Oaxaca - Sierra Juarez from the air

Oaxaca Birding - La Cumbre to Valle Nacional - and back!

Although it was later in the season than we would have liked, we arranged a trip from Oaxaca city (where we'd been attending a meeting) over the Sierra Juarez to Valle Nacional on May 21-24 2011. Four days were about right for this expedition, as we would have been too hurried in three days. Our targets were the 20+ species with limited range or endemic to the high elevation pine-oak forest, cloud forest, and Atlantic slope foothills. The route was simple, Mexico 175 over the mountains to Valle Nacional. The road has its share of potholes, slips, and slow trucks and takes 5 or 6 hours driving straight through to get from Oaxaca to Valle Nacional.

I'll start with the logistics. We arranged for this trip with local guide Eric Antonio Martinez (mirmidons_1987 AT yahoo.com) (http://mexico-birding.com/) and rode in his Malibu, which had plenty of room for the group and our luggage. The car also had tourist plates, which is required for anyone offering a guide service. Eric was an excellent driver, never bringing on the "white-knuckle syndrome" or motion sickness that these curvy mountain roads can bring on. He knew the area well, and knew which pull-offs provided good bird habitat and safe conditions, and he had a good sense of humor. I would travel with him again and hope to do so this year.
The weather was as expected, fairly cool at higher elevations and hot in the lowlands. We stayed at the Hotel Valle Real on the main street in Valle Nacional. The only hotels available are in Oaxaca city or Valle Nacional. The Valle Real had hot running water, wonderful air conditioning, and a delightful owner Lorena who made us coffee every morning at a ridiculously early hour for non-birders. The hotel was basic for those used to 4-star opulence, but it was clean and comfortable and cool. We ate evening meals at the Restaurant Desgarennes, which had a daily meal option of soup, rice and beans, and a meat entree that was invariably delicious. The beer was cold, and the staff very accomodating.

As far as the birding goes, we start on Monday at 5:30 AM with Eric picking us up on time (as always!) and taking us up to La Cumbre in search of the Fulvous Owl found originally by Rich Hoyer. On the way up, a Mexican Whip-poor-will was sitting in the road and stayed put while we stopped the car. The Fulvous Owl flew in and sat over us, hooting a series of monotone hoots and not sounding like a Barred Owl. What a great way to start the trip!

We spent about five hours walking in the dry pine-oak forest, with Red Warblers so abundant they were dismissed with comments like "just another Red Warbler" - what heresy! We saw Black Thrush, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Gray-barred Wren, Rufous-capped Brush-Finch, Brown-backed Solitaire, Golden-browed Warbler, and many more. We walked a few kilometers up the Corral de Piedras Road and though we saw many Stellar's Jays and a few Gray-barred Wrens, we did not see any of our target Dwarf Jays. Uh-oh! Missing an endemic at one of the best places to find them was disheartening, but we needed to keep moving. We stopped for coffee and then headed off over the pass.
After passing the mirador at the summit, we parked and walked a short distance down a forest trail through more humid pine-oak forest. Eric quickly spotted an elusive Crested Guan, which was eating fruit in the canopy and ran off after tiring of watching us. A flock of Unicolored Jays came in to investigate us, and a gorgeous Blue-crowned Chlorophonia came in to check us out. Yes, I really must carry the camera more often and get a decent flash! While Brown-backed Solitaire is at La Cumbre, from the mirador on the only Solitaire we saw was the well named Slate-colored Solitaire. Eric found a nest on this trail, with four small chicks. Although they sing in the canopy they nest in hollows on the ground - in our case next to the trail.
We continued on, and made a final stop for the day a bit farther on where a Ruddy Quail-Dove whooshed by, bright orange in the sun, and highland birds including Flame-colored Tanager, White-throated Thrush, and Red-legged Honeycreeper stopped by to check us out. White-collared Swifts were pretty common up high, but most were in molt except for this bird, which looks like a youngster lacking the pale collar below.
The next morning we headed back up to walk a forest trail for a couple of kilometers. The trail was shaded and the forest intact. We were looking for interior forest birds, and these shy birds can be tough. Flocks of Barred Parakeets buzzed by overhead, coming lower later in the morning but always going somewhere fast. We had great looks at a pair of Spectacled Foliage-gleaners working their way through the forest. Hummingbirds included Bumblebee, Emerald-chinned, Garnet-throated, and the common Azure-crowned. Azure-hooded Jays were all around at as times, and were glimpsed moving through the trees or in flight and finally one flew in clear view with the sun on its bright blue hood. Here's a morpho that flew by.
We spent nearly an hour playing peek-a-boo with a Mexican Antthrush. The Mexican Antthrush's rising bouncing-ball call was in contrast to the decending call of the Black-faced, but the AOU still considers them conspecific. I finally realized the Mexican Antthrush was at the top of the hill perched in a bush looking at us when it flew over our heads! We watched it run back up the hill in plain view, and then it perched in the open for Eric and I, showing off its bare skin eyering and nearly all black head and breast. Here's a Yellow-bellied Elaenia that was on Highway 175 nearby.
The next two days were a blur of early mornings at different elevations and short walks on Highway 175 (with surprisingly little traffic at times). In the lower more open habitats we saw Blue-crowned (Lesson's) Motmot, White-winged Tanager, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, Blue Ground-Dove, Long-billed Gnatwren, Thick-billed Seedfinch, Yellow-faced Grassquit and more.
One afternoon Eric suggested that we go to Tuxtepec to see Sumichrast's Wren, which Robert immediately dubbed the Sumo-wrestler Wren. I had no idea we were only an hour's drive from this micro-endemic! I was ecstatic about the opportunity to look for this bird, and the others could see my excitement so we were off in the 100F+ weather. We got to the site, an area of limestone ridges and a mule track that had polished the limestone. The heat was radiating off the stones, and I wondered more than once what possessed us to make this trek and how unlikely it was to see such a rare bird under such hot conditions. But the wren didn't get that memo, and it came out in the open and sang for us, sounding more like a Canyon Wren than anything else. Another answered it, and we took the time to track down a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl on the way out.
We drove slowly for several kilometers on the way back, picking up open country species including Aplomado Falcon, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Roadside Hawk, Groove-billed Ani, Altamira Oriole, Blue-black Grassquit, Variable Seedeater, and more.

Another afternoon we walked along the river near Valle Nacional, getting our best looks at Keel-billed Toucan and Band-backed Wrens. Amazon and Ringed Kingfishers were along the river.
On the last day we were trying for a few target that we'd missed along the way. Surprisingly, new birds kept appearing even on the last day. We stopped at a pull-off we'd been to before, and found that the female becard we'd been speculating on before was nowhere to be seen, but the male - clearly a Gray-collared Becard - was singing in front of the nest she'd been working on, so that solved that question! A bit farther up the mountain we had a White-faced Quail-Dove rocket across the road, bright chestnut with a strikingly pale head. We were all a bit shocked (fortunately we were all looking the right direction) when the bird flew back across the road!

Up higher in drier pine-oak forest a stop yielded a pair of Great Black Hawks, another stop yielded a whistling Black Hawk-Eagle. An Eastern Wood-Pewee and an Olive-sided Flycatcher were migrants (as were Yellow-bellied Flycatchers). We got back to La Cumbre late in the afternoon and spent two hours looking and listening for Dwarf Jays. Finally, Eric spotted one - and then there were two - and then we'd all seen the pair! What a way to end the trip!

Oaxaca Birding - Monte Alban - May 20, 2011

Monte Alban is a large Zapotec site located quite close to Oaxaca city, but surrounded by native habitats. We started our day birding a track adjacent to the entrance gate in the cool of the morning. The habitat is thornscrub with patches of current and former agricultural lands, and the birds were plentiful. One of the highlights were the excellent views of this brilliant Slaty Vireo before the sun rose over the hillside. The psychotic white eyes of this bird are reminiscent of the White-eyed Vireo, but the chartreuse and gray color scheme is striking once it comes into the open.
Among the ruins a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet put on a show, but remained silent.
Other highlights included Ocellated Thrasher (distant views), Dusky Hummingbird, Pileated Flycatcher, and of course the spectacular ruins. Eric Antonio Martinez, our guide (see previous post for contact info for Eric) provided an excellent overview to the site, the times, and the 30,000 Zapotecs that resided there at one time.
Robert was savvy and realized that only former residents of the site were allowed to sell handicrafts inside the site, and that these works were likely to be (much) better quality than those available in the parking lot. I wish I'd spent more time shopping, but I'm always more focused on birds in the cool hours when they are most active.
Later on we stopped at the famous Tule Tree or Big Tree, a huge bald cypress in the town of Santa Maria de Tule, Oaxaca. I can't begin to imagine the amount of biomass in this one single tree.


There's no way to convey the huge size of this tree with a camera, the perspective is too easily lost. Birds aside, it's worth a visit if you're in Oaxaca.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along Highway 175 in lowland thornscrub, finding a pair of Oaxaca Sparrows, a stunning Elegant Euphonia and a Dwarf Vireo, which put on a show for all of us minutes before the rains came.

Oaxaca Birding May 2011 - Teotitlán del Valle

I've just returned from a meeting in Oaxaca City. Most unfortunately I could not get a flight in on Sunday, so I had to travel on Saturday and go birding on Sunday (May 15) (poor me!). A quick email to Manuel Grosselet identified a local bird guide who was available to take a small group out on Sunday.

Our guide, Eric Antonio Martinez (mirmidons_1987 AT yahoo.com)(http://mexico-birding.com/), picked us up promptly at the hotel at 6 AM on May 15 and took us to a riparian area near his home town of Teotitlán del Valle east of Oaxaca city. We explored this stream area on foot for a few hours. Here's the rest of the birding group, with Eric on the left.
The riparian area ran through arid scrub, and the combination had the birds in abundance. Highlights for me were Gray-fronted Woodpecker, Dusky Hummingbird (none of the field guides seem to do a good job illustrating this bird), Pileated Flycatcher, Boucard's Wren, Bridled Sparrow, and the social, chattering endemic White-throated Towhee. Here's the scenery:

And a few birds, starting with the stunning Bridled Sparrow, one of the showiest New World Sparrows. Love the white malar and black chin, and those rufous highlights!

And here's Boucard's Wren, widespread in this habitat but not seen at higher elevations.

Here's a Pileated Flycatcher - elusive in the winter, but in May singing and putting on a show for us.

After birding the lowlands, and a small presa or reservoir we headed through town to a higher elevation area where the oaks were starting to come in. We heard but did not see Dwarf Vireo, but had excellent looks at West Mexican Chachalacas, Golden Vireo, and Blue Mockingbird. Then it was on up the mountain (the Sierra Juarez) to pine-oak forest, and more endemics including this White-striped Woodcreeper. We went on up into the pine-oak - watching a mix of familiar and unfamiliar birds, Red-shafted Flicker, Mountain Trogon, Crescent-chested Warbler, Slate-throated Redstart, Collared Towhee, Lincoln's Sparrow, and a host of beautiful songsters - Orange-billed and Rufous-capped Nightingale-Thrushes and Brown-backed Solitaire.

Lunch was at the town of Benito Juarez, where we had a late lunch at the local restaurant and saw Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer, Black-headed Grosbeak, Red Warbler, and more before heading back down birding our way back to town. Back in Teotitlán del Valle we visited a high-end weaver as the town is known for the many weavers who dye and weave wool into rugs. The wares were well out of a biologists price range (up to $3000 US) but were stunning.

Our last stop was a sidetrack to a nearby mountain range racing the thunderstorms to look for a Fulvous Owl that had been found previously. We were able to hear it hooting, like a monotone Barred Owl, but did not see it (today!). With lighting and thunder all around it was not surprising the owl didn't come out for us. We returned to the hotel at about 9:30 PM (!). It was a long day but a great one.

We had previously arranged five more days birding in Oaxaca after the meeting - stay tuned!

One last highlight was a migrant Black-billed Cuckoo found by Sherry.

Eagle Optics Southmost Sitters in the BIG SIT April 10, 2011

Ten birders - most of us wildlife professionals from the area - participated in the Great Texas Birding Classic Big Sit 2011, racking up 106 species on a very windy day. The total is even more remarkable if you scan down the list - it's nearly peak migration in south Texas, but very few migrants were detected. A (greatly appreciated) big miss is (not) found at the end of this list - where is the lowly House Sparrow?Even introduced birds count as one in the quest to see as many species as possible in a 24 hour day. Birds must be seen or heard from within a 17 foot diameter circle. But not one House Sparrow was seen or heard by this crack team. The Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve is located east of Brownsville and south of the border fence. This area of high species diversity is a working orchard and farm with rich resacas and native brush and a distant view of the Rio Grande corridor. The property is not open to the public, but I like to conduct our Big Sit here to call attention to all the wonderful areas that are south of the fence - and as the Team Captain, I can make that decision!

Here's another view of the sunrise squad (below). We break our day into shifts so we aren't tripping over each other, and so it stays fun! I lead the morning shift, seen here with the daylight crew (Jennifer played vampire and was headed out for a work trip before sunrise). Special thanks to the site manager and TNC for access, and to Eagle Optics for the sponsorship which allowed us to compete. Here's the afternoon shift, with Team Leader Martin Hagne. I like the way the guys outlined the circle with coolers. Hydration is important in the afternoon heat - though I did hear rumors of Indio! At least Jose is awake (below)- and Roy is checking on his ID of the wiley John Yochum, photographer who took these great pictures. Here's our list - 106 species, a couple over par for us and excellent for the weather.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Plain Chachalaca, Northern Bobwhite, Least Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, American White Pelican, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, White-tailed Kite, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Gray Hawk, Merlin,

Sora, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, American Golden-Plover, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Curlew, Least Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Forster's Tern, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, White-tipped Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Barn Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Common Nighthawk, Common Pauraque, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Ringed Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker,

Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Green Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Cave Swallow, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Marsh Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, European Starling, American Pipit, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Olive Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Orchard Oriole, Lesser Goldfinch.

A BIG Thank You! to my team mates: David Benn, JD Cortez, Javier deLeon, Martin Hagne, Huck Hutchens, Jennifer Owen-White, Roy Rodriguez, Joe Uribe, John Yochum.

Masked Duck - King Ranch - Santa Gertudis - March 26, 2011

Flame-colored Tanager found dead in McAllen 3/4/2011

Here's a few pictures of the Flame-colored Tanager that was found dead in McAllen on Friday. The specimen is already headed to TCWC and Dr. Arnold. This bird hit a window in a brand new subdivision, so new that the landscaping was still not installed. Where it was coming from and where it was headed to is a mystery.

We were very fortunate that the real estate agent that was at the new model home took a photo of the bird and posted it on Facebook, where Tony Bennett, noted bird artist, quickly identified it as a Flame-colored Tanager. The rest, as they say, is history.

This is the first Texas specimen and third LRGV record of Flame-colored Tanager.

Learn more about ending bird window strikes at http://www.flap.org/film.htm and here's a flyer on the subject from the American Bird Conservancy. http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/collisions/pdf/collisions_flyer.pdf