San Gil Birding - Guest Report

Nice to get some information on the birds of the San Gil Golf Course and Fraccionamiento from Paul Bentinck, a visiting birder who is staying there at the moment...

'The lake and bushes/trees around the golf course are the big attraction and most birds I see are by using the golf buggy track for a run and for watching. Lots of flyovers too.

The lake has Ruddy Duck, Lesser Scaup, Belted Kingfisher (probable), Spotted Sandpiper,Mexican Duck, occasional Shovelar and scores of Coot.Barn Swallows and Rough winged Swallows are coming through in good numbers and resting on the central concrete tower.

Flyovers see Snowy and Cattle Egrets as well as White Faced Ibis heading for La Presa, Turkey Vultures (7 on thermals one day),and as dusk approaches night herons come over.

Around the golf course Broad Billed Hummers are everywhere.  American Pipits,Say's Phoebe,Vermilions, ,Loggerhead Shrike,Yellow Rumped are everywhere and some Wilsons and Nashville Warblers.

Sparrows confirmed are House,Lark.Chipping and Lincolns but I am sure there are other types out there.

Golden Fronted Woodie,Blue Gray Gnatcatcher,Bronzed and Brewers Cowbirds

In the gardens more of the same and Blue Grosbeaks are frequent in the flowering trees along with an Oriole with distinctive white wing bars which I assume from your reports they are Abeilles,Hooded Oriole,House Finch,Varied Bunting.

Another place I found to be good was the gardens of the Hacienda Galindo. We told the guy on the gate we were going to the restaurant and had a wander about the gardens near the swimming pool and got lots of White Collared Seedeaters (lifer for me) as well as buntings,warblers and Orioles that I was unsure of but mid morning on a weekday when the place is quiet was really productive, The tequila was good too.

Our brief visit to La Llave the other day was brightened up by a pair of Caracaras displaying over farmland. Numbers of birds on the water looked impressive from a distance too...

Thanks Paul, it's always great to hear from local birders.

Tranquility

Spring Survey

I was out around Presa Centenario this morning to count the waders.  Although water levels were low, there was a chance of return passage bringing in some decent birds.

No spectacular numbers, but I still recorded the following:

Least Sandpiper 264

Killdeer 25

Long-billed Dowitcher 47

Black-necked Stilt 9

American Avocet 1

Spotted Sandpiper 6

Western Sandpiper 5

Wilson's Phalarope 11

Semipalmated Plover 1

My highlight was a Wilson's Phalarope in what was very close to full summer plumage - an absolutely stunning individual, and of all the thousands of Wilson's I've seen, the first one I've seen in it's breeding outfit.  Great stuff.

Thousands of Northern Shovelers remain at the Presa, with all the males in full breeding plumage.  It can't be long now before they head back up north.

Although the Presa is running unnecessarily and absurdly low, there remains more water than at a similar time last year (http://hileybirding.blogspot.mx/2011/03/presa-centenario-dried-up.html).  At the current rate of draining, however, I doubt there will be much left by the time I get back from Easter.

Let's hope they leave some water there.

Good things come to those who wait

I started putting food out in the garden (Fruit, Seeds, Hummingbird Nectar, Water) seriously in January, and endured a barren few months, where the only things that came were Broad-billed and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds...

Although the Hummingbirds were most welcome, I was hoping for a few different species, particularly as the gardens here are full of the likes of House Finch and Inca Dove.

Nothing came, but I persisted with putting food out.

In the last week or so, however, things have started to kick off.  My efforts have been rewarded.

True to its name, a White-collared Seedeater  has started making frequent visits to pick away slowly at the seed both in the 'hanging feeder', and on the floor.  Over the last few days, he has been joined by 2 Lincoln's Sparrows.

The Hummingbird feeder has also started to garner interest.  Both Abeille's Orioles and Hooded Orioles have been coming to feed off the nectar.  Yesterday, a mixed flock of 10 Orioles was flitting through the Tree of Plenty (http://hileybirding.blogspot.mx/2011/04/tree-of-plenty-los-sabinos.html).  As well as Abeille's and Hooded, there was a superb male Black-vented Oriole, a species endemic to the Mexican interior.

Today again the Black-vented Oriole was here, sharing the tree with numerous Yellow-rumped Warblers as well as the now long-staying Western Tanager.

More regular than ever are the Clay-colored Robin pair, presumably the same pair that raised a youngster last year.  These birds are dull as dishwater, but have a great song.  Other birds in and around the garden are Vermilion Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbirds, White-winged Doves, Inca Doves, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  Over, it isn't unusual to see Turkey Vulture, Barn Swallow (now passing through again), Cattle Egret and many others.

Pics to follow.  

Lago de Cuitzeo

This unbelievable wetland site is slightly out of state (located in nearby Michoacan).  Xander and I stopped here on the way back from Puerto Vallarta last month for a morning, and we were rewarded with some spectacular birding.

Ducks were obvious - Blue-winged Teals, Green-winged Teals, Cinnamon Teals, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Pintails, Mexican Ducks, Canvasback (1), Lesser Scaup (2), Ruddy Ducks...

Blue-winged Teals

Cinnamon Teals

We were only able to check out a small part of what is a massive site (either side of the 'flyovers'), so heaven knows what else was out there that we missed.

The most obvious wader here was American Avocet.  We came across huge wintering flocks of this elegant bird.

American Avocet

 Also present were the usual collection of Black-necked Stilt, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer.

Herons and Egrets were everywhere - Great, Snowy and Cattle Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and a good number of Louisiana Herons.  As were Pelicans, flocks of hundreds and hundreds of American White Pelicans constantly loafing and soaring above the lake in spectacular formations.

Louisiana Heron

Other highlights included large numbers of Clark's Grebes, hawking Caspian Terns and Forsters Terns, high concentrations of Northern Jacanas, and a great selection of scrubland birds including Indigo Buntings.

We didn't do this site justice in one morning, it deserves days of exploration.

La Llave

The reservoir at La Llave is a magical place for birding.  The variety of habitats here, and the healthy amount of vegetation means that you can find a real diversity of species here.  Here's some photos Xander took on his visit ( also see  www.alexanderhiley.com, www.northfrancebirder.com)

Ducks are an obvious feature here.  In winter, Northern Pintails and Northern Shovelers feature heavily.  Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Mexican Duck and Gadwall are also easy.  I've had a number of pairs of breeding Fulvous Whistling Ducks here as well.  

Green-winged Teal

 Waders present at La Llave in winter include Black-necked Stilts (below), Long-billed Dowitchers (below), Stilt Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers and a few Wilson's Phalaropes.  Passage brings many more species.

Wilson's Phalarope and Black-necked Stilt

Long-billed Dowitcher

One of the big attractions, though, is the damp low-lying vegetation (the water onions), which attract unusual species such as American Bittern, Sora and Northern Jacana..

Northern Jacana

 Walking along the side of the reservoir, it is easy to pick up a variety of rarer passerines and raptors, such as Marsh Wren and Common Yellowthroat, Crested Caracara, Cooper's Hawk, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vulture.  Sparrows and other Warblers abound, as do the likes of Groove-billed Anis (unusual elsewhere in Queretaro) and Cactus Wren.

Cactus Wren

 La Llave is definitely one of the nicest places to bird in Queretaro.

Huimilpan

I had an excellent day of birding around the small town of Huimilpan in the South-west of Queretaro today.  The town boasted some interesting habitats I wanted to check out - some promising looking reservoirs, river canyons and some well wooded mountains.

On the walk out of town, I was quickly into typical scrub birds - Canyon Towhee, Lark Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Curve-billed Thrasher, Cactus Wren, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Ladderback, Broad-billed Hummingbird.

As I approached the reservoir (below), I started seeing a number of pairs of Eastern Meadowlarks, as well as small groups of Vesper Sparrows.  A flash of black and white also heralded my first ever Lark Bunting.

Huimilpan Reservoir, with the 'Forested Mountain' in the background

The reservoir held a good amount of water, and some really interesting ducks.  Straight away I noticed large numbers of Gadwall (40+). Usually, I only see the odd pair in Queretaro.  Even better, though, were at least 8 Buffleheads, including two males.

Buffleheads

Also on the water were Green-winged Teals, Blue-winged Teals, American Wigeons, Ring-necked Duck (1), Ruddy Duck, Mexican Duck and Northern Shovelers, as well as Eared Grebes and 1 Pied-billed Grebe.

Cow

After leaving the reservoir, I followed the 'Canyon River' south towards the 'Forested Mountain'.  The canyon held some pretty decent wildlife.  I disturbed lots of hares, and a bit of pishing brought in some difficult to see species, such as Bushtits, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Grey Warbler and Wilson's Warbler. 

Vermilion Flycatcher

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, pished in

 Leaving the river, I started to blast up the forested mountain, climbing through nice smelling pine-oak woodland.  It was pretty steep and the pine needles made the ground extremely slippy.  Needless to say, I 'came a cropper' on numerous occasions.

Good views from the top, though.

Views from the 'Forested Mountain'

A few decent birds as well, not least a pair of White-tailed Hawks.

White-tailed Hawk

 There wasn't as much as I hoped for in the woods (it was during the hottest part of the day), but I still scored with White-eared Hummingbird, Greater Peewee, Hermit Warbler and Townsend's Warbler.

White-eared Hummingbird

Ended the day with 70 species, which is a fair whack.

Presa Constitucion de 1917, San Gil

A great birding site with fresh, clean water, which attracts a really interesting avifauna.

The abundance of fish here attracts pescivorous birds which are hard to find elsewhere in Queretaro, notably Neotropic Cormorants, American White Pelicans, and a variety of Herons.  The site also hosts excellent numbers of waders, particularly in passage, and on my trip with Xander, we discovered some really interesting nearby habitats.

Here are the Pelicans.  We had about 80 birds, loafing around and occasionally taking to the skies in spectacular formations.  Hanging around with the Pelican flocks were 8 Ring-billed Gulls.

In terms of waders, we dropped on to Least Sands, Spotted Sands, 2 Western Sands, 3 Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeers, Black-necked Stilts, 4 Greater Yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers.  In passage, it is also possible to find Pectoral Sands, Lesser Yellowlegs,American Avocets, Black-bellied Plovers and Wilson's Phalaropes here (and potentially many more!).

Constitucion is decent for hirundines as well.  We had Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows here.  Cliff and Bank are also possible.

Barn Swallow

We followed the river which leads into the Reservoir upstream for a while, and discovered some quality wooded, riparian habitat.  A bit of tactical 'pishing' brought close the following: Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Audubon's Warblers, Broad-billed Hummingbirds, Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, Nashville Warbler and Vermilion Flycatchers.  Amazingly, we also clocked on to two Grey Silkys, a very unusual bird to find in this neck of the woods.

A nearby 'bog' held huge numbers of Wilson's Snipe and also a Black-crowned Night Heron colony.   Herons are indeed a feature here - Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret and Great Egret are easy, and Tricolored Heron is possible.  White-faced Ibis is regular, and I've even had Roseate Spoonbill here.

Presa Paso de Tablas

Presa Paso de Tablas is located a few miles North-east of Tequisquiapan and can hold some interesting birds, particularly when after February/March when Presa Centenario gets drained and the wintering ducks need to relocate.

Throughout the winter, though, it holds reasonable numbers of ducks and waders, with the main duck species being Northern Shovelers, Pintails and Ruddy Duck, and the main waders being Spotted Sandpipers, Black-necked Stilts and Least Sandpipers.  

Xander's visit brought him in close contact with this Spotted Sandpiper and Ruddy Duck.

The surrounding scrub and woodland at Paso de Tablas is undisturbed, and can also hold some decent species.  Ladderback (below) and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers are fairly common, as are other typical  desert birds (Cactus Wren, Canyon Towhee, Phainopepla, Northern Mockingbird (below)).

 In the woods here, I've had birds which are rare in the rest of Tequisquiapan, such as Great Horned Owl, Black-throated Grey Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler and Hermit Thrush.

It's a wild and scary place at times, where fighting bulls are reared, wild dogs roam freely and corpses of dead cows litter the shoreline.  If you're brave, though, there are plenty of rewards to be had!