Estero El Soldado

Originally I scheduled a trek out to San Pedro Island, but the water was too choppy and the trek was cancelled.  These things are to be expected during hurricane season. So I followed up on Plan B, the mangrove estuary of El Soldado between San Carlos and Guaymas. 

If a birder is looking to get away and enjoy the beach life for a bit, s/he should check out San Pedro Island, the El Soldado Tidelands(or Estero El Soldado), and along the rocky beaches of San Carlos. 

When the island trek was cancelled, I started going over this area with my friend Tami because there were several requirements for our group on this day.  A little bit of swimming, drinking, eating and hiking along the water's edge.  The Estero provided all of those things easily.  

There was a resort nearby that also had gardens.  And birds.  Lots and lots of birds.  There were ocean ones, and coastal ones and garden ones.  And MANGROVE ones!

Genus Callinectes

 It's not often I get to bird a mangrove living in the desert.  And it often shocks me to know that even in the harshest of climates, the miracle of a small mangrove can happen in the craziest of climates. For a moment, I was transported to the tropics.  In fact, San Carlos and Guaymas are truly the beginning ranges of neotropical birding.  It is here we find such wonderful birds like the "mangrove" Yellow Warbler, Mangrove Swallows and Great Kiskadees.  It is exciting. 

Ocean birds won't disappoint either!  While none of these birds were lifers, they were a thrill to see again.  

Royal Tern

One of my favorite groups of the birds, the gulls, were in good numbers.  Terns, Royal and Elegant, were also seen in good numbers along the coast. 

As I laid under these palms while the group went out for a swim, I watched the world pass by me.  I closed my eyes to the cool shade breeze and smiled.  We all agreed that this was a great way to kick start the summer.

Laying on my back, I aimed my camera up into the air and shot pics of birds flying just several feet above me. 

I loved this place so much that next time, we're staying down here in the resort along the estuary.  

A Magnificent Frigatebird hung right over my head in hover mode, defiant against the strong winds. I love these birds.  You could see fleets of these air pirates off in the distance over the rocky coastal crags.

And while this was an excellent birding spot, our group was humbled by an observation between the estuary and ocean.  An adult Brown Pelican defended a recently deceased fledgling/juvenile and tried protecting the body from intruders like beach walkers and vultures. Nature can be very cruel, even from within the artificial boundaries of "paradise".  We like to humanize things when we see such terrible moments in the animal world.  But to watch this adult defend this lifeless body made us a bit somber. 

The thing I love about birding now is that when I see something like this, I have a deeper understanding of the bird world.  Our human side says, "See! These creatures do have emotions!" My scientific side says its instinctual.  Maybe they're both right. There are so many "experts" out there and they all have their professional opinions.  For me, the important part was to gather notes on this observation and learn. 

I heard someone say that they were going to chase that Turkey Vulture away.  Then it was time to explain to that person that nature has to play out.  It's not the Turkey Vulture's fault that the fledgling died.  It has to eat as well.  They are Mother Nature's natural garbage disposals. They play a role as well.  Most of you know this but for those of you who don't, here goes. Why don't Vultures have feathers around their heads?  Well if they eat dead and rotting things, then having feathers would be a bad thing.  They'd pick up diseases and bugs, etc from the carcass.  So no feathers.  Nature is cool!

This summer is going to be an absolute thrill.  Two months of exotic trails on different islands will hopefully yield lots of new and interesting birds. My first trek begins in a few weeks to Trinidad and Tobago.  I need this vacation after this stressful Spring. Much like my Monterey, CA trek a few years ago, I'll be in a private cabin at the Asa Wright Nature Center for a week.  Then I've rented a wonderful apartment in Arima for other area visits.  I can't wait to get out of this heat!

For the Estero El Soldado checklist, click here.  Summer is just beginning and it's time to cross the 1000 bird mark. Can we achieve it this summer?  Stay tuned for more!

San Carlos, Mexico

Over the past weekend, to celebrate the end of the school year, we headed out to San Carlos, Mexico.  It's a 5 and 1/2 hour drive south of Tucson. 

We arrived exhausted and were greeted by this California Praying Mantis.  Carefully I took this critter out to the patio.  

During our time in San Carlos, we relaxed a bit and had some drinks along the beach.  I did some light birding along the coast focusing on gulls. 

The Yellow-footed Gull of the Baja Pennisula is an endemic.  Here in San Carlos, this bird was the most common gull present. 

The Sonoran Desert ranges all the way into the state of Sinaloa.  It's a fascinating region of desert. Here you can find the iconic Saguaro Cactus growing next to areas of Cardon and Organ Pipe Cacti.  

As the vegetation changes the further south you go, so does the birding.  Here we not only see traditional Sonoran birds with typical ocean birds, but we begin to see Neotropic birds show up like the mangrove subspecies of Yellow Warbler, Mangrove Swallows and Great Kiskadee.  It is here that you can find other strange birds(not often seen in the northern Sonoran desert region) like White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks and Little Blue Herons.  There are Reddish Egrets and Tricolored Herons. The Sonoran Desert is an amazingly diverse area. 

One of my favorite species of birds, the Bronzed Cowbird, was seen in good numbers almost every place we went.  In fact, I searched high and low for a Brown-headed Cowbird.  No luck. 

Let's talk safety.  Getting to San Carlos is relatively easy.  We headed south down to the Nogales Mariposa port of entry and stopped near the Circle K to purchase some insurance.  Then we headed down to get the visa for the vehicle.  Don't take your chances.  If you get into a wreck and don't have the visa along with that insurance, they could impound your vehicle.....forever!  And you only need that visa if you pass Hermosillo.  Places, nearest the border, like Rocky Point(or Puerto Peñasco), don't require this visa. 

San Carlos is a clean and sleepy little ocean village.  It's worth the extra hours of driving.  It's cheap to rent a beautiful place.  In fact, I came back with money from this trek!  That rarely ever happens.  As for safety.  Always use common sense.  Lock up things, etc.  Now let's talk Mexico. 

Another favorite gull of mine is the Heerman's Gull.  Easy to ID and a beautiful bird to observe along the coast!  Having traveled Mexico this year(and the last), I must mention a couple things that I've heard from my Mexican friends and US workers down in this country.  I've been going to the safe tourist "corridors" of the country that are easy to travel and away from the drug cartel lanes. It's why I hired a guide in Mexico City this past spring due to being close to another state(Morelos, not on the list but a known drug corridor nonetheless).  Here is the latest Mexican Travel Advisory . 

"Exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery, is widespread.

The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico as U.S. government employees are prohibited from travel to these areas.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from intercity travel after dark in many areas of Mexico. U.S. government employees are also not permitted to drive from the U.S.-Mexico border to or from the interior parts of Mexico with the exception of daytime travel on Highway 15 between Nogales and Hermosillo.

Do not travel to:

• Colima state due to crime.
• Guerrero state due to crime.
• Michoacán state due to crime.
• Sinaloa state due to crime.
• Tamaulipas state due to crime."

However, we did notice some cartel activity in San Carlos in various spots because they own beach homes.  And it makes sense.  San Carlos is fairly close to the state of Sinaloa, known by Mexicans and the US, as a not-so-safe state to visit.  The cartels run their major operations out of this state and several others listed above. 

BUT with that said, San Carlos was safe. MANY Americans and other foreign nationals vacation in San Carlos. In Mexico, always travel by day and with others. It's the same in several areas of the US. So just use common sense. We had a blast.  Plus the birds were amazing!

I had several places I wanted to check out while we were there.  One included the San Pedro island for the nesting ocean birds and the other was the El Soldado Estuary between San Carlos and Guaymas.  Unfortunately, hurricane winds put a kibosh on our pelagic trek out to the island. 

However, I was able to do a count around the tidal areas and see lots of great ocean birds like a fast moving Black Storm-Petrel.  There weren't any life birds on the table here except maybe a Gull-billed Tern.  For me, this was more about connecting the dots in another sector of the Sonoran Desert.  Plus, my birding focus has shifted to the state of Sonora now. 

And when I wasn't counting birds around the town, we were celebrating the start of summer. I will say that I added Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and White Ibis to my Mexico list bringing my total national Mexican list up to 428 birds seen in the country.  In the next post, we'll explore the beautiful El Soldado Estuary. 

We had to keep an eye on Tami with that tequila.  We all got a little crazy:)

Now it's time for a margarita:)  Until next time.....