Hidden Gem

While out with the running club today, I stumbled across a hidden little lake, east of Tequisquiapan, and just a 5 minute run away from school.

Returned with the telescope to see what was about, and I wasn't disappointed. 14 Long-billed Dowitchers probed the shallows, and there were 6 Black-necked Stilts as well.

I used the cows as a hide...

And it did the trick. Closer scanning of the wader scrapes turned up a Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Spotted Sandpipers and 2 Least Sandpipers. An Egret flock contained 20 Cattles, 1 Snowy and 1 Great White, and there were 3 Shovelers and a Ruddy Duck on the water itself.

There were plenty of Blue Grosbeaks, a bird rare in other parts of town, and typically high numbers of Vermilion Flycatchers, Loggerhead Shrikes and Kingbirds. It was one particular critter that caught my attention, though. I was into an Empidomax Flycatcher sp., from a family of birds that are difficult to tell apart. Luckily, I was able to fire off a few record shots..

Certain features - long flat bill, yellow lower mandible, the habitat, and the way it downward tail flicked allowed me to confirm that it was a Gray Flycatcher. Not the most colourful, but they all count.