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AVES AJIJIC
Lake Chapala Birders
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 376-766-1801
Website:
avesajijic.com
| | | 159 Species Sighted in February |
| In February local birders saw 159 species around Lake Chapala, including a good haul of warblers - see the full list at the end of this newsletter. Uncommon birds for this area included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker seen on the bird walks in Jocotepec and Ixtlahuacan; John Keeling saw a Golden-crowned Warbler, and John Roynon observed a Black-capped Vireo above Ajijic. Many people have seen the Russet-crowned Motmot on the trails above Ajijc and a few have seen the Squirrel Cuckoo in the same area. Rosemary notes that although we saw 14 less species than in the previous month, our February list includes 18 species not seen in January. |
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| | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
|  Observed in February at the Jocotepec malecon. |
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| | Flossie's Back! |
| Flossie the hummingbird lady left us at the end of last year to go north for some operations, not sure when or if she would be back! The doctors told her she did not need any operations, so she's back with us feeding her hummingbirds as usual.
You can visit her and her hummingbirds any morning - just pull hard on the bell on the blue door just across from Barbara's Bazaar on Independencia, and be sure to bring some plain sugar. |
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| | Upcoming Bird Walks |
| On Tuesday March 8, at 8.30 a.m. John Keeling will lead a bird walk at a new location - the Cajititlan Marsh. We are likely to see a variety of waders, differrent sparrow species, common yellow throat, marsh wren and if we are lucky a king rail. At 10.15 we will head for breakfast at Los Cinco Potrillos in Ixtlahuacan.
To Get There: Drive toward the airport and one mile after passing the La Barca turn-off, take the Retorno and go back one mile, turning right just before the Burrito restaurant. Drive 2 mi (7km) and turn right on a gravel road by a sign announcing the border between the towns of Tlajomulco and Ixtlahuacan. Go a quarter mile and park when you can see water.
On Thursday March 17 at 8.30 a.m., John will lead a bird walk at the always popular pumping station at Santa Cruz. Expect to see a variety of shore birds, sparrows and warblers. At 10.15 we will head back to Las Delicias restaurant to have breakfast and to complete the bird list.
To Get There: Drive from Chapala toward the Chapala Country Club, passing the village of Santa Cruz on the left. Immediately after the pumping station (look for the three tall pump towers on your right) you must take the very first gravel road to the right. When you hit a T-junction turn left, go another quarter mile and park. |
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| | February Bird Walk and Trip Reports |
| On February 5 Don Bell led a group of 18 birders at La Cristina. Though its was a bit windy we saw three species of oriole - Bullock's, hooded and the black-backed which is the local endemic; also orange crowned warbler and greater pewee.
On February 18 John Roynon led 12 observers at the malecon in Jocotepec where 55 species were seen including yellow-bellied sapsucker which is rare here; also eurasian collared dove and orchard oriole.
On February 25 John Keeling led 10 birders at Las Campanillas dam in Ixtlahuacan where less usual sightings included sora, mourning dove, northern harrier, Wilson's snipe, and clay-colored sparrow.
Ten keen birders made the trip to El Tuito in the wilds of western Jalisco, February 8-11. Highlights were a group of 30 very noisy west Mexican chachalacas, pauraques, elegant and citreoline trogons and both black-throated and white-throated magpie jays. |
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| | February Sightings List |
| These are the 159 species observed in February:
Groove-billed ani
American Avocet
Red-winged blackbird
Yellow-headed blackbird
Indigo bunting
Painted bunting
Varied bunting
Bushtit
Canvasback (Cs)
Crested caracara
Yellow-breasted chat
American coot
Neotropic cormorant
Bronzed cowbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Squirrel cuckoo (At)
Common ground dove
Eurasian collared dove (Ch)
Inca dove
Mourning dove (Xl)
White-winged dove
Long-billed Dowitcher
Black-bellied whistling duck (Dp)
Fulvous whistling duck (Dp)
Mexican duck
Ruddy duck
Cattle egret
Great egret
Snowy egret
Elegant euphonia
House finch
Ash-throated flycatcher
Brown-crested flycatcher
Dusky-capped flycatcher
Gray silky flycatcher
Least flycatcher
Social flycatcher
Vermillion flycatcher
Gadwall (Dp)
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 (Dp)(Xl)
Red-tailed hawk
Black-crowned night heron
Great blue heron
Green heron
Little blue heron
Tri-colored heron
Berylline hummingbird
Black-chinned hummingbird (Av)
Broad-billed hummingbird
Lucifer hummingbird (Ac)
Magnificent hummingbird
Violet-crowned hummingbird
White-faced 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
Blue mockingbird
Northern mockingbird
Common moorhen
Russet-crowned motmot (At)
Buff-collared nightjar
Black-backed oriole
Black-vented oriole
Bullock's oriole
Hooded oriole
Orchard oriole
Streak-backed oriole
Osprey
Tropical parula (Ac)
American white pelican
Brown pelican (Rp)
Greater pewee
Black phoebe
Rock pigeon
Northern pintail
American pipit
Common raven
American redstart
Painted redstart (Tr)
Rufous-backed robin
Least sandpiper
Spotted sandpiper
Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Jo)(Xl)
White-collared seedeater
Northern shoveler
Loggerhead shrike
Wilson's snipe
Sora
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored sparrow (Xl)
House sparrow
Lark sparrow
Lincoln's sparrow (Cs)((Xl)
Rusty-crowned ground sparrow
Song sparrow
Stripe-headed sparrow
Roseate spoonbill (Dp)
Black-necked stilt
Barn swallow
Northern rough-winged swallow
Tree swallow
Violet-green swallow
Hepatic tanager
Summer tanager
Western tanager
Blue-winged teal
Cinnamon teal
Green-winged teal
Caspian tern
Curve-billed thrasher
Canyon towhee
Northern beardless tyrranulet (At)
Black-capped vireo (At)
Golden vireo
Plumbeous vireo
Warbling vireo
Black vulture
Turkey vulture
Black and white warbler
Black-throated gray warbler
Golden-crowned warbler (Av)
Lucy's warbler
MacGillivray's warbler
Nashville warbler
Orange-crowned warbler
Rufous-capped warbler
Tenessee warbler (Ac)
Townsend's warbler
Virginia's warbler
Wilson's warbler
Yellow warbler
Yellow-rumped warbler
Willet (Dp)
Golden-fronted woodpecker
Ladder-backed woodpecker
Bewick's wren
Canyon wren
Happy wren
House wren
Spotted wren
Lesser yellow-legs
Common yellowthroat
Location codes:
Ac - Ajijic: La Cristina/El Bajio
At - Trails above Ajijic
Av - Ajijic village
Ch - Chapala
Cl - Lake Cajititlan
Cs - Santa Cruz de la Soledad
Dm - Dike near Malteraña
Dp - Dike near La Palma
Hv - Hidden Valley oak forest
Jo - Jocotepec
Lc - La Cañada
Ld - Lerma & Duero rivers
Pe - Petatan causeway
Po - Poncitlan
Pt - San Pedro Tesistan
Pz - San Pedro Itzican
Rc - Santa Rosa: Carnero dam
Rp - Riberas del Pilar
Sc - San Juan Cosala
Sv - San Antonio/Chula Vista
Te - San Juan Tecomatlan
Tr - Trails above Las Trojes
Tu - Tuxcueca
Xl - Ixtlahuacan/Las Campanillas
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