Great Horned Owl in Fuentezuelas

Great Horned Owl

A lovely evening in the mountains behind Fuentezuelas yesterday - the highlight of which was this calling Great Horned Owl at dusk.  I've not seen many around Queretaro, but this could be a hotspot for this species.

In the same area, I had fleeting views of an Elegant Trogon, as well as the endemic Blue Mockingbird and several Northern Mockingbirds.  A Warbling Vireo was a nice addition, as well as a surprise Hermit Thrush (odd in this habitat away from forests).

A bit higher up, this area opens into grasslands interspersed with cacti.  Here, I found a few Brewer's Sparrows, as well as Vesper, Chipping, Clay-colored and Lark.

At dusk, there were also a few Lesser Nighthawk.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Warbling Vireo

Cascada Chuveje

A really excellent morning's birding last Monday on the track to Cascada Chuveje in the Sierra Gorda.  It's a very beautiful location, and we stumbled on some really interesting species.  

Chuck Aid had heard some Singing Quails earlier, and as I caught up with him, he was studying a fine pair of Olivaceous Woodcreepers.  Bird activity was high, and as well as several Vireos (Blue-headed, Cassin's, Huttons)  and Warblers (Black-and-white, Rufous-capped, Slate-throated Redstart, Painted Redstart, Townsends, Wilson's, Yellow-rumped) we caught up with a fine Rufous-browed Peppershrike.

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

Acorn Woodpekers (at least 10) were a constant feature of the birding here, flying back and forth across the valley with some Ladderbacks present as well.  We were also treated to fly-bys of 2 Broad-winged Hawks.  

Int he more open areas, several Elegant Euphonias were present, as well as family parties of Spotted Wrens and some Rusty Sparrows.

Rusty Sparrow

Additional highlights over the course of the morning included Grey Catbirds, Vaux's Swifts, White-throated Swifts, Greater Pewees and many more.

Rio Ayutla, Sierra Gorda

This particular spot, near 'Las Adjuntas' south of Conca in the Sierra Gorda, is certainly one of the best spots for birding that I have come across in Queretaro.

I bumped into Chuck Aid, a visiting birder from the States in the morning, and we had a very productive time.  All together, I encountered 60 species.  My personal highlights were Montezuma Oropendola, Masked Tityra and Plain Chachalacas (none of which I've previously seen in Queretaro).  There were a lot of other very good birds to keep us occupied, though, including Squirrel Cuckoos,  several Black-throated Green Warblers, Wedge-tailed Sabrewings, Golden-crowned Warblers, Golden-browed Warbler, Elegant Trogons etc.

Here's a few photos, and below them is the day list.  Incredible spot, and highly recommended.

Squirrel Cuckoo

Plain Chachalaca

Plain Chachalaca  3
Neotropic Cormorant  1
Black Vulture  15
Turkey Vulture  6
Common Black Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Inca Dove  1
White-tipped Dove  3
White-winged Dove  2
Squirrel Cuckoo  2
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing  4
Elegant Trogon  5
Green Kingfisher  2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker  1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker  2
Bat Falcon  2
Tufted Flycatcher  10
Greater Pewee  4
Western Wood-Pewee  1
Black Phoebe  6
Eastern Phoebe  2
Dusky-capped Flycatcher  3
Brown-crested Flycatcher  1
Great Kiskadee  6
Boat-billed Flycatcher  4
Social Flycatcher  4
Masked Tityra  1
Cassin's Vireo  1
Blue-headed Vireo  3
Warbling Vireo  1
Green Jay  6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  5
Black-crested Titmouse  2
Canyon Wren  4
House Wren  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
Clay-colored Thrush  5
Blue Mockingbird  3
Northern Waterthrush  1
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Nashville Warbler  1
MacGillivray's Warbler  1
Black-throated Green Warbler  6
Rufous-capped Warbler  14
Golden-browed Warbler  1
Golden-crowned Warbler  3
Wilson's Warbler  10
Yellow-winged Tanager  1
Olive Sparrow  1
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Hepatic Tanager  4
Flame-colored Tanager  1
Altamira Oriole  4
Audubon's Oriole  12
Baltimore Oriole  1
Montezuma Oropendola  1
Scrub Euphonia  3
Yellow-throated Euphonia  2

Remember - for any further information or tours, drop me an e-mail at jontyhiley@hotmail.com

The Two Presas

I showed two representatives of DUMAC (http://www.dumac.org/dumac/habitat/esp/index.htm), a wetland conservation body, around Presas Centenario and Constitucion on Saturday and we had a bumper day, clocking up some huge flocks of ducks, waders and herons, and some really unexpected birds along the way.

The highlights were as follows:

1. Hooded Merganser - This duck is an accidental visitor to Northern Mexico, so we were very excited to find a female at Presa de la Constitucion.  Unfortunately, it stayed in cover for most of the time, so we couldn't photograph it.  However, this is a superb record for Queretaro.

2. Black-bellied Whistling Duck - Considered common and widespread across both slopes in Mexico, Queretaro is our of range for this duck according to the map in Howell and Webb.  Nevertheless, both species of Whistling Duck are renowned for being nomadic.  We found a nice pair at Constitucion.

3. Tricolored Heron - A winter visitor across parts of Central Mexico and recorded once by Pineda-Lopez and Arrelaon-Sannaphre (2010).  The individual we saw at Constitucion, however, represented my first sighting of this elegant heron in Queretaro.

4. Black Tern - We had three American Black Terns passing high over Constitucion.  Following my sighting at Centenario (Hiley 2012), this is apparently only the second documented record of this migratory marsh tern.

5. Long-billed Curlew - This juvenile Long-billed Curlew was at the far end of Presa Centenario, associating with American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts.  This is the first documented record of this species for the state of Queretaro.

6. Green Kingfisher - A fly by Green Kingfisher at Constitucion was an interesting record in as far as it confirmed (along with the presence of Cormorants and Pelicans) that Constitucion is a clean, fish-filled reservoir.  Also, my first sighting of any Kingfisher away from the Sierra Gorda in Queretaro.

Full list to follow.