Chapala Birders Newsletter, April 2, 2025 | | | Changes with Lake Chapala Birders
"Lake Chapala Birders" is undergoing some changes. John Keeling, who has been the group leader for almost 20 years, is retiring! Eight of us have stepped in to take over for him, so he can enjoy the outings without doing the admin. Mugs McConnell will be chief editor of the newsletter, and Robert McConnell will update the website. You will notice a variety of group leaders for the bird walks, so please pay attention to which email to use for confirming your attendance. And you will notice new names for those contributing articles and updates in this newsletter. You will find a complete list of volunteers at the end of this newsletter.
Sightings last Month submitted by Duncan Poole
There were 192 species reported for the lake area in March. The complete list is shown at the end of this newsletter. Interesting sightings included the following:
- Northern Parula, at Ajijic Malecon. Photographed March 15th by visiting Birder, James Hatfield.
- White Ibis, at Presa de Santa Cruz de Soledad. Seen and photographed March 20th by Birders Kate and Carl Anderson, Thomas Bravo, and Barbara Hogan.
- Green-Tailed Towhee, at San Antonio Malecon. Photographed March 30th by Birder Duncan Poole.
- Spotted/collared Towhee, at Cerro Viejo. Photographed by Marion (Mugs) McConnell, recorded by Jules Evens.
| | Featured Bird: White Ibis submitted by Jules Evens | | - The White Ibis is predominantly a coastal species, frequenting fresh water marshes, salt marshes, and estuarine wetlands, where it specializes in consuming crustaceans.
- Although highly nomadic, it is rarely seen inland. However, on March 20th of this year, some Lake Chapala birders found a single adult at Presa Santa Cruz, for Lake Chapala's first documented record.
| | - A single individual was interesting because the species is described as "highly gregarious" and tends to gather in flocks.
- Like others in the Ibis family, this species has a long, drooping bill, but is the only ibis with white plumage and a bright blue eye. The bill, legs and face are red and will intensify in color during the nesting season. There is a smidgen of black on the wingtips.
- As with other probing waders (such as Dowitchers), the tip of the ibis' bill is well supplied with nerve endings, and has a slight gap in the center which allows the tip to function like tweezers, grabbing prey such as crustaceans, aquatic insects, and small fish.
- Their taste for shellfish has caused them to be considered a threat by commercial crayfish farmers in Louisiana where they are shot as vermin, but overall, the population appears relatively stable with its range expanding somewhat.
| | Upcoming Bird Walks and Trips | | | 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 try to limit most car trips to three vehicles and 14 people 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, please make a contribution to your driver for gas and tolls ($150 pesos for a half day outing, $300 pesos for a day trip).
On Friday April 11, meet team leaders Robert and Mugs McConnell at 8.15 am at the entrance to Cristiania Park in Chapala. We should see an interesting selection of species in the park and on the shore of the lake. We will likely still catch the nesting cattle egret in the trees throughout the park. At 10.00am we will complete the bird list together. Please confirm your attendance at with Robert least 2 days in advance at bob.mcconnell58@gmail.com . How to Get There: From Ajijic go to the traffic light at the main street of Chapala (Av. Madero), Cross straight over and keep going straight for five blocks, turn left at the T intersection and park on the right, near the Park entrance.
On Wednesday, April 16, meet team leader Tom Bravo at 8.00 am at the San Antonio Malecon parking lot to walk the Malecon area. At about 9.30 we will head to Cafe Negro restaurant for breakfast and complete the bird list. Please confirm your attendance at least 2 days in advance with with Tom at thmsbrv@gmail.com How to get to the Parking Lot: Follow these instructions carefully because of the one-way street system in San Antonio. From Ajijic, go past Walmart and the Coca Cola warehouse, then turn downhill at the traffic light onto San Jose/Allen Lloyd (close to Black Coffee, El Parque, and the Little Theater). Proceed downhill and turn right onto La Paz at a shrine one block before the lake, then turn left at the T intersection, and go one block to the parking lot.
On Thursday April 24, meet team leader Cheshta Buckley at 8.00 am at El Bajio on the west side of Ajijic and walk down the lane to the lake. Expect to see a good variety of birds in the tall trees and fields. At about 10.00 am we will review the bird list. You must reserve - email Cheshta Buckley at: cheshta@mac.com at least 2 days ahead of time. Chesh's US cell 808 854 1594. How to Get There: From Ajijic go about 2 mi. (3 km) west from the light at Colon, turn downhill for El Bajio (across from the west end of the large unfinished retirement community being redeveloped by Latitude/Margaritaville) and park immediately on the lateral road parallel to the carretera. | | Bird Walk & Trip Reports submitted by John Keeling | | | On March 10th, we had 12 keen birders out for the trip to Lake Atonilco at Villa Corona. The level of that lake is getting quite low, much as it was last year at this time. We were able to observe 55 species including American Pipit, Thick-billed Kingbird, Northern Bobwhite, Wilson's Snipe, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork and Northern Harrier.
On March 17th, there were 13 birders on the beach at La Cristina, where we spotted Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Rufous-backed Robin, Painted Bunting, Killdeer, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Cassin's Kingbird and Tropical Kingbird out of total of 53 species.
On March 27th, we travelled with 6 keen observers up to the top of Mezcala Mountain, counting Blue Mockingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Greater Pewee, and only two warbler species – Black and White and Lucy's for a total of 27 species. | | Monthly Sightings List submitted by Duncan Poole | | | Here are the 192 species observed around Lake Chapala in March (in Taxonomic order):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Fulvous Whistling-Duck Blue-winged Teal Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Gadwall American Wigeon Mexican Duck Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Lesser Scaup Ruddy Duck Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Inca Dove Ruddy Ground Dove White-tipped Dove White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Groove-billed Ani Squirrel Cuckoo Buff-collared Nightjar Ruby-throated Hummingbird Black-chinned Hummingbird Broad-billed Hummingbird White-eared Hummingbird Violet-crowned Hummingbird Berylline Hummingbird Sora Common Gallinule American Coot Black-necked Stilt American Avocet Killdeer Semipalmated Plover Northern Jacana Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Willet Greater Yellowlegs Stilt Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Caspian Tern Forster's Tern Least Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Clark's Grebe Neotropic Cormorant White Ibis White-faced Ibis Black-crowned Night Heron Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Snowy Egret Green Heron Western Cattle-Egret Great Egret Great Blue Heron American White Pelican Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Western Screech-Owl Great Horned Owl Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Russet-crowned Motmot Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Golden-fronted Woodpecker Ladder-backed Woodpecker Crested Caracara American Kestrel Monk Parakeet Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet Greenish Elaenia Olive-sided Flycatcher Greater Pewee Western Wood-Pewee Least Flycatcher Gray Flycatcher Dusky Flycatcher Western Flycatcher Buff-breasted Flycatcher Black Phoebe Say's Phoebe Vermilion Flycatcher Dusky-capped Flycatcher Ash-throated Flycatcher Nutting's Flycatcher Brown-crested Flycatcher Great Kiskadee Social Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird Cassin's Kingbird Thick-billed Kingbird Western Kingbird Golden Vireo Black-capped Vireo Bell's Vireo Hutton's Vireo Plumbeous Vireo Warbling Vireo Loggerhead Shrike Common Raven Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Bushtit Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Black-tailed Gnatcatcher Canyon Wren Northern House Wren Marsh Wren Bewick's Wren Spotted Wren Happy Wren Sinaloa Wren Blue Mockingbird Curve-billed Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Brown-backed Solitaire Orange -Billed Nightingale-Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin Rufous-backed Robin Gray Silky-flycatcher Olive Warbler House Sparrow American Pipit Elegant Euphonia House Finch Lesser Goldfinch Stripe-headed Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Lark Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow Canyon Towhee Rusty Sparrow Green-tailed Towhee Spotted/collared Towhee Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-headed Blackbird Black-vented Oriole Orchard Oriole Hooded Oriole Streak-backed Oriole Bullock's Oriole Black-backed Oriole Scott's Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Bronzed Cowbird Brown-headed Cowbird Great-tailed Grackle Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Lucy's Warbler Nashville Warbler Virginia's Warbler MacGillivray's Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Hermit Warbler Rufous-capped Warbler Wilson's Warbler Red-faced Warbler Hepatic Tanager Summer Tanager Western Tanager Flame-colored Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Lazuli Bunting Indigo Bunting Varied Bunting Painted Bunting Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater | |  | | 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 Cs - Chapala Haciendas & Las Brisas 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 Mz - Mezcala Oc - Ocotlan Pe - Petatan area Ps - Pumping Station & Santa Cruz Pt - San Pedro Tesistan Pz - San Pedro Itzican/Poncitlan 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 Tr - 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) from the edge of the lake. | | | Lake Chapala Birders is an informal group of bird observers led by a team of Chapala Birders on behalf of John and Rosemary Keeling. Overall Coordinator - Cheshta Buckley Newsletter - Mugs McConnell Website - Robert McConnell Feature Bird - Jules Evans Monthly Sightings Lists - Duncan Poole Bird Trip Leaders and Reports - Cheshta Buckley, Thomas Bravo, Kate and Carl Anderson, Jules Evens, Duncan Poole, John Roynon.
Illustrated color folders showing our common birds are 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. Also available from John Keeling on bird walks.
We like to hear of bird sightings at: chapalabirders@yahoo.com.
Check our website: ChapalaBirders.org There you will find our newsletters, illustrations of our birds and advice on buying binoculars, books and birding apps. | | | | |
