Birding El Salvador

Some nice birds around El Salvador during a cricket tour last weekend.  Not much chance for birding in general, but a quick stop at the beach at Costa Del Sol outside of San Salvador gave me the chance to take a few photos.

Brown Pelicans are a common site up and down the pacific coast of Central America.

As are various types of waders.  I picked  up some nice flocks of Black-bellied Plovers, as well as some Short-billed Dowitchers.

Also knocking around was a large flock of Royal Terns, which also held Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gulls.

Other than these characters, I also saw Inca Doves, White-winged Doves, Red-billed Pigeons, Ruddy Ground Doves, Tropical Kingbirds, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, White-tailed Kites, Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures...

The Big Day

In a birder's 'big day', the aim is to see as many species as possible.  To hit up big numbers, you need an early start, good local knowledge and enough energy to keep going until sunset...

My route last Saturday took me round the best spots I know within biking distance of Tequisquiapan.

- Fuentezuelas Farmland (FF)
- Lago Pelicanos (LP)
- La Laja (LL)
- Presa Centenario (PC)

Here were the results:

American Wigeon (LP, PC), Mexican Duck (LP), Blue-winged Teal (PC, LL), Green-winged Teal (LP, LL, PC), Cinnamon Teal (LL), Northern Shoveler (LP, LL, PC), Northern Pintail (LP, LL), Redhead (PC), Canvasback (PC), Ring-necked Duck (PC), Lesser Scaup (PC), Ruddy Duck (PC)

Eared Grebe (PC)

American White Pelican (LP), Great Blue Heron (LP), Great Egret (LP), Snowy Egret (LP), Cattle Egret (FF), Black-crowned Night Heron (LP), White-faced Ibis (FF), Roseate Spoonbill (LP)

American White Pelicana

Turkey Vulture (FF), Red-tailed Hawk (FF), Sharp-shinned Hawk (FF), Northern Harrier (FF), Peregrine (FF), Merlin (PC), American Kestrel (FF), Crested Caracara (FF)

Common Moorhen (LL), American Coot (LP, PC, LL)

Killdeer (FF), American Avocet (LP), Greater Yellowlegs (LP), Lesser Yellowlegs (PC), Long-billed Dowitcher (PC), Black-necked Stilt (LL, PC), Least Sandpiper (PC), Spotted Sandpiper (LP, LL, PC)

White-winged Dove (PC), Inca Dove, Collared Dove (FF), Common Ground Dove (FF), Mourning Dove (FF), Rock Dove

Broad-billed Hummingbird, Ladderback, Golden-fronted Woodpecker (FF)

Black Phoebe (LP), Say's Phoebe (FF), Vermilion Flycatcher (FF), Cassin's Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mockingbird

Chihuahuan Raven (FF), Northern Raven (LL),  Barn Swallow (LP), Violet-green Swallow (LP)

Cactus Wren (FF), Bewick's Wren, House Wren, Marsh Wren (LP)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (LP), Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat (LP, FF)

Clay-colored Sparrow

Canyon Towhee, Chipping Sparrow (FF), Lark Sparrow (FF), Clay-colored Sparrow (FF), Grasshopper Sparrow (FF), Savannah Sparrow (FF), Lincoln's Sparrow (FF), House Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting (LP)

Grasshopper Sparrow - can you spot him?

Eastern Meadowlark (FF), Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch.

Total: 83 species

Notable Absentees Abeille's Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Bronzed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Varied Bunting, Phainopepla, Wilson's Warbler, American Robin, Clay-colored Robin, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, White-tailed Kite.

The White Wizard - Merlin at Presa Centenario

A bumper raptor day yesterday included 8 different species - Red-tailed Hawks, Crested Caracaras, Turkey Vultures, Peregrine Falcons, American Kestrels, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 gorgeous male Northern Harriers, and perhaps best of all a Merlin.

I've had fleeting glimpses of a Merlin only on one occasion before in these parts, so it was great to get good views of this small, aggressive falcon.

Merlin

Focus on: Roseate Spoonbill

The undoubted highlight of the weekend's birding was picking up a ROSEATE SPOONBILL at Lago Pelicanos.  As I reached this hidden wetland site, I spotted it straight away feeding with a Great Blue Heron and 2 Great Egrets.  

With their spatula like beak and their pink plumagae Roseate Spoonbill's are unmistakeable, and are surely one of the most beautiful and bizarre birds in the Americas.

Roseates sweep their bill side to side in the water to feed, picking up small insects and fish.

This is a first year bird, in a similar plumage to the one  I found at Presa Constitucion back in September (http://hileybirding.blogspot.mx/2012/09/presa-de-la-constitucion-san-gil.html). That was a 'first' for Queretaro.  Roseate Spoonbills are usually only found in coastal regions of Mexico. Could it be the same bird, spending the winter roaming around the wetlands of Queretaro?  That's definitely a possibility.  It could also be the case, however, that these visitors come to inland Mexico more frequently than previously thought.