Along the Rio San Juan

An early morning stroll along the Rio San Juan yesterday morning was rewarded with 56 species in good numbers.

I had a good nuber of raptors hunting above and around the river (Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrels, Crested Caracaras).

As usual, many, many warblers (70+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, and then a nice mixed flock including Black-and-white, Nashville, Orange-crowned and several Wilsons).

It was also good to pick up Greater Pewee, Blue Mockingbird, Great Kiskadee, many Black-backed Orioles, and good numbers of Woodpeckers (22 Golden-fronted, 1 Ladderback and 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers).

Rio San Juan - The new River of Raptors?

Left my house this morning to see a big raptor circling in the distance over the Rio San Juan.  Didn't quite look right for the commoner species, so I dashed back to get my bins and camera and drove down to explore further.

I straight away locked onto a couple of raptors - Crested Caracaras perched high up.  Great birds, but not top draw.  Next an American Kestrel mobbing the Caracaras.  Again, not bad.

Lower down in the same tree, though, was the original raptor - showing well and confirming my initial thoughts of Common Black Hawk.

Common Black Hawk

An exceptional bird for this part of Queretaro.  While there are a few plateau records, this species is primarily a bird of the slopes and lowlands - where it is commonly found along rivers and lakes.  

Things got even better when another raptor started mobbing the Black Hawk - a fine juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Another rarish species here, though probably fairly regular in winter.  I've previously seen a couple at Centenario.  This species hunts along rivers and swamps.  After buzzing the Black Hawk, it perched up getting mobbed in turn by the angry American Kestrel.

My species list along the Rio San Juan is now up to 122.  These exceptional raptors go to the top of that list, alongside the likes of Broad-winged Hawk and Dickcissel.