Cactus Jack

I moved into my new flat on Las Chapulines, Club de Golf, and there have already been some interesting visitors in and around the place. This

noisy Cactus Wren dwarfs the Wrens we get back in the UK.

He's not a pleasant character at all!

Other birds that have frequented the garden and surrounds include Great-tailed Grackles, Curve-billed Thrashers, Lesser Golfinches, House Finches and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers.

Every morning and evening, large flocks

of Cattle Egrets fly to and from roost sites. The skies at dusk and dawn also hold large flocks of White-faced Ibises, though I've yet to discover their destination.

The larger Great-White Egret regularly stalks one of the ponds on the golf course.

On a walk around the Club de Golf complex, I found a few interesting species. Finally, a Hummingbird stayed still long enough for me to identify it as White-eared. I also found White-winged and Mourning Doves alongside the more common Inca Doves. Some White-coll

ared Seedeaters fed in tall grass alongside a lake, and as I watched them, a Spotted Sandpiper nipped across and bobbed along the edge in its distinctive summer plumage.

Overhead, I had fine views of this White-tailed (Black-shouldered Kite), a fairly common raptor over open ground.

The only other raptors I've seen so far were Turkey Vultures sharing the skies with White-throated Swifts, near the Grutas de Tolontongo in Hidalgo state.