After Presa Centenario was drained, I headed up to the smaller, but more picturesque Presa located about 4km east of town. I hoped that some of the displaced birds from Centenario might have ended up there. I wasn't disappointed.
Presa Este (for lack of a better name) is actually where a lot of the water from Centenario ends up. A sandy path wound down to the shoreline in a small bay on the south side of the reservoir. Straight away I put a large raft of ducks to flight - 40 Ruddys with a few Shoveler. There was also commotion on the shoreline. Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Spotted Sandpiper, 6 Black-necked Stilt and 8 Cattle Egret. Super start. From a higher vantage point I had a good scan of the main body of the reservoir, turning up large flocks of Ruddy Duck and Shoveler. At least 190 Ruddys were counted. Also a few Eared Grebe and 30 American Coot.
Black-necked Stilt
Further around the shoreline, I found a couple of Least Sands, 5 Killdeer and a lone Wilson's Phalarope in the shallows - certainly a sign of passage. 6 Blue-winged Teal provided some variety to a duck spectacle which was dominated by huge flights of Shoveler heading into roost at the North-east end of the Presa - the 'Bay of Ducks' (see below)..
'Bay of Ducks'
In the scrub was a typical collection of Queretaro birds - sparrows (Chipping, Grasshopper, Lark, Clay-coloured), Vermilion Flycatchers, Abeille's Orioles and the odd Blue Grosbeak, to name just a few..
Blue Grosbeak
Sunset Shots, Presa Este
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