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AVES AJIJIC
Lake Chapala Birding Club
Observadores de Aves del Lago de Chapala
Your hosts
John and Rosemary Keeling
If you have reports of interesting bird sightings near Lake Chapala, or need information about birding around the lake, email us at:
avesajijic@yahoo.com
or phone 766-1801 in Ajijic.
Website:
avesajijic.com
| | | Record 167 Species Seen in December |
| A total of 167 species were seen around the lake in December - the full list is at the end of this newsletter. Unusual sightings included Ring-necked Duck seen by Darnelle Dunn near Ixtlahuacan, Painted Redstart continuing to be seen in La Floresta and Great-horned Owl in Ajijic. |
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| | Ring-necked Duck |
|  Observed in December near Ixtlahuacan. |
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| | Upcoming Bird Walks |
| On Monday January 10 we will go to Lake Atotonilco at Villa Corona where we expect to see Roseate Spoonbills and possibly an American Bittern. Because of road construction we must allow 90 minutes to drive there, so we will car-pool at Donas Donuts at 7.45. There are no plans for breakfast after.
Driving instructions will be handed out to the drivers.
On Tuesday January 18 there will be a bird walk at the Santa Cruz Pumping Station where we expect to see a variety of ducks and wading species. We will meet there at 8.00 a.m.
How to Get There: Drive east from Chapala, passing the air-field and the water-skiing park on the right. After you pass Santa Cruz village on the left you will see the big pumping station on the right. After it, take the first gravel road on the right; at the T-junction turn left and park in 200 m/yds. |
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| | 4-day Trip to El Tuito |
| The Club will once again run a four-day (three nights) birding trip to El Tuito, February 8-10. It will include two and a half days of birding at different altitudes in a remote untouched part of Jalisco south of Puerto Vallarta. We will have an experienced professional local bird guide and stay at a delightful country property with good birding on the grounds. Maximum capacity is 10 people. The cost is only 3,900 pesos per person. Please email us to obtain the full details. |
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| | Christmas Bird Count Results |
| On December 15 we deployed thirty birders to survey 6 areas within the designated circle around Ajijic - five along the lakeshore between San Juan Cosala and the Chapala Country Club, and one at Lake Cajititlan. The results showed 114 different bird species were identified, including Bufflehead , Western Grebe, and Buff-collared Nightjar. A grand total of 50,000 birds were counted. Two thirds of these were Tree Swallows which were seen flying eastward along the lakeshore in a continuous stream for a full hour and a half.
At the dinner held the same evening Stan Dunn's team was recognized as having identified the most species - a total of 74 different species. Paul Hart's team was recognized as having seen the greatest number of birds - a total of 34,400.
Two days later on December 17 we deployed seven birders in two teams to count the birds along the dike which runs across the east end of the lake between the towns of Jamay and La Palma. They counted a total of 7,000 birds of 89 different species, including Roseate Spoonbill, King Rail and Black Phoebe.
Report on December Bird Walk
On December 6 twenty two keen birders assembled at El Bajio on the west side of Ajijic. The list compiled showed 51 species observed including the unusual sighting of Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, as well as Crested Caracara and Black-headed Grosbeak. |
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| | December Sightings List |
| Here are the 167 species sighted in December:
Groove-billed ani
American avocet
Least bittern
Brewer's blackbird
Red-winged blackbird
Yellow-headed blackbird
Bufflehead
Indigo bunting
Lazuli bunting
Painted bunting
Varied bunting
Bushtit
Crested caracara
Yellow-breasted chat
American coot
Neotropic cormorant
Bronzed cowbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Squirrel cuckoo
Common ground dove
Inca dove
Mourning dove
White-tipped dove
White-winged dove
Long-billed dowitcher
Mexican duck
Ring-necked duck
Ruddy duck
Cattle egret
Great egret
Snowy egret
House finch
Ash-throated flycatcher
Cordilleran flycatcher
Dusky capped flycatcher
Gray-silky flycatcher
Hammond's flycatcher
Least flycatcher
Social flycatcher
Vermillion flycatcher
Willow flycatcher
Purple gallinule
Black-tailed gnatcatcher
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Lesser goldfinch
Great-tailed grackle
Least grebe
Pied-billed grebe
Black-headed grosbeak
Blue grosbeak
Laughing gull
Ring-billed gull
Northern harrier
Cooper's hawk
Gray hawk
Red-tailed hawk
Black-crowned night heron
Great blue heron
Green heron
Little blue heron
Tricolored heron
Berylline hummingbird
Blue-throated hummingbird
Broad-billed hummingbird
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Rufous hummingbird
Violet-crowned hummingbird
White-face ibis
Northern jacana
American kestrel
Killdeer
Cassin's kingbird
Thick-billed kingbird
Tropical kingbird
Western kingbird
Belted kingfisher
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Great kiskadee
White-tailed kite
Eastern meadowlark
Blue mockingbird
Northern mockingbird
Common moorhen
Russet-crowned motmot
Lesser nighthawk
Buff-collared nightjar
Black-backed oriole
Black-vented oriole
Bullock's oriole
Hooded oriole
Orchard oriole
Streak-backed oriole
Great-horned owl
American white pelican
Black phoebe
Say's phoebe
Rock pigeon
Northern pintail
American pipit
King rail
Common raven
Painted redstart
Rufous-backed robin
Least sandpiper
Spotted sandpiper
Lesser scaup
White-collared seedeater
Northern shoveler
Loggerhead shrike
Wilson's snipe
Chipping sparrow
Clay-colored sparrow
House sparrow
Lark sparrow
Lincoln's sparrow
Rusty-crowned ground sparrow
Savannah sparrow
Stripe-headed sparrow
Vesper sparrow
Black-necked stilt
Barn swallow
Northern rough-winged swallow
Tree swallow
Violet-green swallow
Summer tanager
Western tanager
Blue-winged teal
Cinnamon teal
Green-winged teal
Caspian tern
Forster's tern
Curve-billed thrasher
Orange-billed nightingale thrush
Canyon towhee
Bell's vireo
Cassin's vireo
Golden vireo
Plumbeous vireo
Warbling vireo
Black vulture
Turkey vulture
Black and white warbler
Black-throated gray warbler
Lucy's warbler
MacGillivray's warbler
Nashville warbler
Orange-crowned warbler
Rufous-capped warbler
Townsend's warbler
Virginia's warbler
Wilson's warbler
Yellow warbler
Yellow-rumped warbler
Northern waterthrush
American wigeon
Willet
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Ladder-backed woodpecker
Bewick's wren
Canyon wren
Happy wren
House wren
Marsh wren
Spotted wren
Greater yellowlegs
Common yellowthroat
Gray-crowned yellowthroat
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