Mazatlan - 12 Mar. 2009

Since we were back in the meetings today, we didn't get out birding all that much.  However, I tried to make time in the afternoon to see what I could see.

This Gila Woodpecker was easy to photograph from my patio deck:

I took a stroll down the beach to check out the rocks.  On the way there, this Willet posed nicely:

Also on the way to the rocks, this Bonaparte's Gull came in and seemed to enjoy my company.  It was quite tame and even flew up to me once:

The rocks down the beach were hosting a couple American Oystercatchers when I arrived.  I got to sit and watch these birds at close range for several minutes.  What neat birds!

Late in the afternoon back at the hotel, Crested Caracaras were zooming overhead every couple seconds.  The nice lighting made for some great photos:

Oddly, I didn't see any new species today.  We'll see what tomorrow holds....

Field trip - 11 Mar. 2009

Today was our fieldtrip!  Starting early this morning, we piled into 2 vans to head up into the hills.  Our destination was the Tufted Jay Preserve, about a 2.5 hour drive up and away from Mazatlan.

Even the foothills provided some interesting birds during a couple brief stops.  However, the real fun began once we started hiking through the Tufted Jay preserve.  At around 6,000 ft in elevation, the forest was primarily a pine/oak mix.

One of the target birds was pretty easy to find, the below White-striped Woodcreeper, an endemic of west Mexico:

A bird all of us eagerly hoped to see was the Red Warbler, an endemic species of the humid montane forests of Mexico.  Indeed, halfway through our walk, one had been spotted.  The below individual was nice enough to even pose for a second!

Another warbler, the Slate-throated Redstart, was very common.  Photographed below is a redstart that (kind of) stayed still long enough to be photographed:

Another species we encountered several times was the montane-endemic Mountain Trogon.  Below is a female:

Several species of Brush-Finches were also present although somewhat hard to see.  These skulkers would prefer foraging in the understory.  Below is a Mexican endemic, the Rufous-capped Brush-Finch:

Another species of Brush-Finch also freqented the area, the Green-striped Brush-Finch.  This endemic species was quite hard to find on the trip hence a very poor quality photo.  However, I was thrilled to find at least a couple:

A special treat was seeing 2 Stygian Owls!  This owl is a rather local species that prefers pine and pine-oak forests:

Tracking down a series of "pip-pip-pip" notes yielded this Greater Pewee:

Of course, weighing in on all our minds was the fact that we hadn't seen Tufted Jays yet!!   The Tufted Jay is a very local species and is endemic to a small area of mountains in NW Mexico.   We were actually getting quite worried towards the end of our trip that we would miss it!  However, it all paid off when we eventually found a group of Tufted Jays (and making a nest, no less!!). However, the jays stayed quite high up in the trees (see below):

All relieved that we had found the jays, we headed back down the mountain.  We pulled off on a small road to look for some other foothill species.  It wasn't long before I heard parrot-like screeching overhead.  Looking up, I was excited to find that they were the uncommon and local Military Macaws!  Nine in total (group of 5 & group of 4), the high-flying flocks flew overhead and out of view:

All in all, a great day of birding up in the mountains of west Mexico.  Below is a list of the new trip species:

(*) = Mexican endemic

* Brush-Finch, Green-striped 

* Brush-Finch, Rufous-capped 

Cacique, Yellow-winged 

Chickadee, Mexican 

Cowbird, Bronzed 

Creeper, Brown 

Flycatcher, Dusky-capped 

Flycatcher, Tufted 

Grosbeak, Yellow 

Hawk, Red-tailed 

Hawk, Sharp-shinned 

Hummingbird, White-eared 

Jay, Steller's 

* Jay, Tufted 

Junco, Yellow-eyed 

Kingbird, Thick-billed 

Kinglet, Ruby-crowned 

* Macaw, Military 

* Magpie-Jay, Black-throated 

* Mockingbird, Blue 

* Nightingale-Thrush, Russet 

Owl, Stygian 

Pewee, Greater 

Pigeon, Band-tailed 

Pygmy-Owl, Northern 

Raven, Common 

Redstart, Painted 

Redstart, Slate-throated 

Solitaire, Brown-backed 

Tanager, Hepatic 

* Tanager, Red-headed 

Thrush, Hermit 

Towee, Spotted 

Trogon, Mountain 

Vireo, Plumbeous 

Warbler, Crescent-chested 

Warbler, Golden-browed 

Warbler, Grace's 

Warbler, Hermit 

Warbler, MacGillivray's 

* Warbler, Red 

Warbler, Red-faced 

Warbler, Townsend's 

* Woodcreeper, White-striped 

Woodpecker, Arizona 

Wren, Canyon

Mazatlan - 10 Mar. 2009

We went birding first thing in the morning today.  We checked out some of the lagoons further south and were greeted by many new species for the trip.  Considering my new camera gear and the fact that I didn't really wanted to get robbed, I decided NOT to haul it through the city hence the lack of photos from the morning.

However, like yesterday, most of the time today was spent going to talks for the conference.  However, I continued to bird the gardens at the hotel in addition to walking some on the beach.  

About 1/4 mile south of the hotel was a rocky outcropping of rocks along the beach.  These rocks provided numerous shorebird species throughout the week.  Pictured below are Surfbirds.  Initially there were a couple, then 8, and then over 50!  

Back at the hotel, I finally caught up to a Cinnamon Hummingbird, pictured below:

Along the beach at the hotel, gulls were never hard to find.  The below Heerman's Gull was one of the species that would frequent the area:

By far the most common species at the hotel, White-winged Doves were easy to photograph:

A little less common than the White-winged Doves but still quite common, Ruddy Ground-Doves would frequent the feeders at the hotel:

With the early morning birding we were able to squeeze in, today yielded many new species for the trip:

(*) = west Mexico endemic

Ani, Groove-billed 

Avocet, American 

Chat, Yellow-breasted 

Coot, American 

Dove, Inca 

Dowitcher, Long-billed 

Duck, Ruddy 

Egret, Snowy 

Flycatcher, Vermilion 

Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray 

Grebe, Least 

Grebe, Pie-billed 

Grosbeak, Blue 

Ground-Dove, Common 

Gull, Bonaparte's 

Gull, Herring 

Gull, Laughing 

Heron, Green 

Heron, Tricolored 

Ibis, White-faced 

Killdeer 

Mockingbird, Northern 

Moorhen, Common 

Night-Heron, Black-crowned 

Oriole, Hooded 

Oystercatcher, American 

Saltator, Grayish 

Sandpiper, Least 

Shoveler, Northern 

Sparrow, Lark 

Spoonbill, Roseate 

Surfbird 

Swallow, Mangrove 

Swallow, Northern Rough-winged 

Tanager, Summer 

Tattler, Wandering 

Teal, Blue-winged 

Teal, Green-winged 

Vireo, Bell's 

Warbler, Wilson's 

* Wren, Sinaloa 

Yellowlegs, Greater 

Yellowthroat, Common

Mazatlan - 9 Mar. 2009

Today was spent mostly in the meetings of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group there at the Playa Mazatlan.  Granted, I was still able to visit the gardens at the hotel with my bincs and camera to see what I could find.

Below is an Orange-crowned Warbler, the most common warbler species I encountered:

One very neat species put on a show every morning and evening from the gardens.  The Mexian Parrotlet, a west Mexico endemic, apparently roosts in the trees at the hotel:

Orchard Orioles were very common in the gardens, this female posed for a picture:

I took a picture of a distant oriole on a palm from my room patio.  Turns out, it was a Streak-backed Oriole.  This species was fairly common throughout our stay:

There was one hummingbird feeder at the hotel.  This Broad-billed Hummingbird was one of the usual birds that visisted:

It doesn't take long to realize that having a hotel on the beach has its perks.  For example, hardly a minute went by that a Magnificent Frigatebird wasn't in view:  

Below is a list of the new trip species:

(*) = west Mexico endemic

Booby, Brown 

Finch, House 

Hummingbird, Broad-billed 

Hummingbird, Cinnamon 

Kingbird, Tropical 

Oriole, Streak-backed 

* Parrotlet, Mexican 

Stilt, Black-necked 

Warbler, Yellow 

Warbler, Yellow-rumped 

Woodpecker, Gila

Mazatlan - 8 Mar. 2009

Leaving Ames at about 5:00 AM this morning, we drove through the rain down to the airport.  Before we knew it, we had landed in Mazatlan, Mexico!  

Below is a photo of the beach in front of our hotel, the Playa Mazatlan:

Here is a view from one side of the hotel:

It didn't take long to start tallying some fun tropical birds.  For example, the below picture is a Great Kiskadee on the hotel grounds:

Somewhat similar, the below bird is a Social Flycatcher:

We started our trip list as soon as our plane had landed.   Before the day was over, I had tallied the following species:

(*) = Endemic to Mexico

Blackbird, Red-winged 

Caracara, Crested 

Cormorant, Neotropic 

* Crow, Sinaloa 

Dove, White-winged 

Egret, Cattle 

Egret, Great 

Flycatcher, Social 

Frigatebird, Magnificent 

Grackle, Great-tailed 

Ground-Dove, Ruddy 

Gull, Heerman's 

Gull, Ring-billed 

Heron, Great Blue 

Kestrel, American 

Kiskadee, Great 

Oriole, Orchard 

Pelican, Brown 

Pigeon, Rock 

Sandpiper, Spotted 

Seedeater, White-collared 

Sparrow, House 

Swallow, Barn 

Tern, Caspian

Vulture, Black

Vulture, Turkey

Warbler, Orange-crowned
Willet