Two local wetland areas in Merida

I had the opportunity to go birding with some friends yesterday morning.  And to two locations I had not been to previously.

The first destination was an amazing wetland that was created over what was in the not to distant past a landfill.  This gorgeous open water environment is now home to, and migratory stopover destination for a number of water birds.  We saw a great number of whistling ducks, coots, stilts, sandpipers, grebes and herons, as well as quite a few songbirds.

This wetland area is adjacent to the CRIT - Centro de Rehabilitación Infantil Teletón facility, which although fraught with controversy was developed about 1998 to attend to children with disabilities.  

Now I don't know if this wetland was established as a part of the facility, or separate, which is unimportant, the site is awesome!

Beautiful wetlands, groomed walking paths, they are constructing a look out station, and have erected foot bridges over and connecting the separate wetland areas.  When we were there yesterday there were 3 separate ponds, this could change seasonally due to rain or drought.  We did not go to the 3rd pond as it seems to be quite polluted and there were no birds apparent to us there.

To get to the CRIT wetland area you travel on the western loop of the Periferico, km 34.6.  If you are approaching from the North heading South you will see a sign for CRIT, the wetland is on the North side of the CRIT building, which yesterday was brightly painted in oranges, blues, and yellows.  If you are approaching from the South you will see the building on your left but must go to just before the next overpass and make a U turn and come back.

Just look at this beautiful space!

they even have posted a sign identifying a number of the birds you will see there!

trimming the verge!

 the second pond

We then went to the Parque Ecológico del Poniente off of avenida Jacinto Canek.

This runners blog has a good map you can use to find this park

In this photo, if you look closely just left of center you'll see a Snail Kite.

Lovely water features, great walking paths, beautiful water lilies, fish, birds, .....

PVR - Random Bird Thoughts

I am an amateur birdwatcher, a casual birdwatcher.  I enjoy the watching. I like knowing what they are. Although knowing exactly what type of Warbler, Oriole, Grasquit isn't as important as just knowing it is a Warbler, Oriole, or Grasquit.

I travel with a pair of binoculars (Bushnell 8x23), have for as long as I can remember.  I don't typically travel with a birdbook although that is going to change. 

Thank goodness I had those binos on this trip, whales, birds, dolphins, we'd have missed so much,  I do however wish I had taken my other binocs (Bushnell Legacy, 8x42) along.  Next Time!

I had quite a few bird firsts on this trip.  Not really surprising as I was on a different coast with very different bird species available.

Thank goodness again that I came across a folleto/brochure "Quick Guide to the Birds of Banderas Bay', put out by Viva Natura.  I'd be in the dark about several of the confirmed firsts had I not found it.

The Yellow Winged Caciques I had seen last year while in Vallarta, at the Botanic Gardens.
foto from wikipedia

This year however there was a large population that were regulars around the condo. 
They are pretty, noisy, obnoxious, and aggresive.

A few of my firsts -

San Blas Jay, I thought at first it was a Yucatan Jay,
but well it couldn't be, could it!?

foto from Google images



Masked Tityra              foto from wikipedia




Citreoline Trogan           foto from wikipedia




Golden Cheeked Woodpecker    foto from wikipedia




Russet-Crowned MotMot         foto from wikipedia




Orange-Fronted Parakeet         foto from wikipedia



 
we did see lots of other birds as well, sparrows, grackles, ibis, herons, robins, egrets, flycatchers, kiskadees, thrushes, grossbeaks, hummers, avocets, warblers, stilts, anhingas, cormorants, vultures, anis, cowbirds, orioles, kingbirds, saltatersdoves, sandpipers, frigates, pelicans.

It was a good birding opportunity, and all these were seen randomly while doing other things - just imagine if I'd actually been looking for birds!

Black-Headed Trogan - Birding in my BackYard

As I do most mornings, this morning being no exception, I took my coffee and went to my pergola to enjoy both the coffee and the garden. Early is the best garden time, just at or after dawn as it is so refreshingly cool; the birds are starting their early morning activities, and the buses have not yet swung in to full operation for the day.

This is actually Tom and Tate enjoying the pergola

I typically don't take my binoculars, but usually have to come back to the house to get them, and again this morning being no exception. So why did I come back for binos this morning- A new visitor to my garden and to the neighborhood I believe as I hadn't seen him before and this terrain isn't typical for the Trogans

I got some photos, but my zoom isn't powerful enough -

This is the photo as taken

and this is cropped so you can see the detail.

A very exciting siting for me. A personal first, AND in my backyard.

This morning the Trogan was feeding on insects, it would fly out, do a quick loop, similar to the way Flycatchers catch bugs, and then return to perch with a morsel (looked to be caterpillars).

The few times it flew a distance it flies in a peaks and valleys motion.

Also on this mornings, not year round visitor sighting list, Blue-Gray Tanager, Vireo (still trying to decide exactly which one), groove-billed Ani, oh shoot, there were more I just can't think of them at the moment.

The VII T'oh Festival de Aves, 2008 is over

The 7th Yucatan Bird Festival 2008 is over.

Link to the Event website here.

For the past 7 years there has been a Bird Festival here in the Yucatan, it has grown to what it is now; Conferences, Workshops, Photographic and Drawing Exhibits and Contests, Childrens Events, and a general attempt to educate the public about the birds of the Yucatan and conservation. The BIG deal in all this is the Bird-A-Thon or Xoc ch'ich; this is a bird identification competition. More than that it identifies what birds are here, and if identified by many or few gives an indication of changes in population. Also when new birds come into the region it identifies them and can help monitor how these changes affect the eco-culture here. In fact we, along with another Team identified a Gull that is not supposed to be in this area; a Grey Gull, we at first thought it might be a Heerman's, but the other Team, with high end photographic equipment got a picture and it was proved out as a Grey Gull.

So, You get together a Team, or just register individually and the Committee will put Teams together. You hire a Guide, you arrange for accomodations, pack some snacks...

The Xoc ch'ich started Saturday morning at 5:30AM and ended Sunday morning at 9:30AM. Our Team was prepared, I will not divulge the secrets of our 'plan' but we were in place well before dawn and at the stroke of 5:30, yes, 5:30am we started identifying birds by sound and call, as dawn broke we were fast and furious scribbling down every bird we saw. We had spotters, we had identifiers, we had scribes, we even had our own sherpa/water boy - we were prepared...for everything except the lethargy and exhaustion that hit some of us about 5pm...But we persevered, with a bit of mumbling, then we started chatting and just having a good time, then we got tired again, then we started seeing birds again, then we...

I think, no I'm sure we all enjoyed ourselves, especially now, looking back after getting home Sunday afternoon, having a good soak, and hot meal and a good long rest.

Here we are the night before getting our briefing

Our Team, the T'oh Tweeters were registered as Beginners, because that's what we are - we all enjoy birding, some of us had been out more than others, but we were for the most part all beginners with some to none experience in the field. For me, I enjoy taking my coffee and binoculars out to the pergola and enjoying the birds visiting both my and my neighbors gardens. I also enjoy going out to parks and seashores and watching birds, so you can see, definitly an amateur. Our Guide, Alex Dzib is considered the Best Guide in the Yucatan; we didn't diminish his status, Thank Goodness.

We came in First Place in the Beginners Category; had we been registered in the Classic Category, which included quite a few professional, and extremely serious birders, we would have actually placed 3rd. We identified a toal of 156 birds, which included 10 of the 17 endemics (species found only in the Yucatan); the winning Team in the Classic category, a Team of Professional Guides by-the-way! identified 203 with 12 of the endemics. I wish I could take credit for this windfall win, but I think we had a few Team members who carried the rest of us, not to mention our Guide Alex, who really knows his stuff!

Getting ready to head out into a Preserve to see what we could see

flamingo sighting