any of the swifts. Today I was lucky! More than two dozen White-naped swifts were found huddled and flying around the waterfalls.

After making our way down the stair-filled path to the main waterfalls to where American dippers were again easily espied, we hiked beyond the falls to the opposite side of the valley. Just short of a smaller waterfall known as Tzararacuita, several Grace's warblers entertained us.

That's me!

And me again...with both the big Sibley's and Howell & Webb in my back pocket.

It was a beautiful day - no rain, pleasant weather, few people in the park, no biting insects, cold beers, and afterwards a sumptious meal in town. I added two birds to my life list: White-naped swifts and Greenish elaenia. All birds seen today are listed at the end of this posting.

White-naped swifts were huddled on both sides of the upper falls

Mike photographing American dippers

We counted three dippers - two adults and one juvenile

Cold beers were thirst-quenching after climbing the stairs back to the car

As I mentioned, we ventured into el centro de Uruapan for lunch. OH MY GAWD, OUR MEAL WAS HEAVENLY. In fact, the best meal I've had in Mexico.

We both had Chile Costeno (not the English n), which was stuffed with shrimp, squash flower, onion and other goodies served on a tomato-flavored rice pilaf and surrounded by a puree of frijoles decorated with a zigzag of crema. Savored with a slightly chilled chardonnay, we thought we'd died and went to heaven. Then there was dessert, which we shared: flamed bananas with brandy and kahlua with a large dollup of vanilla ice cream. Our waiters (Carlos and Sergio) couldn't have been more professional. Price tag for the main course was $85 pesos and dessert was $40 pesos. According to Carlos who speaks English, the chef is exceptional. When pressed, Carlos couldn't recommend one dish more than another.

Neither of us can wait to return. Mind you, Uruapan isn't much to look at, and I probably wouldn't return unless to the cascadas (waterfalls) or the national park, but I will make a trip solely to eat at this restaurant.

The restaurant is located on the second floor of Hotel Plaza Uruapan, Ocampo no. 64, Central Uruapan. http://www.hotelplazauruapan.com.mx/.

So, any of you who think birding is dull, rest assured there is another side. We visit interesting places, see gorgeous birds, and eat sumptious meals as often as we can.

Bird seen (not in taxonomic order):
Inca dove
White-throated robin
Great-tailed grackle
Acorn woodpecker
Green heron
Spotted wren
Canyon wren

Bridled titmouse
Squirrel cuckoo
Spotted sandpiper
American dipper (Spanish name: mirlo-aquatico americano)
White-naped swift (Spanish name: vencejo nuquiblanco)

Photo by Bruce Cox, Patzcuaro

Rose-throated becard
Brown-backed solitaire
Lesser goldfinch
Greenish elaneia
Grace's warbler

Black vulture
Berylline hummingbird

San Miguel Audubon Comes to Patzcuaro!

View of Lake Patzcuaro from Yacatacas in Tzintzuntzan

The following is a summary entitled "Audubon Goes to Patzcuaro" by Carol Wheeler

In case you haven't heard, all Audubon trips are wonderful. The most recent one, to Patzcuaro and environs in July, was no exception. Participants included: Twenty lucky bird lovers, two skilled, devoted, bird guides, one all-knowing guide to the Purhepechan ruins, and startlingly, dozens and dozens of birds who came along for the ride as it were, including: the elegant euphonia, the gray silk flycatcher and even the turkey vulture, for example.

Amenities were rife. Not only was the hotel splendid--Casa Encantada may be the best bed-and-breakfast in Patzcuaro--certainly it has sumptuous breakfasts, spacious rooms and charming folk decor everywhere. But so was the transportation--commodious six-passenger vans that took us not only to Patzcuaro and back, but everywhere we went once we got there, and the food, which ranged from a gourmet dinner at Patzcuaro's best restaurant to perfect bag lunches for our visit to the ruins in Tzintzuntzan. This was birding for anyone eager to spot feathered creatures in the utmost comfort.

Our bird guide, former Alaskan Georgia Conti, was not only an experienced naturalist--she was also impressively high-tech, equipped with an i-touch that sang the calls of Michoacan's birds on request, to entice the birds to fly closer. Her co-bird leader Hugo (otherwise known as Victor Hugo Valencia Alberto), who grew up in the area, used his scope to make sure we all saw what he saw. Both Georgia and Hugo cared a lot about that. Hugo had learned birding right there in Erongaricuaro (a little village) from his father, a railroadman. The tracks his father had been in charge of were one of our birding sites, so he knew them well. In use no longer, those tracks were perfect for birding--no mud and a smooth, flat path all around us, all bordered by woods, hills, and the shells of houses the railroad workers lived in. But even that paled beside the next day's site: a waterside platform where the birds came to us, no walking required on our part. (They were also visiting tall trees, horse pastures, fence posts, and a lake.)

We Audubon travelers were in luck. In the course of our trip, Georgia and Hugo showed us most of the distinctive birds of Michoacan, including our guide Georgia's choice for most characteristic song, the brown-backed solitaire, along with the berylline hummingbird, the painted redstart, the black-polled yellowthroat, the hybrid towhee, the elegant trogon and many, many others.

Our ruins guide, another transplanted American called Didi Rose, was incredibly knowledgeable about the Purhepechan culture (the ruins we visited are known as Yacata, meaning pile of rocks, but were once the seat of the monarchs of Purhepecha, above the village of Tzintzuntzan, which was at one time the capital city of Michoacan). The ruins themselves are being sorted out by the Mexican government, walls rebulit, grassy areas cleaned up. She also led us through a beautiful ex-convento fringed by a placid, serene garden, also being restored by the government. Just outside was the famous Tzintzuntzan market--no egrets, no ravens, not even a cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer (we'd seen those already), but yet quite a popular site for our group, this time searching for comals, straw cradles and flowered blouses.

Yes, we didn't only look for and at birds. We shopped and we partied; we visited museums and markets, and we got caught in the rain (but only in the briefest, pleasantest way, because if our cars weren't waiting, our hotel was just down the street). Often we combined several activities, as when we visited the home of Georgia and her husband, a modern aerie in the sky high above rolling farmland, with a privileged view of the world, plus several hummingbird feeders hanging from the patio roof, filled with the constant comings and goings of dozens of hummingbirds, close enough (almost) to touch (though if you tried, you might well fall off into that farmland, way way down below). Or when we spotted birds on our way to the art potter Nicholas Fabian's studio in his home in Santa Fe de la Laguna, a tiny, rustic Michoacan town. Fabian's work impressed us all; many of us bought pieces--one or a few--and then saw them later in town for three times the price. Always a nice surprise.

Not a surprise, totally expected but very nice nevertheless was the beautiful way Linda Whynman, Audubon's president, and her husband Saul ran the trip. They even thought to bring extra binoculars for those of us less well-equipped than we should be. And of course they provided the perfect place to talk over our daily sighting--the daily cocktail party.

Audubon is hoping to take off on another trip to Patzcuaro in the fall. And another, first-time, trip is scheduled for Mexico City's botanical gardens in October. If you become an Audubon member (go to our web site, audubonmex.org) you'll be one of the first to hear about our plans.
Birds seen (not in taxonomic order):

House sparrow
Rock dove
Canyon towhee
Cassin’s kingbird
Great-tailed grackle
Curve-billed thrasher
Orange-billed nightingale-thrush
Blue mockingbird
White-throated thrush
Chipping sparrow
Barn swallow
Slate-throated redstart
Painted redstart
Berylline hummingbird
White-collared seedeater
Cattle egret
Common raven
Cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer
Acorn woodpecker
Spotted wren
Bushtit
Rufous-capped brushfinch
Hybrid towhee (Collared towhee x Spotted towhee)
Cooper’s hawk
House finch
Rusty sparrow
Pine flycatcher
Rufous-capped warbler
Bewick’s wren
Wilson's snipe
Canyon wren
Turkey vulture
Blue-throated hummingbird
Elegant trogon
Brown-backed solitaire
Eastern bluebird
Elegant euphonia

Elegant euphonia, male

Bullock’s oriole

Black-backed oriole
Red-tail hawk (both dark and light morph)
Gray silky-flycatcher
Black vulture
Great egret
Marsh wren
Sora
Northern jacana
Song sparrow
Black-polled yellowthroat
Cliff swallow
White-faced ibis
Little blue heron
Red-winged blackbird
Snowy egret
Bronzed cowbird
Vermilion flycatcher
Blue grosbeak
Mexican mallard

Great kiskadee
Yellow warbler
Yellow-breasted chat
Orchard oriole
Black-backed oriole
Great egret
American coot
Common moorhen
Snowy egret
Black phoebe
Rufous-backed robin
Curve-billed thrasher
Elegant euphonia (male and female)
Lesser goldfinch
Nashville warbler
Wilson's warbler
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Vermilion flycatcher
Killdeer
Song sparrow
Cassin’s kingbird
House sparrow
Lincoln sparrow
House finch
Inca dove
Cattle egret
Barn swallow
Canyon towhee
Brown-headed cowbird
Bronzed cowbird
Canyon wren
Gray silk-flycatcher
Mexican mallard
?? vireo
Yellow-headed blackbird
Magnificent hummingbirds
Berylline hummingbird
Broad-billed hummingbird

Hugo Valencia, Linda Whynman, and me

Mike Judd loves herpes as well as birds

Birds of Michoacan

I was recently given a gift: a digital version of "La Biodiversidad en Michoacan Estudio de Estado", which includes a chapter and list of the birds of Michoacan. This gift was from Dra. Laura Villasenor Gomez and Dr. Fernando Villasenor, who are siblings and ornithologists at the University of Michoacan in Morelia. Muchisimo gracias!!

The appendices (anexos in Spanish) are incredibly useful:

• a list the birds of Michoacan
• lists of species that are threatened (16 species), in danger of extinction (11 species), are under protection (49 species), and are extinct (only 1 species, the Imperial woodpecker)
• lists of endemic (43), semi-endemic (35), and quasi-endemic species (16).

I have transcribed the data into a spreadsheet. If you'd like to have any of these lists, email me at antep9[at]aol[dot]com. Meanwhile, I am trying to learn how to upload an Excel file to this blog....if you can help, let me know!

Bolillos, birds, bugs, and beauty in Tacambaro-Pedernales

Monday's outing was fabulous, and I cannot wax more eloguently than Bruce Cox who summarized the day in the following words (see photos at the end):

"A spectacular day, yesterday. Whether an ardent "birder" or simply a day-venturer, many of you may not yet know about one of the best kept secrets of Patzcuaro and central Michoacan: day trips with Georgia Conti and her co-leader Hugo.

Begun early, the day's first stop was a local bakery not far from Don Chucho's for steaming bolillos. We couldn't wait to savor with a crunch-crunch any longer than the bakery's street-front where Georgia offered butter and jams from the back or her SUV. Then off to the south and Tocambaro where we visited utterly wonderful and spectacular sites that offered us a number of area birds. The second site, a bit past Tocambaro and hidden in a box canyon, waterfalls streaming, was a balneario/restaurant where serveral of us, for the first time, repeatedly saw a Russet-crowned Motmot. Tasty tortas, cervezas, and chips... and lively discussions brought a wonderful trip to a finale........ no wait, more birds, another Motmot.......... and a raven seen from the highway back to Patzcuaro. Other feathers identified were: Happy wren, Blue-black, Sulphur-bellied flycatcher, Rusty-crowne ground-sparrow, juvenile Eastern bluebirds, and a Hepatic tanager.

Note: several of the most jubilant venturers had never been birding before..... and living and traveling in this area will never be the same for them. I think."

Birds of the day:

Hepatic tanager
Eastern bluebird
Barn swallow
White-breasted nuthatch
House finch
Acorn woodpecker
Olive warbler
Chipping sparrow
Grace's warbler
American robin
Black vulture
Blue mockingbird
Vermilion flycatcher
Blue-black grassquit
Golden vireo
Happy wren
Bronzed cowbird
Sulphur-bellied flycatcher
Russet-crowned motmot
Rufous-backed robin
Magnificent hummingbird
Berylline hummingbird
Black-vented oriole
Rock dove
House sparrow
Curve-billed thrasher
Canyon wren
White-throated thrush
Great kiskadee
Rusty-crowned ground-sparrow
Great-tailed grackle
Groove-billed ani
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Cassin's kingbird
Inca dove
Common raven

La Estacion, the old train station near Erongaricuaro

In March, Hugo introduced me to La Estacion, the old train station near Eronga. His father worked for the railroad for 30 years, so he has spent much time here. His father passed away a few years ago, and there is a special place in Hugo's heart for La Estacion. It is also an especially good place for birds. Each time we visit the area, we find Elegant trogon, an exciting species no doubt for most birders. We also add a new species to our list with each visit. For example, today we watched a family of Slate-throated redstarts. Although not a new species, we were able to watch the adults busily feeding youngsters and teaching them to forage. This was the first time I saw baby redstarts. Without the adults nearby and without the tell-tale fanning of their tails, it would have been a trying time for me to identify the juveniles.

After the photos, you will find a list of all birds we've seen these past months.









Here is a list of species seen at La Estacion since March:

Turkey vulture
Sharp-shinned hawk
Cooper's hawk
Common black-hawk
Red-tailed hawk (dark morph)
Mourning dove
Inca dove
White-tipped dove
Whip-poor-will
Broad-billed hummingbird
White-eared hummingbird
Berylline hummingbird
Blue-throated hummingbird
Elegant trogon
Acorn woodpecker
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Ladder-back woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
White-striped woodcreeper
Tufted flycatcher
Greater pewee
Hammond's flycatcher
Gray flycatcher
Dusky flycatcher
Cordilleran flycatcher
Vermilion flycatcher
Dusky-capped flycatcher
Great kiskadee
Cassin's kingbird
Rose-throated becard
Violet-green swallow
Northern rough-winged swallow
Barn swallow
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Gray silky-flycatcher
Spotted wren
Canyon wren
Bewick's wren
Curve-billed thrasher
Blue mockingbird
Eastern bluebird
Brown-backed solitaire
Orange-billed nightingale-thrush
Hermit thrush
White-throated thrush
American robin
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Bushtit
Mexican chickadee
Mexican jay
Common raven
House sparrow
Warbling vireo
Chestnut-sided shrike-vireo
House finch
Lesser goldfinch
Orange-crowned warbler
Nashville warbler
Yellow warbler
Yellow-rumped warbler
Black-throated gray warbler
Black-and-white warbler
MacGillivray's warbler
Wilson's warbler
Painted redstart
Slate-throated redstart
Rufous-capped warbler
Yellow-breasted chat
Hepatic tanager
Summer tanager
Western tanager
Elegant euphonia
White-collared seedeater
Cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer
Rufous-capped brush-finch
Spotted towhee
Hybrid towhee (Collared x Spotted)
Canyon towhee
Stripe-headed sparrow
Rufous-crowned sparrow
Rusty sparrow
Chipping sparrow
Lincoln's sparrow
Black-headed grosbeak
Blue grosbeak
Bronzed cowbird
Bullock's oriole (Abeille's)
Black-vented oriole

My friend Bob from Boise

Robert Whitlatch

A couple years ago I met Robert Whitlatch. He contacted me while I was working in Anchorage, Alaska. Yet again another birdingpal connection. Bob is a birder. He is also a writer and a photographer.

I encourage you to check out the following sites:

http://www.blue-sage-moon.blogspot.com/

Since our meeting in Alaska, we have stayed in touch and have become good friends. We have also done some birding together. In fact, we met up in Seattle on election night, where we celebrated the Obama victory together. Oh yeah! He also visited us in Patzcuaro March 11-18.

And boy did we bird - every day from sunrise to sunset. At the end of this posting is a list of the birds seen.

There's nothing like one of Martin's hamburgers after a day's birding - yummy, yummy!

Back in Boise, where his head was still swirling with all he saw and experienced in Patzcuaro, he wrote a story. That story was shared with friends, one of whom passed it along to someone else and, well, his story is being published in the New Jersey Audubon's spring newsletter. His love of birding has also been noticed by his employer, Alaska Airlines, and they too have included an article in their in-house publication.

Birds seen:

Exit to Zamora (from GDL-Mexico City tollroad):

Great-tailed grackle
House finch
House sparrow
Lesser goldfinch
Varied bunting
Blue bunting
Canyon towhee
Bullock’s oriole
Orchard oriole
Yellow-rumped warbler
Groove-billed ani
Blue grosbeak
Indigo bunting
Rufous-backed thrush
Nashville warbler
Wilson’s warbler
MacGillivray’s warbler
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
White-collared seedeater

Blue-black grassquit
Turkey vulture

Golden-fronted woodpecker
Inca dove
Streak-backed oriole
Common yellowthroat
Cattle egret
Great kiskadee

Further down the road toward Zamora:

Logger-head shrike
White-tailed

Lake Camecuaro:
Western meadowlark
American kestral
Great egret
Cassin’s kingbird
Bushtit
Canyon wrenBullock’s oriole
Rose-throated becard
Muscovy duck
Vermilion flycatcher
Black phoebe
Cordilleran flycatcher
Hermit thrush
Bewick’s wren
American coot
Eastern bluebird

La Colonia (village on way to Zarzamora – above Eronga):
Striped sparrow
Barn swallow
Brown-headed cowbird
Chipping sparrow
Bullock’s oriole (Abeille's)

Old Road from Zarzamora to Erongaricuaro, including Porton Negro area:
Red crossbill
Buff-breasted flycatcher
Greater peewee
Black-headed grosbeak
Collard-spotted towhee (hybrid)
Blue mockingbird
Lincoln’s sparrow
Acorn woodpecker
Elegant trogon
Painted redstart
Grace’s warbler
Olive warbler
Northern flicker
Black-headed siskin
Pine flycatcher
Mexican chickadee
Black-and-white warbler
Yellow warbler
Black phoebe


Columpio (dip in the road beyond Zarzamora):
Yellow-eyed junco
Slate-throated redstart
Crescent-chested warbler
Brown creeper
Townsend’s warbler
Pygmy nuthatch
Blue-throated hummingbird
Mt. pygmy-owl
Cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer (female)

Ojo de Agua (Tzintzuntzan):
Green heron
Common moorhen
Northern jacana
Spotted sandpiper
Northern waterthrush
Song sparrow
Canyon wren
Common yellowthroat
Black-and-white warbler
Yellow warbler
Black phoebe
Painted redstart
Sora
Bronze cowbird
Snowy egret
White-faced ibis
Black-polled yellowthroat
Cassin’s kingbird
Curve-billed thrasher
Cassin’s vireo

Rio Corucha and Arroyo Frio (south of Tacambaro):
Black vulture
Yellow-winged cacique
Squirrel cuckoo
Stripe-headed sparrow
Thick-billed kingbird
Tropical kingbird
Gray-crowned yellowthroat
Warbling vireo
Orange-billed nightingale-thrush
White-throated robin
Western tanager
Macgillivray’s warbler
Cassin’s flycatcher
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Curve-billed thrasher
Cassin’s Vireo
*Solitary eagle vs. Common black-hawk (I will post separately re this encounter)

Highway between Opongeo and Cerro Burro, near Santa Juana:

Mexican jay
Hairy woodpecker
Mountain trogon
Calliope hummingbird

Cerro Burro:
Horned lark
Pine siskin
Red warbler
Olive-sided flycatcher
Magnificent hummingbird
Steller’s jay
American pipit
Hepatic tanager
White-eared hummingbird
Broad-billed hummingbird
Violet-crowned hummingbird
Calliope hummingbird
Eastern bluebird
Chipping sparrow
House finch
Yellow-eyed junco
Violet-green swallow

American robin

Northern rough-winged swallow
Barn swallow
Turkey vulture
Cassin's kingbird
Golden-browed warbler
Slate-throated redstart
Mex chickadee
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Black-headed grosbeak
Hermit warbler
Black vulture
Red-tailed hawk
Buff-breasted flycatcher
Greater peewee
Collared-spotted towhee (hybrid)

Lake Cuitzeo (north of Morelia):
Lesser scaup
Blue-winged teal
Clark’s grebe
American coot
Ruddy duck
Northern shoveler
Cinnamon teal
Black-necked stilt
American avocet
White pelican
Little blue heron

San Miguel de Allende:
Crested caracara
Northern mockingbird
Cactus wren
Green-winged teal
Mexican duck
Lark sparrow
Black-chinned sparrow
Gray flycatcher
Scott’s Oriole

Laura Kaltenstein's Artwork

Earlier this year, Laura Kaltenstein visited from Sitka, Alaska. In the wintertime, many Alaskans escape the harshness of northern weather (if my memory serves me correctly, it tends to rain sideways in Sitka).

This year, she chose to visit Mexico's Central Highlands for a number of reasons: to practice and improve her Spanish, visit the nearby Monarch butterfly sanctuary, and bird the central highlands. Together we birded around Erongaricuaro, Arocutin, and Tacambaro. We also spent several days birding Lake Camecuaro and Colima (see previous postings).

Unbeknownst to me, Laura is an accomplished artist. Her specialities are beadwork and linoleum block prints.

Here are some photos of her bird-related work. You can also find examples of her beadwork. Check out her website: http://www.lauraalaskaart.blogspot.com/.

Some examples of her beadwork:

Lapel pins

Purses