Still more from Mazatlán

So many cute birds:

Nashville Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Summer Tanager

Streak-backed Oriole

Hooded Oriole

More from Mazatlán

 An iconic bird along the ocean.  The Brown Pelican.

Some birds like to hang around in groups, others appear to be loners.  Normally when we see Willets, we really only see a Willet.  One bird at a time seems to be their favoured plan.  But on January 25 at Cerritos we saw 14.  Not all are in this photo, but the others were not far away.

There are many possible hawks, but the hawk we see the most is the Grey Hawk.

I believe this is also a Grey Hawk, but an immature so it has not yet achieved its greyness.

At the Laguna by the Bosque de la Ciudad, two Tricoloured Herons flying together or possibly playing follow the leader.

We watched them for several minutes. 

Here there appears to be a meeting; several Snowy Egrets attended, led by a Little Blue Heron with a couple of Neotropic Cormorants in the background.

One of the fun things we see in Mexico is a collection of species in close proximity.  These five are in a space no bigger than our kitchen.  We have a Great Blue Heron, a White Ibis, a Snowy Egret, a Willet and a couple of terns, likely Caspian Terns.  Not visible in this photo but just a short ways away was a Tricoloured Heron.

This trip was notable for seeing an egret that we've only glimpsed once before: the Reddish Egret.

I was happy to see this guy, especially after an hour earlier I had been deceived for a while by a Little Blue Heron. When I research the Reddish Egret it typically shows a shaggy bird just like this Little Blue. But note the Reddish has a bi-coloured bill and is definitely more reddish.

The last heron I'm showing you is another that we have seldom seen, the Bare-throated Tiger Heron.  This one was in the Botanical Garden on La Isla de la Piedra. (Stone Island)  Though he is on dry ground here, there is water nearby.

Black Skimmer

Near El Bosque de la Ciudad in Mazatlán, a Black Skimmer.  I would have expected to see it on the ocean, but this was on an inland lagoon, though only a couple of blocks from the ocean.

I wondered if its deformed bill made fishing in this very fishy lagoon easier than in the ocean.

2023 Lifer Number One

Paco's Reserva, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

 On January 26 we were picked up at our hotel in Mazatlán by Paco (Two) and taken to Paco´s Reserva de Flora y Fauna.  It's a small place but very important when so much of the natural area around the city is disappearing.  Paco's father, Paco (One), started the Reserva about forty years ago when he began planting native plants on his farm.  Now the plants attract wildlife we didn't even know could be found in the area. There is a water body there, too.  I don't recall if this water belonged to the Reserva or if it was just conveniently located. There we saw three White Ibises and a Snowy Egret.  There was a White-faced Ibis, too, but it missed the photo.

Wood Storks

and the cutest member of the grebe family, the Least Grebe.   

There were good birds in the trees, too.

The most special to me was a winter visitor, one that never spends anytime anywhere near us. The Northern Cardinal.

A warbler we've seldom seen was the Nashville Warbler.  I took about twenty photos, but only the last couple were worth saving.

Nearby was a female Painted Bunting.  Not as spectacular as her mate, she is still a very pretty bird.

At home I hang feeders to attract birds.  Something similar happens in the warm places where we've gone birding.  Paco serves peanuts to attract several birds that might not have dropped by otherwise.

There were a couple of Golden-cheeked Woodpeckers.

Purplish-backed Jays 

 Yellow-winged Caciques

Black-throated Magpie Jays

and Rufous-bellied Chachalacas.

 Also interested in the peanuts were a couple of Coatis.

Paco concentrated on birds for us, but he also told us about the native plants, 

a few insects,

 and even an anole that was so tiny and so camouflaged that I have no idea how Paco saw it.

 

 

We appreciated seeing all the birds, even though none of them were lifers, but even more we were happy to find people who were working to create habitat for the native species.