Presa Centenario fighting back

The start of the rainy season has resulted in the water levels at the Presa in Tequis starting to rise again. It's great news, and if it continues, then as we enter the autumn and winter, it will be teeming with birds again.

Nice to see some ducks had returned to the reservoir. I had about 60 Mexican Ducks and 40+ Ruddy Ducks. Also on the water, a handful of American Coots, 2 gorgeous Black-necked Grebes and a couple of Least Grebes.

Mexican Ducks

Eared (Black-necked) Grebe

There were a large number of Cattle Egret (and 1 Black-crowned Night Heron) feeding at the far end of the reservoir, and as I was walking around I could see that the flocks were gradually leaving and flying towards their roost in the centre. Positioned myself under the flight path and fired off some nice shots of them.

Cattle Egrets

Things are starting to pick up on the wader front as well. Killdeers were literally everywhere. Without doubt, there were at least 100 breeding pairs. The swampy area at the far end provided some further treats as well - 50 Black-necked Stilts including some with young, 4 American Avocets, 30 Lesser Yellowlegs and 1 Greater Legs.

Killdeer

Black-necked Stilts

In the scrub, Cactus Wrens, Curve-billed Thrashers, Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, Bewick's Wren. I also walked back along the river, picking up Clay-coloured Thrushes, Black Phoebe, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Cassin's Kingbird.

Hummers

Put up a feeder in a new location, and within a few days Violet-crowned and Broad-billed Hummingbirds were going crazy for it. These birds take to new feeders a lot more rapidly than garden birds back home.

Presa de Colon

Visited the Presa de Colon on Sunday afternoon for some sailing and windsurfing. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in the water! Fortunately, there were some decent birds around to cheer me up.

I was pleased to see a good variety of water birds, including 60+ Neotropic Cormorants, an unseasonal Great Blue Heron, lots of Black-crowned Night Herons (breeding nearby?), Cattle, Great and Snowy Egrets, and 3 gorgeous Pied-billed Grebes on the water.

Black-crowned Night Herons

'Farm' Ducks!

Pied-billed Grebe

In the scrub around the reservoir, I had the usual semi-desert suspects, and a nice bonus, this Ash-throated Flycatcher. Above were up to 7 Turkey Vultures.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Cerro Grande and beyond

A friend and I walked up one of the large mountains East of Tequisquiapan on Friday. It amazed me how quickly the avifauna changed once I had gained some altitude and left the town well behind. Here were birds you wouldn't dream of seeing in Tequis - 5 species of Hummingbird, for example, including Violet-crowned and Broad-billed low down, and then hordes of Magnificent further up, together with White-eared and the brilliant agave-loving Lucifer Hummingbirds.

Singing Canyon Towhees everywhere,and, even better, singing Spotted Towhee (Rufous-sided). Still better, another lifer, a Black-chinned Sparrow, blasting away from the top of a bush. A first-winter Black-headed Grosbeak was another surprise here, and I had 2 American Robins.

More regular fare came in the way of Golden-fronted Peckers everywhere, Northern Ravens, Turkey Vultures, Vermilion Flycatchers, Canyon and Cactus Wrens.

Unfortunately, we walked at a pretty fast pace, so I couldn't take in everything. Undoubtedly, if i return here this week and spend more time, I will see a lot more. What a find!

Breeding Clay-colored Robin

Evidence yesterday of Clay-colored Robins breeding from outside of the range described by Howell and Webb. The adult bird pictured here feeding a recently fledged youngster in Los Sabinos.

Elsewhere some cactus shots at sunset.

San Joaquin - Wet!

2 days of non-stop rain meant that there wasn't much to see up in San Joaquin. However, the following showed briefly:

Painted Redstart,

Crescent-chested Warbler,

Canyon Towhee,

Rufous-sided Towhee,

Yellow-eyed Junco,

Hepatic Tanager,

Blue-throated Hummingbird,

Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush,

Red-tailed Hawk,

Northern Raven,

Turkey Vulture,

Brown-backed Solitaire

Blue-throated Hummingbird (top) and Hepatic Tanger