Sanderling

                                                        Sanderling
                                              Catildris alba

 

 

The sanderling is one of the medium sized shorebirds, that is seen more often than not in the light ( seen here) non-breeding plumage. During flight they appear to be very white, and frequently are seen on sandy beaches, especially where there is some waves and pounding surf.

 

Here is a small collection of fun Sanderling photos....

 

 

This Weeks Mystery Bird??

                             Mystery Bird!

Each week, I am going post a photo or two of a bird I have seen. This is where all of you following along get to interact and let me know what bird it is?

Now, of course I will give you some clues, location and time of year the photo was taken and all you need to do is reply to the blog with that species you think it is.

So....here is this weeks "Mystery Bird"!!

This bird was spotted in Mezteno Bay, On Isla Espirtu Santos, La Paz, BCS Mexico.

The photo was taken February 17th, 2014. This flycatcher like bird was actually quite shy, and not really wanting to be in any kind of spot light. The unique feature to be considered is the white band on the tail. This is not a fault of the photo, as it is prevalent in several of the images I was able to obtain.

 

 

Ok everybody, lets see if we can figure out what this pretty little guy(or gal) is!!  If you have trouble replying to this blog directly, feel free to drop me a note at bigleftturn@hotmail.com

Snowy Egret

                        Snowy Egret
                                 Egretta thula



The Snowy Egret is a very common Wading bird, that can be seen in nearly all of North America and Mexico. They are generally quite easy to spot, and identify. The closest species would be the Great Egret, which a third again as big. The greater is usually around 40" tall, while the Snowy is generally about 24". The Greater also has solid black legs, where the Snowy has greenish legs with a black streak on the foreleg. They are usually seen in shallow waters foraging for small fish, frogs and crustaceans.

Los Frailies, BCS Mexico

Another one of the things that I want to feature on my new blog is a bit of information about the places that I am doing my birding and photography. Todays feature is Los Frailes, at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.


                                                           Los Frailes

In 2011, when my wife Jeanne and I sailed out sailboat down the west coats of the US to Mexico, we had to take refuge from a nasty northerly storm. This great little bay, with it's coral reef hook allowed the wind to blow thru, but never allowed any of the waves to build. We were there for a week. At some point, I went ashore and started to explore the area away from the water, and of course went looking for new birds!

Just above the high point of the beach, there is the end of a long arroyo. About half way up in the arroyo there is a flat area that the "Snow Bird" campers have cleaned up, smoothed out and established small intimate campsites. This area is mostly populated by Canadian travelers who are here in the winter. By May 1st they have all headed north, and that is when Jeanne and I tend to take our trailer and head to that area.

Cabo Pulmo, one of the largest coral reefs in Mexico is a Federal Marine Reserve, and just north of Frailes. We always try to plan at least one day there snorkeling, since the area is protected from fishing, the size, quantity and diversity of the marine life is just astounding!!

Of course the bird viewing is pretty amazing as well......In addition to the birds, at the  end of this post, I will add a few shots of some of the other wildlife we get to enjoy while we are there!

We will start off with one of my favorite Frailes birds, the Pyrrhuloxia. So far this is the only place on the Baja that I have been able to find these unique, and lovely birds. Of course much like most birds, the male is the one that go all the amazing colors...

And here is the female.....

The female Hooded Oriole.....

One of the Baja's endemic species, The Gray Thrasher.

 

 

Here are a couple of the Gila Woodpecker..I am still not sure what the white seed looking thing is that he was eating, or even where he got it! It almost looks like a pickled onion. The second shot is the Gila eating the sap from the split in the branches.

 

 

Here is a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, working on her nest.

The Western Scrub Jay.

 

Here is a shot of the Green-tailed Towhee

I have seen three different Hummingbirds in this area, the Most common, the Costa's an occasional Xanthus and so far only one ever Black-chinned.

Here is a Costa's and then a Xanthus....

Here is a close up of the White-winged Dove

And of course there is the Greater Roadrunner!!  Beep Beep..

 

 

 

 

 

This area has a very large population of Northern Cardinals!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I mentioned before, birds are not the only fun creatures running around this area. Black-tailed Jackrabbits wander thru the camp sites early in the morning.

 

 



Up on the ridge above the arroyo that we are camped in, I spotted a pair Spiny tailed Iguanas that had taken over a woodpecker hole in a Cordon Cactus. They were not early risers, sticking their heads out around 9:30-10:00 in the morning. They had a great view of the entire arroyo, which I am sure also gave them a heads up watching for predators.

One of the shyer of the little lizards we get to see every now and then is  the Orange-Throated Whiptail.

We do see quite a few of the Zebra tailed Lizards.....they are a real kick to watch around camp, as they are very territorial especially around mating time. The red neck patch is only visible at this time, and they are all excited!!  They come in a large variety of colors from what you see here, to dark brown-nearly black.

All in all I have seen nearly 50 different species in this area, plus Coyotes, Desert Fox, and keep in mind we are less than a 100 yards from the beach where the whales, dolphins and Mobula rays are seen almost every day.

The Verdin

                                

                             The Verdin
                                                   Auriparus flaviceps


One of my favorite little desert birds is the Verdin. A bright, friendly little bird that just seems to enjoy being photographed. The live almost exclusively in and around desert area, scrub brush and cactus. They are insect and fruit eaters, even being seen at an occasional hummingbird feeder.

While I am not sure this is the case else where, but every nest I have observed has been located in a Choya Cactus. The nest is not a traditional nest like you might see a Robin or song birds build with an open top. This nest is built in a big ball with an opening from below, or at an angle form the side. Combined with the cactus location, this certainly helps with protection from any predator. The shot below is taken from the ground, up!!

The picture below is of the little guy that hung around my store, and the Hummingbird feeder! Obviously we have some non-cactus type foliage.

In order to get this blog up and running, I am going back thru some of my earlier stuff, some magazine stories, and such to fill a few pages. I think that my photography has improved quite a bit, but these are still worth looking at. Here is a story from 2014....




                                                
                                                 The Magnificent Frigatebird

If you have spent any time at all around the waters of the Baja, you have no doubt seen the ominous looking black bird, soaring along the water’s edge. With its large black wings, forked tail, and long hooked bill it appears as dangerous as it it really is....especially to the other coastal birds out looking for a meal. The Magnificent Frigatebird, the largest of the 5 Frigatebird species, will get as much as 40% of its food by stealing it from other birds. Using their incredible diving speed they are capable of, (95 MPH / 153 KPH) they overtake seagulls, Terns and Boobies causing them to either drop their catch or in some cases, regurgitate the meal they are bringing back to their nest. They then catch their new meal in the air, or quickly scoop it off the surface of the water

 



 

 

One of the most recognizable features of the Frigatebirds would be the bright red gular, or throat pouch that the males inflate during breeding in order to attract a female.

 

 

 

All Frigatebirds nest colonially, many areas having1000 or more pairs all nesting together. Each pair will only lay one egg, but once it is hatched they are one of the most devoted parents in all the bird world. The pair will continue to feed the chick for 3 months, and then the female will take over feeding duties for an additional eight months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bahia San Gabriel, on the south end of Isla Espirtu Santos has a very large rookery or nest site, which is featured here in these photos.

 

 

 

There are many additional fun facts about the Frigatebirds. With their incredible speed, they are the 7^th fasted bird in the world, they have the largest wingspan to body weight ratio of all birds. Given the fact that they spend all of their time over or around water, they cannot swim, take off from a flat surface, and are barely able to walk on flat surface. Besides their piratical nature, they skim the surface of the water and grab small fish, baby turtles and in some locations, Sea Iguanas.

 

Devoted parents, or Pirates of the sky, whichever way you see them, Frigatebirds are just another one of the many wonders to be found here the sea of Cortez.