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:
ChapalaBirders@yahoo.com
or phone 376-766-1801
Website:
ChapalaBirders.org
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104 Species Seen in May
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The 104 species observed around the Lake last month are listed at the end of this newsletter.
All the local dams in the communities around the lake are drying up as a result of inadequate rainfall in the last three years. Similarly, the lake is suffering from inadequate water release from the thirty dams built on the Rio Lerma over the last thirty years. At the pumping station the waterline is currently receding at the rate more than ten feet per week. The lake is only 36% full.
One result of this has been that certain shorebirds have been able to use the open mudflats (without reeds) for nesting. Behind the Pumping Station John and Rosemary saw ten American Avocets on the shore with ten chicks, and a similar number of adult Snowy Plovers. This species has been reported here before, but not for a number of years. (Howell & Webb, our key reference, shows that both American Avocet and Snowy Plover regularly breed in a small patch of central Mexico lying between Lake Chapala and Mexico City.)
More than a hundred Woodstorks were seen on the dam on the Rosa Amarilla loop (we usually see only a few at a time.) The American White Pelicans appear to have left for the north in the last week of May.
Flossie, the Hummingbird Lady, has reported the arrival of the Sparkling-tailed Humminbirds which come here for five weeks to breed before moving on.
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Snowy Plover
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Snowy Plover seen at the Pumping Station in May. Photo by Paul Hart.
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Upcoming Bird Walks and Trips
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On Thurday, June 6, from 9.00 to 10.30 a.m. we will visit with Flossie, the hummingbird lady. Besides the usual Violet-crowned, Broad-billed, and Berylline Hummingbirds, we hope to see the Sparkling-tailed, and perhaps Magnificent, Black-chinned and White-eared Hummingbirds.
To Get There: Go to the blue gate on the south side of Independencia just west of Morelos, approximately opposite Barbara's Bazaar.
On Wednesday, June 12, we will walk through Lower La Floresta. There are many tall trees with a good variety of birds, and some birds on the shore. At about 10.00 we will have breakfast at the Real de Chapala and complete the bird list.
To Get There: From the sculpture on the carretera in La Floresta, drive towards the lake, turn left at the Real de Chapala sign onto Paseo de las Brisas, take the first right on Paseo de Prado and park. This meeting point is adjacent to the hotel property.
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Bird Walk and Trip Reports
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On May 21, five of us met at La Christina where there were a few American White Pelicans still around, and both Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls. The big excitement was a Nutting's Flycatcher which we observed going into its nest in the top of a 4-inch metal pipe being used as an 8-foot fence post. Nutting's is assumed to be rare here. Knowledge about this species is sparse because its occurrence is very rare in the U.S. It is extraordinarily difficult to reliably distinguish between Dusky-capped, Ash-throated and Nutting's Flycatchers. In this case we went back later and were able to confirm that the wing pattern sequence was reddish-yellowish-whiteish (for the primary-secondary-tertiary edgings); and the call was a sharp "weerk". The total species count was 36.
On May 29, four keeners went round the Rosa Amarilla loop. On the pastures we saw a few Eastern Bluebirds, the first Botteri's Sparrow of the season and a Lesser Road-runner. On the reservoirs there were more than a hundred Wood Storks (usually just a few come to our area), and a lone Eared Grebe which we see less than once a year. The total species count was 46.
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The May List
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Here are the 104 species observed in May around Lake Chapala:
Ani, groove-billed
Avocet, American (Cs)
Blackbird, red-winged (Cs, Ra)
Bluebird, eastern (Ra)
Bushtit
Caracara, crested
Coot, American
Cormorant, neotropic
Cowbird, bronzed
Cuckoo, squirrel
Dove, common ground
Dove, Eurasian collared (Ch)
Dove, Inca
Dove, white-tipped
Dove, white-winged
Duck, fulvous whistling
Duck, Mexican
Duck, ruddy (Ra)
Egret, cattle
Egret, great
Egret, snowy
Elaenia, greenish
Finch, house
Flycatcher, ash-throated
Flycatcher, dusky-capped
Flycatcher, gray silky (Av)
Flycatcher, Nutting's
Flycatcher, social
Flycatcher, vermilion
Gallinule, common
Goldfinch, lesser
Grackle, great-tailed
Grebe, eared (Ra)
Grebe, pied billed
Grosbeak, black-headed
Grosbeak, blue
Gull, laughing
Gull, ring-billed
Hawk, red-tailed
Hawk, white-tailed (Ra)
Heron, black-crowned night
Heron, great blue
Heron, green
Heron, tricolored
Hummingbird, berylline
Hummingbird, black-chinned (Av)
Hummingbird, broad-billed
Hummingbird, magnificent (Av)
Hummingbird, sparkling-tailed (Av)
Hummingbird, violet-crowned
Ibis, white-faced
Jacana, northern
Killdeer
Kingbird, Cassin's
Kingbird, tropical
Kiskadee, great
Kite, white-tailed
Meadowlark, eastern (Cs)
Mockingbird, blue
Mockingbird, northern (Ra)
Motmot, russet-crowned
Oriole, black-backed
Oriole, black-vented
Oriole, streak-backed
Pelican, American white
Pelican, brown (Cs)
Pewee, western wood
Phalarope, Wilson's
Pigeon, rock
Pipit, American
Plover, semi-palmated (Cs)
Plover, snowy (Cs)
Raven, common
Roadrunner, lesser (Ra)
Robin, rufous-backed
Sandpiper, spotted (Cs)
Seedeater, white-collared
Shoveler, northern
Shrike, loggerhead
Sparrow, Botteri's (Ra)
Sparrow, house
Sparrow, rusty-crowned ground
Sparrow, stripe-headed
Stilt, black-necked
Stork, wood (Ra)
Swallow, barn
Swallow, northern rough-winged
Swallow, tree
Swallow, violet-green
Tern, Caspian
Tern, Forster's
Thrasher, curve-billed
Thrush, orange-billed nightingale
Towhee, canyon
Tyrannulet, northern beardless
Vireo, golden
Vulture, black
Vulture, turkey
Woodpecker, golden-fronted
Woodpecker, ladder-backed
Wren, Bewick's
Wren, canyon
Wren, spotted
Yellowthroat, common (Ca)
Location codes:
Ac - Ajijic: La Cristina/El Bajio
At - Trails above Ajijic
Av - Ajijic village
Ca - Lake Cajititlan
Ch - Chapala
Cs - Santa Cruz/pumping station
Dm - Dike near Malteraña
Dp - Dike near La Palma
Hv - Hidden Valley oak forest
Ja - Jamay
Jo - Jocotepec
Ld - Lerma & Duero rivers
Pe - Petatan causeway
Po - Poncitlan
Pt - San Pedro Tesistan
Pz - San Pedro Itzican
Ra - Rosa Amarilla loop
Rc - Santa Rosa/Carnero dam
Rp - Riberas del Pilar & canyon
Sa - San Antonio/Chula Vista
Sc - San Juan Cosala
Tz - Tizapan canyon
Te - San Juan Tecomatlan/Mezcala
Tr - Las Trojes/oak forest
Tu - Tuxcueca canyon
Xt - Ixtlahuacan/Las Campanillas
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