A superb day of birding on Saturday with Mary Gustafson from Texas saw us take in a good variety of habitats and score with some excellent species.
We arranged a 5.30 pick up in Queretaro, and got to Presa de la Constitucion for first light. This reservoir usually throws up some interesting birds, and it delivered again - as the sun rose, 8
Wood Storks landed in the shallows of the reservoir, feeding with lots of
Great Egrets,
Snowy Egrets and
Black-crowned Night Herons. Out on the spit, we picked up 2
Ring-billed Gulls, 3
American White Pelicans and 1
Franklin´s Gull. In the surrounding fields were 8
Northern Bobwhite, and singing
Horned Larks, Savannah Sparrows and 2
Botteri´s Sparrows.
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| Wood Stork |
Next up was the ´Canyon San Juan´, a spectacular location which is home to breeding
Cliff Swallows. We also had
Violet-green Swallows here, as well as
Loggerhead Shrikes,1 more
Botteri´s Sparrow,
Phainopeplas, 2
Blue Mockingbirds, many
Canyon Towhees,
Canyon Wrens and a
Red-tailed Hawk on the cliffs.
Some nice roadside stops between the Canyon and Laguna de Servin yielded
Gray Silky-Flycatchers,
Western Wood-Peewees,
Chipping, Rufous-crowned, Black-chinned and
Striped Sparrows, breeding
Yellow Warblers,
Green Kingfishers and some more common species.
As we headed into the forests, the birds got even better. Countless singing
Pine Siskins were trumped by 2
Black-headed Siskins. At various points, we also had
Hepatic Tanager, Olive Warbler, Crescent-chested Warblers, Slate-throated Redstarts, Painted Redstarts, Brown-throated House Wren, Spotted Towhees, Yellow-eyed Juncos (common),
Common Ravens, American Robins, 2 obliging
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrushes,
Acorn and
Hairy Woodpeckers, 8
Black-headed Grosbeaks, Brown-backed Solitaires, and
Pine and Cordilleran Flycatchers.
A few brief stops near Huimilpan on the way back allowed us to catch up with
Cactus Wren and
White-eared Hummingbird, and finish the day with about 90 different species.
