Cienegas de Lerma - Birding Toluca

I visited the Lerma marshes on Tuesday morning with the shorebird strategy group.  These marshes were once extensive, but have unfortunately been drained and reclaimed by expanding human settlement.  The few patches that remain are excellent for waterbirds in winter and are also home to the endangered Black-polled Yellowthroat, a warbler endemic to central Mexico.

Toluca is quite high up - about 2600 metres, and it was a chilly, misty start to the day.

Adult and juvenile Pied-billed Grebe

Yellow-headed Blackbirds

Great Egret

As the sun rose, so did immense flocks of Red-winged (Bicolored) Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds.  Some of the flocks numbered hundreds of thousands.

Blackbird flock in front of Nevado de Toluca

Fairly early on we picked up some Black-polled Yellowthroats, sharing the vegetation with Common Yellowthroats, Marsh Wrens and Song Sparrows.  The Black-polled Yellowthroats are distinguishable thanks to their head pattern and darker legs, as seen on this individual.

Black-polled Yellowthroat

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrows breed in these marshes in large numbers.  We found a number of them, as well as Striped Sparrows and Clay-colored Sparrows.

On the water we had good numbers of duck (see below) and several pairs of Pied-billed Grebes.  Meanwhile creeping around the edges was a Sora and we heard a King Rail.  Unfortunately, there was no sign of the elusive and much sought after Yellow Rail.

In the grassy areas were large flocks of Killdeer interspersed with a number of Horned Larks.

Horned Lark, Adult Male

Horned Lark, Female

 One of the most spectacular parts of the Lerma marshes were the number of Northern Harriers doing the rounds.  I counted over 10 - in behavior similar to Marsh Harriers back in the UK.

Northern Harrier

Day List:
Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron (1 juv), White-faced Ibis,
Mexican Duck, A. Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal (3), Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Shoveler
American Coot, Moorhen, Sora, King Rail (heard)
Common Yellowthroat, Black-polled Yellowthroat (regular), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren (h)
Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier (10), Cooper's Hawk
Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged (Bicolored) Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird,
Killdeer (60), Common Snipe (2)
Song Sparrow (common), Clay-colored Sparrow, Striped Sparrow (5), Canyon Towhee,
Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher,
Feral Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Barn Swallow, Curve-billed Thrasher