Showing posts with label American White Pelican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American White Pelican. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2012

Black-bellied Plover at Constitucion

A lot more water in Presa de las Constitucion today after some recent heavy rains.  The result was that a lot of the wader scrapes and vegetation around the edges are now submerged.  There were still some really good birds around, though.  The highlight was undoubtedly 2 Black-bellied Plovers.  Black-bellied Plovers (or Grey Plovers) are a winter visitor to coasts in this part of the World, and inland records are rare.  

Black-bellied Plover, Presa de la Constitucion, Queretaro
 Other waders included a first Wilson's Snipe and a first Long-billed Dowitcher of the winter, as well as several Spotted Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs and Baird's Sandpipers.

Herons were a highlight here as usual.    As well as Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Blue Herons, numbers of American White Pelican are building up.  There were 15 here today.

American White Pelican, Presa de la Constitucion, Queretaro


Black-crowned Night Heron
On the duck front, numbers of Shoveler, Pintail, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal seem to be building up.  Also present were a pair of Ruddy Ducks, and a Ring-necked Duck.

I watched a Peregrine fly off with a Feral Pigeon, before scrapping briefly with this quartering Northern Harrier.

Northern Harrier
 Other interesting birds were several Savannah, Lark and Clay-coloured Sparrows, a pair of Northern Bobwhites, a House Wren, an Eastern Meadowlark, 2 Blue Grosbeaks and over 100 Horned Larks.

Savannah Sparrow


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Presa de la Constitucion - San Gil

I had an absolute MEGA morning at this reservoir near San Juan del Rio today.  Presa de la Constitucion has the advantage of being up river from the factories of industrial San Juan, and so its waters are significantly cleaner and full of fish than many others  in Queretaro.  Furthermore, it has a good combination of deep water, muddy exposed shores and well-vegetated marshland.  This myriad of habitats allows a greater variety of bird-life to thrive compared to Presa Centenario in Tequisquiapan, for example.

Where to start? After a day in which I photographed 4 species new for the state of Queretaro?  Best to split the birds of Constitucion into categories....

1.  HERONS et al.
A group of 50 Black-crowned Night Herons on a feeding flight early in the morning pointed to local breeding.  Also present in extremely large numbers were the '3 white egrets'.  There were huge numbers of Cattle (200+), scattered Snowy Egrets (20+) and over 50 Great Egrets..

Great Egret
 More surprising was just how many Great Blue Herons were present.  At least 40 were present, including a group of 11 feeding together in the shallows and a couple more in nearby fields.


Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Three American White Pelicans loafing in the shallows were a pleasant bonus, as were the masses of Neotropic Cormorants.  The presence of pescivores such as these two indicated that the Presa was full of fish..

American White Pelicans and Neotropic Cormorant

There were a few groups of White-faced Ibis present as well, but best of all was this 1st year ROSEATE SPOONBILL seen here with a large group of Cormorants.  Roseates are strictly coastal birds in Mexico, with very few inland records.  This young bird is a long way from where it should be.  

Neotropic Cormorants and ROSEATE SPOONBILL

Roseate Spoonbill close up

To follow...Swallow Spectacle, Ducks and Waders and Passerines!
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