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.....

The Legacy Challenge

Little Blue Heron

It's no lie.  I am pretty much done birding in Arizona for now.  It's too hot.  The mornings are great but I'm taking them back and sleeping in again like I used to do several years ago:)

Now hold on.  It doesn't mean I've given up birds.  Far from the truth.  I just chased an easy state bird, the Little Blue Heron up in Phoenix last weekend. It was a beautiful morning out. At one point, it was just me and Little Blue at one of the ponds before the birders realized where s/he had gone.  Then s/he flew at the sight of the little kid birder making aggressive moves along the shore to get that perfect photo. And that was my cue to go home.  By that time, it was hot. 

Lark Sparrow

And it has been hot forever since.  So I began working on my bird feeders and water features at home.  My neighbor and I both put our huge fountain together in the center of the courtyard to prepare for the hot and dry month of June. This is the best month to observe wildlife because they come from all over to get a drink from scarce watering holes around the desert. The feature is up and running and birds are nesting all over the place in the oak trees.  Our Rock Squirrel has found our courtyard as an appropriate place to live. 

 I like having the little one around.  Most people hate squirrels at their feeders, but I don't.  I've waited 10 years to have one visit our yard.  S/he burrowed under our water fountain and lives the life.  In Midtown, there's very little in the way of wildlife(besides birds and feral cats)

Dark-lored White-crowned Sparrow

With finals happening now, and after all the public school mayhem, it's time to settle down and research.  And watch my bird feeders.  I actually enjoy it.  I get to see all the mischief happening around the property between the Curve-billed Thrashers, rare midtown Cactus Wrens, Abert's Towhees and nesting Brown-crested Flycatchers and Broad-billed Hummingbirds. They rely on me to provide them with fresh water and food:) Every year they come back to me. On an excellent day, I will have 24 species of bird come to my yard. 

male Hepatic Tanager on Mt. Lemmon.  If this guy came to my feeder, I'd crap myself. 

Solitary confinement is what I have been craving the most.  It's always an honor to be asked to events for organizations.  But after all the public outings are said and done, there is nothing I love better than the quiet solitude of home. 

I have been out in the garden more.  I am working on paint colors and a bird house project for my Lucy's Warblers next year.  I know House Finches will nest in some of those boxes, but honestly, I don't care.  When you walk around El Presidio, it's full of bird song and butterflies.  We even have lizards and geckos. 

On Mother's Day, we had a get together.  As a Spanish teacher, I needed to understand better the properties of a good chocolate mole from Mexico.  It's a sauce that goes over chicken normally.  So we assembled the team and the Aribabi crew got together and made this time consuming mole.  

I was in charge of the chili peppers which act as a base for the sauce. Jim was in charge of the special ingredients that went with the chili base.  And Mary Ann made sure we followed the directions. 

For once, it was nice making dinner for Kathy who usually makes all of our meals for us while we're down in Mexico during our counts and mammal tracking.  

However, we had to watch Jim because he slipped in several more chocolate disks to the mole:)

I'm proud of the work we did.  It's definitely a full morning of work with maybe some prep the night before. It tasted amazing and went down well with Jim's awesome margarita concoctions . 

During the week with my students, I was exhausted.  I'd work and go home to sleep.  This is the way of the final exam schedule at my school.  Meanwhile, all of my friends are in the Midwest for the Biggest Year.  This is an event I'll never be able to attend thanks to finals:)  By the time I retire, I'll have found all the North American Warblers I need and not have to participate in this event.  

Pine Siskin

Instead, I've been preparing for several major trips. One begins next weekend.  This year, I have been very interested in Mexico and connecting the dots.  I love the Sonoran desert very much and have wanted to do a study in San Carlos for years.  The last time I was there was back in 96. 

So many good memories.  I remember a perfect moment from that trip.  After a beautiful day at the beach at our friend's condo, we sat watching TV enjoying a beautiful Mexican sunset.  No worries.  No stress.  Just existing in the moment. 

It will be nice to revisit this area again.  It's 6 hours south of Tucson near the ocean village of Guaymas where Mexico truly begins and the border culture begins to fade away. 

My "work" will include an area count around the ocean front. Margaritas will be the main meal:)

This weekend we headed down to Nogales, an hour south of Tucson for a medication run.  Or as I like to call it, a drug run!  Medication is half to a third of the cost of what it runs in the US.  Many seniors can't afford the rising costs of medical bills here in the US because of their limited budgets.  Yes, the US is a disaster right now.  Thankfully, Mexico is nearby and we can get prescriptions at a normal price.  Then we stopped at La Roca for lunch.  Yum!

I've already droned on too long, but recent events have again made me pause and reflect.  Last week, I lost another former birding mentor, Bernie. I wrote about him 2 years ago in this post while we searched for his last warbler in North America.  He lived an amazing life and protected important lands from industrial development. At first I was sad that he wouldn't be there when I went home to visit, but then I thought about how lucky I was to have gotten the chance to work with Bernie over the years.  He was brilliant with his conservation work. His bird banding projects were genius. I remember Bernie sharing with me a story about banding Chimney Swifts! 

Our final time together would happen during our Hermit Warbler search. It was an honor to have had the chance to take him out one last time to find life birds in Southern Arizona. I worked with Winnie, the cranky Park Ranger.  I banded owls with Bernie. And I was a student of Doc Sontag. Doc is the last of this holy trio.  Without these people, Two Rivers and Manitowoc would have developed precious land along the Lake Michigan Shoreline.  They made a difference. Today, birders and nature lovers alike visit my hometown in mass numbers to visit these important natural spaces.  Places like Woodland Dunes, Point Beach State Forest and the Manitowoc Impoundment are protected thanks to the dedication and leadership of these amazing people.  Bernie leaves a great legacy behind. 

Lance-tailed Manakin

 What will our legacies be? Spanish was always my passion, but it lead me to the birds. This next month will be my birding anniversary.  It's when I accepted the label "birder" into my life.  Several Manakins on Coiba island "sparked" my passion for birds.  And for the better, it has changed my life forever.  Like many of us, we have gone through periods in our lives when we look back at our past reflections and wonder how we ever thought or acted the ways we did. I changed. And I am focused now. At a recent photo shoot I did for Altrusa, a group that fights illiteracy around the world, the spokeswoman reminded her members that the work they did was incredibly important. "Your legacy will come from the work you do everyday.  Do not take that for granted. You are valuable."

I remember sitting on that island in the Pacific Ocean all alone, away from the modern world thinking about the great adventures ahead.  At first, they were clueless treks into the unknown.  But I had to start somewhere.  That guy in the pic above was so naive and innocent.  However, it was a pivotal moment in my life that I will never forget. 

On the eve of this celebration, I will be heading to Trinidad and Tobago this June to research and observe new birds.  My goal this year is to reach 1000 life birds.  This island trek will be the first big mission to complete that task.  I'm hoping to observe such birds as the endangered Trinidad piping guan, oilbird, honeycreepers and the national bird of Trinidad, the Scarlet Ibis. But it's the Manakins, that I hope to observe in great detail.  Bernie, my Grandma, Melissa, and all those who have passed remind me to seize the moment and discover. Until next time.....