| | Chapala Birders Newsletter Nov, 2025 |
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| | eBird Community News & Sightings Last Month |
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Sightings Last Month submitted by Duncan Poole There were 146 species reported for the lake area in October. The complete list is shown at the end of this newsletter. Possible sighting: Mississippi Kite, sighted by Cheshta Buckley, Mezcala Mountain. (ID from picture of a high-flying kettle of Hawks, by ebird).
Mark your Calendar for the Christmas Bird Counts!
The big birding event of the year is the Christmas Bird Count. This year the Ajijic count will be on Tuesday December 5, with a potluck celebration at 6pm. The Dike Count will be on Thursday, December 18. Details of both counts will appear in the next newsletter.
4th Colima Birding Festival December 3-7 The State of Colima is holding a Birding Festival to show off over 470 bird species, with tours and other events. For full details visit their website and Facebook page.
eBird Taxonomy List Update Did you know Cornell Lab eBird is updating the names of many birds? Each October the eBird taxonomy is updated to reflect the latest science on bird classification, including new species, splits, lumps, shuffles and other changes. This year's update is a big one, and the last before eBird fully transitions to the AviList global taxonomy. For example, Warbling Vireo will become Warbling Vireo (Eastern) and Warbling Vireo (Western). Check their website for more information on the new taxonomy list.
Birding Ethics Are you familiar with the ethics of birding? If not, now is a great time to learn! Be sure to read our monthly Birding Ethics Tips in this newsletter. |
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| The Hawk Watch Report: submitted by Duncan Poole |
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The Hawk watch had a slow start this year but overall we had some excellent sightings. Here is the list of species we have seen so far. We will continue to watch for a while in early November.
September Species
Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Common Black Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Great Horned Owl American Kestrel
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| October Species Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey White-tailed Kite Hook-billed Kite Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Northern Harrier Mississippi Kite Common Black Hawk Gray Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Short-tailed Hawk Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon |
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| | Feature Bird: Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) [SWHA] submitted by Jules Evens. |
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Most birders are familiar with the Red-tailed Hawk (B. jamaicensis), perhaps the most common member of the genus Buteo. Swainson's Hawk is similar in size, but slimmer and longer winged. When soaring, the four outermost flight feathers (primaries) are spread to resemble "finger tips," much like the wingtips of Turkey Vultures. Swainson's have a wide variety of plumage variations (morphs)—light (pictured), various intermediates, and dark—although "light" is the most common and is unique in that |
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the underwing pattern has dark flight feathers contrasting with the white underside of the forewing. A light adult has a dark breast band contrasting with white throat and belly. Other morphs are more difficult to identify by plumage characteristic, but the flight profile, as described, is most distinctive. The tails of all morphs are thinly barred with a broad dark terminal band and all have white undertail coverts.
This hawk is gregarious and highly migratory. The entire population departs breeding grounds in prairies of North America to its wintering grounds in Central and South America. The magnitude of the autumn movement through Central America is impressive with 850.000 individuals counted passing over Veracruz, Mexico. Migration here is impressive as well. Lake Chapala Birders have counted several hundred birds in a single September day over Mt Mezcala.
Photo credit above: Cheshta Buckley Photo credit below: Jules Evens |
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| | | | Tip #3 for Birding Ethics - Watch where you point your binoculars. |
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While you are out birding, getting deeply focused on seeing and identifying that magical bird, remember people's homes in your area. They may not take too kindly to you peering through your binoculars into their yards and homes. Point your binoculars into public parks and spaces. Remember to get permission to step into private property. And if you do make a mistake, be polite and apologize for any intrusion.
For more ethics of birding, visit the e-bird site here. Birding Ethics. |
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| | Upcoming Bird Walks & Trips |
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| Our bird-walks are open to all those interested in birds, both beginners & experienced birders. We always have knowledgeable birders on hand to identify the species. Note that we will try to limit most car trips to 3-4 vehicles and 12-16 people. Larger convoys are hard to manage. If you are being given a ride, you are expected make a contribution to your driver for gas and tolls ($200 pesos for shorter trips, $400 pesos for a day longer trips). |
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| 1st SUNDAY OF THE MONTH: November 2nd there will be a birding outing along the Allen Lloyd Trail. Meet up with team leaders Kate and Carl Anderson at 8am. Expect to see Blue Mockingbird, Happy Wren, and maybe a Russet-crowned Motmot. Please confirm your attendance by sending an email to hdd@hdd.net How to get to the trail head: Drive up the Libramiento a half mile (1 km) from the traffic light at Walmart, then turn left (carefully) as you would for the hospital (Ribera Medical Center). Double back and drive up the left side of the hospital. Keep going uphill another half mile, and park on the only street to your left. Here is a pindrop.
LAST HAWK WATCH: On Friday November 7th, meet John Keeling at 8:00am at the "Sculpture" (see pindrop - its at the only traffic light in La Floresta). We will depart immediately for Mezcala Mountain, in search of migratory birds, especially raptors - hawks. It is about a 30 minute drive to the base of the mountain and another 30 minutes up a rough mountain road to the parking area. Optional bird walk up the knoll trail, about a mile round trip, or a more stationary hawk watch can be done from the parking area and surroundings. We will begin the return at 12 noon. Bring a snack, drink, repellent, sunscreen and possibly a SMALL collapsible chair. You must reserve at least 2 days in advance. Email John at keelingmex@gmail.com and indicate if you wish to be a passenger or if you have a high clearance 4WD-AWD vehicle and will drive. Trip is limited to 10 people due to lack of 4WD or AWD vehicles. Each passenger pays the driver $200 pesos to cover gas and tolls.
Thursday November 13th, join team leader Robert Taylor at the San Antonio Malecon parking lot to walk the Malecon area. Expect to see a variety of shorebirds including Black-crowned Night Heron, Tricolored Heron, and Great Egret, as well as Hummingbirds Sparrows and Wrens. At about 10am we will review the bird list. You must reserve: If you are interested in coming please email Robert at least 2 days in advance at robertinmex@gmail.com
How to get to the parking lot: In San Antonio Tlayacapan along the Carretera, turn toward the lake on Colón and drive to the end of the street to the parking lot. (see pindrop).
Sunday November 16th meet team leaders Kate and Carl Anderson at 8am at the Allen Lloyd Trail. Expect to see Blue Mockingbird, Happy Wren, and maybe a Russet-crowned Motmot. Please confirm your attendance at least 2 days in advance. Email to hdd@hdd.net How to get to the trail head: Drive up the Libramiento a half mile (1 km) from the traffic light at Walmart, then turn left (carefully) as you would for the hospital (Ribera Medical Center). Double back and drive up the left side of the hospital. Keep going uphill another half mile, and park on the only street to your left. Here is a pindrop. |
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| | Bird Trip Summaries for October submitted by each Trip Leader |
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| On Sunday, October 5th 10 people set off immediately after the rains stopped with John Keeling and Cheshta Buckley to explore the Sendero Allen Lloyd. The verdant foliage and flowers made for tough going in seeing the birds in such dense foliage. However, we observed the return of the winter migrants such as Wilson's Warblers, Western Tanagers and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Highlights of the day were 5 species of raptors, including Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks on migration to countries further south. As the fall progresses, look to have easier viewing of more winter visitors as the foliage dies back. See full report https://ebird.org/checklist/S277478615
On Tuesday, October 7th 8 people joined team leaders Cheshta Buckley and John Keeling for a hawk watch on Mezcala mountain. Hawks were only becoming true at this time. We saw 2 species of vultures (Turkey and Black) and 4 species of hawks (Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Common Black, and American Kestrel). We had 2 species of tanagers migrating back… both the Hepatic and Western Tanagers. The big species of the day were Gray Silky-flycatchers, where 35 were seen in one flock! See the full checklist https://ebird.org/checklist/S277886636
On Tuesday, October 14th, 6 birders had a wonderful morning birding on the way to and at Lake Cajititlan with team leader Robert McConnell. At our first stop near Agua Escondido we saw everything from white-tailed kites, herons, ducks and a variety of songbirds for a total of 28 species. From there we made the slow drive to Lake Cajititlan and saw more kites, thrashers, cormorants, hawks, hummingbirds and a huge murmur of yellow-headed blackbirds. We hit a grand total of 43 species for that part of the trip. So it truly was a great day. We have two lists here because we covered two separate areas on this trip. https://ebird.org/checklist/S279343362 for Agua Escondido https://ebird.org/checklist/S279368754 for Lake Cajititlan
On Wednesday, October 22nd, 4 birders went to El Bahia with team leader Cheshta Buckley. The winter migrants have begun to show up again on this popular birding spot, with highlights of Grace's Warbler, Cassin's Vireo and increasing numbers of Rufous-backed Robins. The Swallows (Rough Wing and Barn Swallows) continue to stream through on their migration. The one bird that all 4 observers had hoped to be seen or heard, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl was nowhere to be found this morning. Also noteworthy was the height of the lake waters, which precluded us from even getting to the end of the access lane to the lake or seeing any birds along the shore. See full report https://ebird.org/checklist/S280803420 |
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| | Monthly Sightings List submitted by Duncan Poole |
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| Here are the 146 species observed around Lake Chapala in October (in Taxonomic order):
1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Mexican Duck 3 Rock Pigeon 4 Eurasian Collared-Dove 5 Inca Dove 6 Common Ground Dove 7 White-tipped Dove 8 White-winged Dove 9 Mourning Dove 10 Groove-billed Ani 11 Lesser Roadrunner 12 Greater Roadrunner 13 Squirrel Cuckoo 14 Vaux's Swift 15 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 16 Black-chinned Hummingbird 17 Rufous Hummingbird 18 Broad-billed Hummingbird 19 Violet-crowned Hummingbird 20 Berylline Hummingbird 21 Sora 22 Common Gallinule 23 American Coot 24 Northern Jacana 25 Black-necked Stilt 26 Killdeer 27 Laughing Gull 28 Wood Stork 29 Neotropic Cormorant 30 White-faced Ibis 31 Tricolored Heron 32 Snowy Egret 33 Western Cattle-Egret 34 Great Egret 35 Great Blue Heron 36 Black-crowned Night Heron 37 American White Pelican 38 Black Vulture 39 Turkey Vulture 40 Osprey 41 White-tailed Kite 42 Hook-billed Kite 43 Sharp-shinned Hawk 44 Cooper's Hawk 45 Northern Harrier 46 Mississippi Kite 47 Common Black Hawk 48 Gray Hawk 49 Broad-winged Hawk 50 Zone-tailed Hawk 51 Short-tailed Hawk 52 Swainson's Hawk 53 Red-tailed Hawk 54 Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl 55 Russet-crowned Motmot 56 Belted Kingfisher 57 Acorn Woodpecker 58 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 59 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 60 Crested Caracara 61 American Kestrel 62 Merlin 63 Peregrine Falcon 64 Monk Parakeet 65 Rose-throated Becard 66 Greenish Elaenia 67 Western Wood-Pewee 68 Olive-sided Flycatcher 69 Greater Pewee 70 Dusky Flycatcher 71 Western Flycatcher |
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72 Buff-breasted Flycatcher 73 Vermilion Flycatcher 74 Dusky-capped Flycatcher 75 Ash-throated Flycatcher 76 Nutting's Flycatcher 77 Great Kiskadee 78 Social Flycatcher 79 Tropical Kingbird 80 Cassin's Kingbird 81 Thick-billed Kingbird 82 Western Kingbird 83 Cassin's Vireo 84 Plumbeous Vireo 85 Loggerhead Shrike 86 Common Raven 87 Violet-green Swallow 88 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 89 Barn Swallow 90 Bushtit 91 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 92 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 93 Canyon Wren 94 Northern House Wren 95 Marsh Wren 96 Bewick's Wren 97 Spotted Wren 98 Sinaloa Wren 99 Blue Mockingbird 100 Curve-billed Thrasher 101 Northern Mockingbird 102 Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush 103 Rufous-backed Robin 104 Gray Silky-flycatcher 105 House Sparrow 106 House Finch 107 Lesser Goldfinch 108 Stripe-headed Sparrow 109 Lincoln's Sparrow 110 Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow 111 Canyon Towhee 112 Lark Sparrow 113 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 114 Yellow-breasted Chat 115 Yellow-headed Blackbird 116 Black-vented Oriole 117 Orchard Oriole 118 Hooded Oriole 119 Streak-backed Oriole 120 Bullock's Oriole 121 Black-backed Oriole 122 Bronzed Cowbird 123 Brown-headed Cowbird 124 Great-tailed Grackle 125 Black-and-white Warbler 126 Orange-crowned Warbler 127 Nashville Warbler 128 Gray-crowned Yellowthroat 129 MacGillivray's Warbler 130 Common Yellowthroat 131 Yellow-rumped Warbler 132 Grace's Warbler 133 Black-throated Gray Gray 134 Townsend's Warbler 135 Hermit Warbler 136 Rufous-capped Warbler 137 Wilson's Warbler 138 Red-faced Warbler 139 Hepatic Tanager 140 Summer Tanager 141 Western Tanager 142 Black-headed Grosbeak 143 Blue Grosbeak 144 Painted Bunting 145 Blue-black Grassquit 146 Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater |
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| What is the "Lake Chapala Area" for bird sightings? We define it as the whole area of the lake plus all land within 15 km (7 miles) from the edge of the lake. We combine sightings for the month from Chapala, Jocotopec, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, Poncitlán, Ocotlán, Jamay, & La Manzanilla de la Paz. |
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| | | John and Rosemary Keeling |
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| Lake Chapala Birders is an informal group of bird observers led by a team of Chapala Birders on behalf of John & Rosemary Keeling. Overall Coordinator: Cheshta Buckley Newsletter: Mugs McConnell Website: Robert McConnell Feature Bird: Jules Evens Monthly Sightings List: Duncan Poole Bird Trip Leaders & Reports: Cheshta Buckley, Thomas Bravo, Kate & Carl Anderson, Jules Evens, Duncan Poole, John Roynon, Robert Taylor, Robert McConnell. |
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| | Illustrated color folders showing our common birds are available for $200 pesos from your birding group leaders on bird walks. Also available at Diane Pearl's Gallery, 11am to 4pm, Santa Margarita #23, Riberas del Pilar.
You can sign up for this newsletter or send us your exciting bird sightings at birderschapala@gmail.com.
Check our website: ChapalaBirders.org . There you will find our newsletters, illustrations of our birds and advice on buying binoculars, books & birding apps. |
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