Chapala Birders Newsletter, August 2, 2022 | | Sightings this Month
There were 105 species reported for the lake area in July. The complete list is shown at the end of this newsletter.
Interesting sightings; - Wood Storks have returned to Lake Cajititlan in even greater numbers than last year. The curious thing is that a month ago there were none. Where did they breed?
- Twenty American White Pelicans were seen at Jocotepec at the beginning of July - these would have been first-year birds. But then for three weeks they disappeared from the lake and nearby reservoirs, only to reappear at the end of the month.
Book Donation from Tom Holman
Tom Holman, long time Ajijic resident, bird watcher and rock climber, has kindly donated two encyclopedic books to our birding group - The Encyclopedia of North American Birds and Audubon's Birds of America edited by Roger Tory Peterson. These came from Allen Turner and Judy Boyd who founded our current group as 'Las Audubonistas' fifteen years ago.
John has a small library of such books which may be borrowed or viewed at the Keeling's house. | | An Inca Dove. Note the scaly appearance of the back and wings. The tail is considered to be quite long for such a small dove. When it flies it reveals rufous coloring under the wings, and some white in the tail. | | - The Inca Dove is a common small ground-feeding bird that occurs from the Southern States down as far as Panama. It is non-migratory.
- It forms flocks in deserts, scrub-land and urban environments.
- The feathers of the wings and back have a dark outline giving a unique 'scaled' appearance.
- They forage almost entirely for seeds, only occasionally eating fruit such as prickly pears.
- The nest is a simple platform usually built on the fork of a tree using twigs, stems and leaves, by both the male and the female. Sometimes they will build on top of an old nest.
- They share incubation duties for 15 days and feed the chicks for 15 days until they fly, and continue feeding them for another seven days.
| | John James Audubon - an Amazing Character | | Audubon, (1785-1851) born Jean Jacques Rabin, spent his early years in the West Indies on a plantation on Santo Domingo with his father's 'second' family. After the death of his mother he was taken to his father's wife in France, where he was later adopted and legalized as Jean Jacques Audubon. He learned the violin, and to ride, fence and dance. During the Napoleonic wars, he was shipped off to a plantation outside Philadelphia, where he liked nothing better than going off into the woods, observing and drawing birds, later learning to shoot them and stuff them using wire frames to put them in interesting poses for painting. He adjusted his name to John James Audubon and married a neighboring plantation owner's daughter, Lucy.
His father was an enterprising man, naval officer, sometime pirate, business man and plantation owner who helped his son in business ventures such as developing a lead mine on the Philadelphia property. When that was not as successful as anticipated, the young John James went south with his wife operating general stores in partnership with his brother in law. He enjoyed some prosperous years, founding a flour mill, buying property and slaves. However, he ended in bankruptcy with prison time for non-payment of debts.
Lucy was the dependable breadwinner as a teacher and governess, while John James did portraits of patrons as well as hunting and fishing to feed his family. He took part-time jobs that allowed him to go exploring, collect more bird samples, and paint the birds. His dream was to paint all the birds in North America. It became an obsession. Sometimes he repainted his bird paintings, either to improve them or to replace them when the originals were eaten by rats. The images were known for their dramatic and life-like appearance.
By the time he was 41, he had over 300 paintings, but could not find a publisher in New York. He sailed to England where he was an overnight sensation. He played up the part of the frontier woodsman with buckskin clothing and shot gun. He became a super huckster. He pre-sold copies of his book, found a good engraver and the book was published in four volumes in 1827. It was a monumental work - "Birds of North America", illustrating 497 species on paper measuring 39 by 26 inches (990 by 660mm). Each illustration showed the bird life size. He also published the text to go with each plate, as well as smaller versions of the book, and a multivolume book on the mammals of North America. This last book was finished with the help of his two sons and the Reverend John Bachman.
For the last ten years of his life he had a large estate on the Hudson River. He died at the age of 66 in New York City, suffering from failing eyesight and an incapacitating stroke. He is remembered as a remarkable naturalist and artist. | | Our bird-walks are open to all those interested in birds, both beginners and experienced birders. Just bring binoculars. We always have knowledgeable birders on hand to identify the species. Note that we will limit car trips to four vehicles because larger convoys are hard to manage when trying to stop on country roads to look at the birds. If you are being given a ride, we suggest you make a contribution to your driver for gas and tolls (perhaps $100 pesos for a half day outing, $200 pesos for a day trip).
On Friday August 19, we will meet at 8.00 am at the "Sculpture" (at the only traffic light in La Floresta, south west corner, opposite Restaurant Pranzo) and also at 8.15 am at the Pemex near the intersection of the Chapala-Guadalajara highway with the Libramiento, leaving immediately for the Lake Cajititlan Marsh (30 minutes drive). We expect to see a variety of marsh and lake birds such as Black-necked Stilt, and Whistling Ducks. There will be a break for snacking at 11.00 am. Expect to be back in Ajijic by 1.00 pm. You must reserve - email John at chapalabirders@yahoo.com at least 2 days ahead saying if you are bringing a vehicle and can take others, or whether you are looking for a ride.
On Tuesday August 30, we will meet at 8.00 am at the "Sculpture" (at the only traffic light in La Floresta, south side near Restaurant Pranzo), leaving immediately for the Sierra de Tapalpa (90 minutes away). We will bird from 9.30 till 12.30. We expect to see higher altitude birds such as Acorn Woodpecker and Slate-throated Redstart and if we are lucky Trans-volcanic Jay. Bring your own refreshments for the morning. At 1.00 pm We will have lunch at a restaurant on the square in Tapalpa. Expect to be back about 4.00 pm. You must reserve - email John at chapalabirders@yahoo.com at least 2 days ahead indicating that you can bring a vehicle and can take others, or you would like to be a passenger. (We don't always have enough cars). | | On July 8, we traveled with a group of eight to the Rosa Amarilla Loop on the plateau above the south side of the lake. It rained all the way going there, but the weather cleared when we started birding. We manage to spot 47 species including Spotted Wren, Bushtit, Crested Caracara, White-faced Ibis, Wood Stork, Pied-billed Grebe and Least Grebe.
On July 19 seventeen birders came out to go round the Cristiania Park in Chapala - excellent attendance for the time of the year! The list included Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Mexican Duck Tropical Kingbird and the following species nesting in the trees: Tricolored Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret and Cattle Egret. | | Here are the 105 species sighted around Lake Chapala in July:
Ani, groove-billed Bittern, least (Rp) Blackbird, red-winged (Ra) Blackbird, yellow-headed (Ca) Bobwhite, northern (Ca,Rp) Bushtit Caracara, crested (Ca) Coot, American Cormorant, neotropic Cowbird, bronzed Cuckoo, squirrel (Sa) Dove, common ground Dove, Eurasian collared Dove, Inca Dove, mourning (Ca) Dove, white-tipped Duck, black-bellied whistling Duck, fulvous whistling Duck, Mexican Egret, cattle Egret, great Egret, snowy Elaenia, greenish (Rp) Euphonia, elegant (Ps) Finch, house Flycatcher, dusky-capped (Cv) Flycatcher, gray silky Flycatcher, Nutting's (Sa) Flycatcher, social Flycatcher, vermilion Gallinule, common Goldfinch, lesser Grackle, great-tailed Grassquit, blue-black (Ca) Grebe, least Grebe, pied-billed Grosbeak, blue Gull, laughing Gull, ring-billed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, red-tailed Hawk, sharp-shinned Hawk, white-tailed (Oc) Heron, black-crowned night Heron, great blue Heron, tri-colored Hummingbird, berylline Hummingbird, broad-billed Hummingbird, Rivoli's (Sc) Hummingbird, sparkling-tailed (Sc,Av) Hummingbird, violet-crowned Ibis, white-faced Jacana, northern Kestrel, American Killdeer Kingbird, Cassin's Kingbird, thick-billed (Rp) Kingbird, tropical Kiskadee, great Meadowlark, eastern (Ra) Mockingbird, blue Mockingbird, northern (Ra) Motmot, russet-crowned Oriole, black-backed Oriole, black-vented Oriole, orchard Oriole, streak-backed Owl, ferruginous pygmy (Rp) Parakeet, monk Pelican, American white (Jo) Pewee, greater (Sa) Pewee, western wood Phoebe, black Pigeon, rock Raven, common Robin, rufous-backed Seedeater, cinnamon-rumped Shrike, loggerhead Solitaire, brown-backed (Rp) Sparrow, Botteri's (Ra) Sparrow, house Sparrow, rusty-crowned ground Sparrow, stripe-headed Stilt, black-necked Stork, wood (Ca) Swallow, barn Swallow, northern rough-winged Tern, Caspian Thrasher, curve-billed Thrush, orange-billed nightingale Towhee, canyon Tyrannulet, northern beardless Vireo, golden Vulture, black Vulture, turkey Warbler, rufous-capped Warbler, yellow Woodpecker, golden-fronted Woodpecker, ladder-backed Wren, Bewick's Wren, canyon Wren, happy Wren, Sinaloa (Ps) Wren, spotted Yellowthroat, common (Ca) | | Sighting Location codes: Ac - Ajijic: La Cristina / El Bajio At - Trails above Ajijic Av - Ajijic village Ca - Lake Cajititlan & marsh Ch - Chapala Ct - Caracol Trail / Int'l School Cv - Cerro Viejo Dm - Dike: Jamay to Malteraña Dp - Dike: Maltaraña to La Palma Hv - Hidden Valley oak forest Ja - Jamay La - La Cañada-Hidden Valley Jo - Jocotepec Ld - Lerma & Duero rivers Oc - Ocotlan Pe - Petatan area Ps - Pumping Station/Santa Cruz Pt - San Pedro Tesistan area Pz - San Pedro Itzican area Ra - Rosa Amarilla loop Rc - Santa Rosa/Carnero dam Rp - Riberas del Pilar & canyon Sa - San Antonio/Allen Lloyd Trail Sc - San Juan Cosala Sn - San Nicholas & Golf Club Tz - Tizapan canyon Te - San Juan Tecomatlan / Mezcala Tr - Potrerillos / Las Trojes / Chupinaya Tu - Tuxcueca / San Luis Soyatlan Xt - Ixtlahuacan / Las Campanillas
What is the "Lake Chapala Area"? We define it as the whole area of the lake plus all land within 15km (or 7 miles) of the edge of the lake. | | | Lake Chapala Birders is an informal group of bird observers led by John and Rosemary Keeling.
Illustrated color folders showing our common birds are once again available for $200 pesos at Diane Pearl's Gallery, 11 am to 4 pm, Santa Margarita #23, at the east end of Riberas del Pilar.
There you will find our newsletters, illustrations of our birds and advice on buying binoculars, books and birding apps. | | | | | | |
