An Unlikely Wasp

A few days ago I was just sitting here at the computer and noticed a tiny (no more than 4 mm) ant crawling on my hand. I have a good variety of ants in my Tucson yard, and even if I don't know their names, I at least recognize them as familiar. This one was different, with the gigantic eyes taking up most of the head giving it a alien look.

So I posted it to Bugguide.net, where Gordon Snelling was very quick to point me away from ants and towards a small family of parasitic wasps called Dryinidae.










It turns out that Dryinids are parasites on leafhoppers, and the females are wingless ant mimics.

Oregon in Spring WINGS Tour Summary

Highlights from this year’s Oregon in Spring tour were many. The coast was gorgeous, if a bit moist and cool one day, providing a fantastic Golden-crowned Kinglet and Harlequin Ducks. But once inland, the weather suddenly turned picture perfect. Black-throated Gray Warbler, Bushtit and both forms of White-breasted Nuthatch were seen well, while many lovely Western Tanagers migrants were seen almost every day. On their nesting grounds we located Calliope Hummingbird and Mountain Bluebirds and were surprised by an out-of-range Northern Waterthrush. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and surrounds were productive with Bobolink, Sandhill Cranes (with a recently hatched colt), Trumpeter Swans, Prairie Falcon, and Chukar. We tallied all twelve species of woodpecker, including a gorgeous Williamson’s Sapsucker and White-headed Woodpecker and six species of owls, such as a day-responsive Barred Owl and a bumper crop of five Great Horned Owl families with chicks.

On our first morning, driving past the first of many Brewer’s Blackbirds, Western Scrub-Jays≤ and Violet-green Swallows in Portland’s outskirts, we made our way to the foothills of the Coast Range. Met by local birder and superbly knowledgeable naturalist and (linguist) Lars Norgren, we did a hike that yielded a pair of Mountain Quail that we flushed practically from underfoot, flocks of migrating Cedar Waxwings and Evening Grosbeaks, Spotted Towhees, and a very cooperative Pacific-slope Flycatcher. Most amazing was the Red-breasted Sapsucker that drummed on the tip of a snag on the open slope below us for at least 15 minutes. Lars then led us to his own driveway where a Barred Owl responded aggressively to imitations, one we don’t always see, and certainly not during broad daylight. Onward to a couple quick spots where we heard Virginia’s Rails and saw an American Dipper taking food to the nest, followed by our first of many picnic lunches in a beautiful setting, complete with Hammond’s Flycatcher. Once on the outer coast it was a 1/3-mile hike to the edge of Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach in the brisk wind and among throngs of beachgoers and kite-fliers where we saw pairs of Tufted Puffins in nuptial flight between the wisps of fog. A stop at Nehalem Sewage Ponds provided a few ducks, gulls and studies of Savannah Sparrows, and the Tillamook Cheese Factory, with is fabulous selection of ice cream flavors did not disappoint. The fog continued, putting a stop to any evening birding during our delicious dinner at Roseanna's in picturesque Oceanside.

A full day on the coast with gorgeous weather was something to be envied. We had to check Bayocean Spit before the tide receded too far, and several ducks, a group of resting migrant Brant, and late migrant Semipalmated Plovers were good to add to the list, as well as our first of many Bald Eagles for the next few days, a handsome adult perched at the top of a giant Douglas-fir. A check of the surf at the town of Cape Meares resulted in a very brief view of a herd of Killer Whales, while the sea watching resulted in our first Western Grebes. Much of the morning was then spent at the spectacular Cape Meares, where highlights were a Peregrine Falcon nest (with four hatchlings, we were to learn later, though we could see only one), Black Oystercatchers starting a nest, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, and Surf Scoters. We picked up the pair of Black Phoebes at a bridge for their third spring (probably the northernmost pair of their species known in the world), then had a delightful lunch in the presence of Red Crossbills and Downy Woodpeckers on the north side of Tillamook Bay. The stops for “rockpeckers” weren’t so successful, but the back roads through dairy country were interesting, resulting in a flock of Band-tailed Pigeons and multiple groups of migrating Whimbrel in hay fields. A tip on a Red-shouldered Hawk not far from our hotel wasn’t so successful, except that it resulted in our first Common Yellowthroat and a very territorial male Rufous Hummingbird. Owling after dinner was a bit damp in the approaching drizzle, but not so wet that we didn’t see a Northern Saw-whet Owl within 6 minutes of arriving.

Our day driving down the coast thence inland to Corvallis coincided with the arrival of a cold front. We managed to dodge the brunt of showers as we found Varied Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet (with its brilliant fiery orange and yellow crown raised), Common Mergansers, Brown Pelicans and a Purple Martin huddling at the entrance to its next box. We enjoying the spectacle of thousands of Common Murres and Brandt’s Cormorants nesting on the rocks at Yaquina Head, while at the same place Clark’s Grebes and a female Black Scoter were quite unexpected. Driving over the historic Yaquina Bay bridge resulted in a sighting of an active Osprey below us nest before we headed inland to the warmer areas of the Willamette Valley.

Our early morning up Mary’s Peak was a bit colder than expected; we were indeed in the wake of a cold front. “Oregon” Gray Jays, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Townsend’s Solitaires, a Sharp-shinned Hawk (during our picnic breakfast) and a rare Rock Wren were the highlights here before we retreated to warmer elevations. We had excellent views of a singing MacGillivray’s Warbler in a clearcut near Alsea, followed by another lovely picnic at Alsea Falls, replete with fragrant wildflowers and views of the scenic falls. A delightfully cooperative pair of Wrentits near the town of Alpine was one of the more memorable encounters of the tour as one of these biological and taxonomical oddities approached us within a couple feet. A quick visit to Finley National Wildlife Refuge paid off, with the rare and local Streaked Horned Lark and a lovely restored native prairie with Lazuli Bunting, Western Meadowlarks, and a huge herd of Elk (or Wapiti). After a good pub dinner and a well-deserved ice cream dessert, our foray for Western Screech-Owls was beautifully successful.

One last attempt at Sooty Grouse and Mountain Quail was not met by success, though an added stop did result in our only Acorn Woodpeckers and "Coastal" White-breasted Nuthatch, with its comparatively short bill and one-syllable call note. We then headed over the Cascade Mountains, through deep green woods and past the gorgeous rapids of the moss- and fern-decorated South Santiam River. A pause at a small clearcut resulted in a lucky find of Hutton's Vireo and Pileated Woodpecker; a short walk through an old growth grove was awesome; a short stop at Lost Lake netted Hooded Merganser and Barrow's Goldeneye; and a visit to a two-year-old forest burn resulted in both Black-backed and American Three-toed Woodpeckers, thanks to information from local birders scouting for the upcoming Woodpecker Wonderland Festival. Following this with a Red-naped Sapsucker at our lunch spot, we already had nine species of woodpeckers in our pocket. After a fantastic dinner in the resort of Sunriver, we found a Great Horned Owl in last year's Great Gray Owl spot, while flocks of Bank Swallows and displaying Wilson's Snipe flew overhead and Wapiti foraged in the meadows of the Little Deschutes River.

A pre-breakfast outing on the halfway point of the tour proved how productive dawn this time of year can be. Within minutes, we were watching Lewis's Woodpecker (mating, even), Brewer's Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrow and our first of what would be many gorgeous Mountain Bluebirds. few hours at the well-named Calliope Crossing once again yielded a male Calliope Hummingbird – a most amazing little jewel with flared rays of magenta for a gorget. A Northern Goshawk on its nest here was a special treat, while Cassin's Vireo and an even better Red-napped Sapsucker than yesterday was enjoyed by all. The biggest surprise was a singing Northern Waterthrush, which normally would have remained totally hidden in the dense willows; but while we were looking, it came out from hiding to chase a female Cassin's Finch all over the place, amazingly landing on a low branch in the open where we could watch it through the spotting scope. Then we were off to Burns with a stop for Tricolored Blackbirds at a marsh, thanks to local birder Chuck Gates, lunch in a canyon with White-throated Swift and hundreds of Cliff Swallows overhead, followed by Rock Wren, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Golden Eagle, Swainson's Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, and more Mountain Bluebirds before arriving at our hotel in the northern Great Basin. A casual drive on the outskirts of town on our way to dinner was a real treat, adding Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Long-billed Curlews, Sandhill Cranes, White-faced Ibis, and several ducks such as Redhead and Canvasback.

We started our full morning in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge area by driving a road not far south of town with much of the same birds as the previous evening, with even more American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, and Willets. Yellow-headed Blackbirds were squeezing out their songs from almost every fencepost, Black Terns cruised over the marshes, and our duck list expanded greatly. Most delightful was a Sora that seemed to be calling from right outside the van, staying invisible in short grass in the ditch. With just a tiny bit of iPod, it came flying out of the ditch, right down the road at the van, circled the van, and landed on the shoulder just outside our windows. A very similar experience was repeated later in the day with Virginia Rails at a different marsh; normally, one would not expect them to be so responsive to a call played from van window level. Malheur NWR headquarters was buzzing with migrant Wilson's Warblers, Warbling Vireos, Western Tanagers, Lazuli Buntings and a few others, but no vagrants were being seen this day. After stopping for a Common Raven on a nest (but no Northern Mockingbird where one had been seen a few days earlier), we enjoyed the richness of the refuge on the Center Patrol Road. Trumpeter Swans, Eastern Kingbirds and Bobolinks (right outside the van window, singing from an exposed perch) were the real highlights here, but dozens of Yellow Warblers, Song Sparrows, countless White-faced Ibis feeding and flying by in flocks, and Franklin's Gulls in every direction made this drive a highlight. After viewing a family of Great Horned Owls in a nook above the road near Frenchglen (thanks to Oregon birders Forrest and Graham), we headed back north. The numbers of White-faced Ibis and Franklin's Gulls nesting at Diamond Marsh were hard to comprehend, the sound audible from a half mile away, and in the midst of it all were at least a couple Snowy Egrets, our only ones. Just a few miles away, a rare Bonaparte's Gull fed with ibis on one side of the road, while an even rarer Cattle Egret was among horses on the other. After yet another family of Great Horned Owls with three young, we checked headquarters again (another Great Horned Owl!) and took shelter from the approaching thunderstorm at dinner.

With only a few forest species missing from our already burgeoning list, our full day in the mountains north of Burns was to mostly be a nice respite of gorgeous, forested scenery from the open desert of the lower elevations. But we started the day with great birds, including a pair of White-headed Woodpeckers, a bonus Black-backed Woodpecker, the interior, long-billed White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadees going in and out of a nest cavity just above the ground, and a gorgeous male Cassin's Finch. We had to make a quick highway stop for Wilson's Snipes perched on fence posts and for a pair of Sandhill Cranes sporting colored leg bands and satellite radios. It turns out these birds had been banded together at the Consumnes River Preserve near Galt, California a year and five months earlier, part of a study comparing wintering foraging behaviors of Lesser and Greater Sandhill Cranes. Then we found a pair of gorgeous Williamson's Sapsuckers, our 12th and final woodpecker species. At our picnic lunch we had close encounters with a MacGillivray's Warbler and then were treated to some stunning Mountain Bluebirds of the purest blue possible. With attempts for Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Northern Pygmy-Owl resulting in little more than a rough road adventure and a glimpse of an American Dipper, we took a lovely scenic route back to Burns via mountains, meadows, sagebrush valleys, and a remote schoolhouse. With an evening free of thunderstorms, we ventured north a mere 25 minutes’ drive to tall pine forest where we heard at least 3 Flammulated Owls upon arrival. But they weren’t quite ready to show themselves; in the end we were on our way home in just an hour with wonderful views of this deep-voiced, lone New World member of the scops owl genus.

On our last day in the Malheur area, we drove all the way south to Fields, only a few miles north of Nevada. Stops on our way south to Fields in the Catlow Valley were amazingly productive, first with a rare pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (thanks again to a tip from another friend), followed by a Virginia Rail in the most unassuming of marshes passing itself off as a moist roadside puddle. Gorgeous Bullock’s Orioles were in the junipers, a Canyon Wren came all the way down to a roadside boulder, and down the road were Yellow-breasted Chats and a migrant Swainson’s Thrush. Bufflehead were added to the list in a remote roadside lake before we made a very successful stop for Burrowing Owl, Black-throated Sparrow and Chukar. We enjoyed the quaintness of remote Fields Station while observing migrant Warbling Vireos, Yellow Warblers, MacGillivray’s Warblers, and a family of Great Horned Owls. The ride north through the majestic Alvord Basin, looking up a vertical mile to the peaks of Steens Mountain, was awe inspiring, augmented by multiple Golden Eagles and lovely desert wildflowers.

The ancient rocks of Aldrich Mountain were the backdrop of our final morning of birding. While wildflowers such as Yellow Avalanche-Lily and Ball-headed Waterleaf diverted our attention, Rock Wren, Townsend’s Warbler, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Lincoln’s Sparrow were enough to keep our binoculars occupied. The view from the top of Aldrich Mountain to the John Day River below was stunning. Soon we were driving down the John Day River valley, breaking up the long drive with a visit to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and a viewpoint where Mounts Adams, St. Helens, Hood, and Jefferson were visible beyond the many wind turbines. With scenic stops, including dinner, among nesting Ospreys and flocks of Ring-billed Gulls, we made our way through the famous Columbia River Gorge to our final night’s hotel, a wonderful wrap-up to a tour of a spectacular state.

North American Migration Count in Southern Lincoln County, Oregon

Yesterday I had a fun day birding with friends on the southern Lincoln County, Oregon coast. The impetus was the North American Migration Count, where observers all over the country submit their birding results from the second weekend in May to a county coordinator. Forrest Rowland had offered to cover southern Lincoln County, and I offered to help out if he could deliver me to my dad's house in Corvallis for my five-day visit before my Oregon in Spring tour.

Graham Floyd joined us for the day, and our friends Daniel Farrar and Lydia Cruz joined us for the first part of the day. We actually first started birded at the south jetty of the Siuslaw River in order for Daniel and Lydia to catch up with us. There weren't many birds here, but it was a good place to whistle in Forrest's lifer Wrentit.

We next made a productive stop just past Sea Lion Caves, even though this was still Lane County. Since Forrest had never been to the Oregon coast, this was a must-see location, and besides, he needed his lifer Rhinoceros Auklets, which breed here.

Displaying Brandt's Cormorants and a couple of Common Murres below Highway 101 at Sea Lion Head/Heceta Head Lookout.




A Double-crested Cormorant there in breeding plumage was unusual.









After a seawatch at Yachats (photo at top), we headed inland along Yachats River Road and then returned via Cummins Ridge Road and Cape Perpetua.

Forest habitat along Cummins Ridge Road, with Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Warbler, Winter Wren, Wilson's Warbler.



Mylitta Crescent







The View from Cape Perpetua after a marine layer had moved in. It would have been a stunning view earlier in the morning.


After completing the Beaver Creek Marsh loop we drove to Corvallis on Hwy 34 up the Alsea River from Waldport. We made a few stops along the river while still in Lincoln County, seeing Common Merganser and an American Dipper. The most exciting find, however was a suface-foraging Coast Mole, Scapanus orarius.

Coast Mole.

Hoyer's Voyeurs

Hoyer's Voyeurs Big Day Summary for the Tucson Audubon Society Bird-a-thon
May 7, 2009, with Rich Hoyer, Mich Coker, and Greg Corman

The Hoyer’s Voyeurs bird-a-thon team spied 169 species on our two-county, 17.5-hour big day attempt on May 7, 2009. This was not an all-out Big Day of the classic sort; rather we started at 2:00 instead of midnight; we stopped at dark instead of continuing to a brain-dead state; and we limited ourselves to just Pima and Santa Cruz counties. Furthermore, route planning was done solely using the internet resources eBird and the archives of the AZ-NM Mexico e-mail list, no field scouting being possible with our busy schedules. But we operated as a big day, rushing from spot to spot, sticking to our time schedule, making no breaks for meals. And of course, our prior experience doing big days was a major guide.

Predictably, our first bird was Northern Mockingbird, singing all over Tucson this time of year, and we rushed up to the upper elevations of the Santa Catalina Mountains for several night birds. In two hours and 25 minutes we were departing the mountains with eight night birds including both screech-owls, Spotted Owl, and fabulous views of a Flammulated Owl, a lifebird for 2 of us.

We picked off all the expected species as we sped along the freeways on our way to Madera Canyon, with number 25 being a Northern Cardinal on the power line in Continental. The fruiting mulberry in Continental provided our only Cedar Waxwings and gobs of other species. One half-hour later, on our first stop in Madera Canyon, Mexican Jays escorted us past the fifty-species mark. And 25 minutes later we jetted past 75 species with a calling Hammond’s Flycatcher at Madera Kubo, where the gorgeous male Flame-colored Tanager out-sang and outshined everything else in the canyon.

A quick stop above the upper parking areas added a few birds such as Hermit Warbler and singing Hermit Thrush, but Elegant Trogon did not call after a 10-minute wait. Opting to stick to our schedule, we decided against a hike up the Vault Mine Trail and thus regrettably passed up our only chance for the trogon. On top of that, it seems we were too early (by maybe only a day or two) for Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher.

After the cooperative Crissal Thrasher and a lucky find of MacGillivray’s Warbler at Tumacacori, a White-faced Ibis south of there became our 100th species just before 9:00 in the morning. A sane birder would have been happy with that number and headed home for a needed nap. But we were only four sevenths of the way through our hoped-for bird list.

Either our birding stops on the I-19 corridor were quicker than expected or maybe our driving was slightly madder than the Google Maps directions suggested, and we arrived at the Patagonia Roadside Rest a full half hour early. We got Thick-billed Kingbird almost immediately, but there was no sign of the Five-striped Sparrow reported a couple days earlier, nor Pacific-slope Flycatcher. We passed the 125 species mark with an Abert’s Towhee just before arriving at the Paton’s backyard, where a latish Green-tailed Towhee, an earlyish Blue Grosbeak and an Indigo Bunting were bonus birds on top of the expected Violet-crowned Hummingbird.

With the extra time to play with, we gambled with a couple of detours, first to a stake-out Zone-tailed Hawk up Harshaw Creek road (success) and then a failed attempt to find Horned Lark, Cassin’s Sparrow, and Loggerhead Shrike in the Sonoita Grasslands. This is where some advance scouting would have helped. But with little effort we were able to snag Say’s Phoebe and Grasshopper Sparrow right in Sonoita, and with those we made a beeline for Summerhaven.

In mid-afternoon, while it was 100°F in Tucson, Marshall Gulch was utterly delightful. And the thirteen new species that it provided, such as Red Crossbill and Magnificent Hummingbird, made it hard to tear ourselves away from here. But then a slowing of success as we descended the Catalina Highway also ate up time as we tried for a few remaining high elevation species. Eventually we had to give up on Greater Pewee and Golden-crowned Kinglet, with one last stop below Babad Do’ag providing Black-tailed Gnatcatcher then Gilded Flicker, our 150th species at 5:08 p.m. With sunset just 2 hours away, and the slow drive through Tucson during rush hour ahead of us, our chances for making our goal of 175 was looking distant but also distinctly possible. We still hadn’t seen Cooper’s Hawk or either of the large falcons, and we were going to have to trust our luck with any lingering water birds at Sweetwater Wetlands. Could we possibly find 25 new species there? If the reported dowitchers, some tired sandpipers, both species of cormorants, Green Heron, Peregrine Falcon and a couple of migrants like Nashville Warbler would cooperate, it was indeed possible.

Passing through Tucson, Cooper’s Hawk finally made an appearance as one flew behind the car along Tanque Verde Drive, but nothing new showed up before we had Burrowing Owl then our first Killdeer upon arrival only 10 minutes behind schedule at Sweetwater. We scanned every edge, scoped every distant puddle, glanced at every grackle and swallow and thoroughly worked the place. Finally, after a full hour there, we saw Bank Swallows and then Lesser Nightawk, our final two of 18 new species from this great birding location.

Looking back, it was the lack water birds that did us in. We did amazingly well with night birds (missing only Barn Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl), migrants were good (we could have lucked into Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, or Nashville Warbler, but got lucky with things like Green-tailed Towhee, MacGillivray’s Warbler, and Swainson’s Thrush). But had the Snowy and Cattle Egrets at Amado been there, the Great Egret at Sweetwater, and then just perhaps a Ring-necked Duck or Gadwall and a couple of sandpipers such as Long-billed Dowitcher and Western Sandpiper, we would have nailed our goal. But 169 wasn’t so shabby, and with such satisfying views of Flammulated Owl and Flame-colored Tanager, and the knowledge that we helped Tucson Audubon Society in its most important fundraiser of the year, we had a fantastic day of birding.

Bird List

1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2 Mallard
3 Blue-winged Teal
4 Northern Shoveler
5 Green-winged Teal
6 Ruddy Duck
7 Wild Turkey
8 Gambel's Quail
9 Montezuma Quail
10 Eared Grebe
11 Neotropic Cormorant
12 Double-crested Cormorant
13 Great Blue Heron
14 Black-crowned Night-Heron
15 White-faced Ibis
16 Black Vulture
17 Turkey Vulture
18 Cooper's Hawk
19 Gray Hawk
20 Harris's Hawk
21 Swainson's Hawk
22 Zone-tailed Hawk
23 Red-tailed Hawk
24 American Kestrel
25 Sora
26 Common Moorhen
27 American Coot
28 Killdeer
29 Black-necked Stilt
30 American Avocet
31 Spotted Sandpiper
32 Least Sandpiper
33 Wilson's Phalarope
34 Rock Pigeon
35 Eurasian Collared-Dove
36 White-winged Dove
37 Mourning Dove
38 Inca Dove
39 Greater Roadrunner
40 Flammulated Owl
41 Western Screech-Owl
42 Whiskered Screech-Owl
43 Great Horned Owl
44 Northern Pygmy-Owl
45 Elf Owl
46 Burrowing Owl
47 Spotted Owl
48 Lesser Nighthawk
49 Common Poorwill
50 Whip-poor-will
51 White-throated Swift
52 Broad-billed Hummingbird
53 Violet-crowned Hummingbird
54 Magnificent Hummingbird
55 Black-chinned Hummingbird
56 Anna's Hummingbird
57 Costa's Hummingbird
58 Broad-tailed Hummingbird
59 Acorn Woodpecker
60 Gila Woodpecker
61 Ladder-backed Woodpecker
62 Hairy Woodpecker
63 Arizona Woodpecker
64 Northern Flicker
65 Gilded Flicker
66 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
67 Western Wood-Pewee
68 Hammond’s Flycatcher
69 Cordilleran Flycatcher
70 Black Phoebe
71 Say's Phoebe
72 Vermilion Flycatcher
73 Dusky-capped Flycatcher
74 Ash-throated Flycatcher
75 Brown-crested Flycatcher
76 Cassin's Kingbird
77 Thick-billed Kingbird
78 Western Kingbird
79 Bell's Vireo
80 Plumbeous Vireo
81 Cassin's Vireo
82 Hutton's Vireo
83 Warbling Vireo
84 Steller's Jay
85 Mexican Jay
86 Chihuahuan Raven
87 Common Raven
88 Violet-green Swallow
89 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
90 Bank Swallow
91 Cliff Swallow
92 Barn Swallow
93 Mountain Chickadee
94 Bridled Titmouse
95 Verdin
96 Bushtit
97 Red-breasted Nuthatch
98 White-breasted Nuthatch
99 Pygmy Nuthatch
100 Brown Creeper
101 Cactus Wren
102 Rock Wren
103 Canyon Wren
104 Bewick's Wren
105 House Wren
106 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
107 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
108 Western Bluebird
109 Swainson's Thrush
110 Hermit Thrush
111 American Robin
112 Northern Mockingbird
113 Curve-billed Thrasher
114 Crissal Thrasher
115 European Starling
116 Cedar Waxwing
117 Phainopepla
118 Olive Warbler
119 Orange-crowned Warbler
120 Lucy's Warbler
121 Yellow Warbler
122 Yellow-rumped Warbler
123 Black-throated Gray Warbler
124 Townsend's Warbler
125 Hermit Warbler
126 Grace's Warbler
127 MacGillivray's Warbler
128 Common Yellowthroat
129 Wilson's Warbler
130 Red-faced Warbler
131 Painted Redstart
132 Yellow-breasted Chat
133 Hepatic Tanager
134 Summer Tanager
135 Western Tanager
136 Flame-colored Tanager
137 Green-tailed Towhee
138 Spotted Towhee
139 Canyon Towhee
140 Abert's Towhee
141 Rufous-winged Sparrow
142 Botteri's Sparrow
143 Rufous-crowned Sparrow
144 Lark Sparrow
145 Black-throated Sparrow
146 Lark Bunting
147 Grasshopper Sparrow
148 Song Sparrow
149 White-crowned Sparrow
150 Yellow-eyed Junco
151 Northern Cardinal
152 Pyrrhuloxia
153 Black-headed Grosbeak
154 Blue Grosbeak
155 Lazuli Bunting
156 Indigo Bunting
157 Red-winged Blackbird
158 Eastern Meadowlark
159 Great-tailed Grackle
160 Bronzed Cowbird
161 Brown-headed Cowbird
162 Hooded Oriole
163 Bullock's Oriole
164 Scott's Oriole
165 House Finch
166 Red Crossbill
167 Pine Siskin
168 Lesser Goldfinch
169 House Sparrow

Northeastern Mexico - Gómez Farías and the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve WINGS Tour

Tamaulipas Pygmy-Owl, a Northeastern Mexico endemic

This was a really short tour – only four full birding days and two travel days – designed specially as a pre-American Birding Association Convention tour. Originally we were to spend two nights at Casa de Piedra in Gómez Farías, giving us 1 1 /2 birding days in the lower elevations. Then we would spend three nights at Rancho Del Cielo, giving us two full days at one of the most peaceful retreats I have ever been to. To make a long story short, just a week and a half before the tour, I found out that Texas Southmost College issued a (stupid, not well-thought-out) travel ban on all students and faculty to Mexico, which prevented us from getting to Rancho del Cielo, since they are the ones who take us up there, open it up, and provide bedding, drink and food. So as a backup plan, we spent all five nights in the town of Gómez Farías. This ended up being rather fortuitous, as it allowed us to see more of the lowland birds as well as travel a bit farther afield to the diverse Ocampo-Tula road.

I should also mention something about the issues that have people worried about travel in Mexico. It's largely hype and not news. There is no upswing in violence away from certain border cities, and that violence is reflected on the U.S. side of the border as well (such as in Phoenix). If you are away from the nasty cities of Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana, almost any place in Mexico is at least as safe as any American city. Furthermore, there was no danger of swine flu anywhere I was in Mexico – there were more cases and more ease of transmission in Tucson schools. I can't say "enough said," as there simply cannot be enough said that will go beyond the reach of American mass media. But I can try.

Our first full day began as promised – a long drive down through the agricultural and scrub flats of northern Tamaulipas with the occasional Crested Caracara and White-tailed Hawk. Sprinkled in were the occasional migrant Mississippi Kite and Chimney Swift, while a pair of Northern Bobwhites and a Harris’s Hawk were slightly less expected. The first sign that things might be changing was a Roadside Hawk several miles north of Ciudad Victoria, after about a 3 hour drive. But then things were really different when we arrived at the Cañon de Novillo, where one can normally get at least a slight taste of the tropics. We were, after all, still 25 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer. But that didn’t seem to matter as one tropical species after another grabbed our attention. Recalling Texas were Green and Brown Jays, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Olive Sparrow, and Audubon’s Oriole. And other species known as vagrants in Texas were also here, such as Elegant Trogon, Rose-throated Becard, Yellow-green Vireo, Fan-tailed, Golden-crowned, and Rufous-capped Warblers, Crimson-collared Grosbeak and Blue Bunting. But what amazing confusion when we saw Squirrel Cuckoo, Blue-crowned Motmot, and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Spot-breasted Wren and Melodious Blackbird! And most astonishing of all was a pair of Great Curassows, only recently noted in this region, where thought to be once extirpated. There were a few migrants of note as well, such as Black-headed Grosbeak, Swainson’s Thrush, and Acadian Flycatcher.

The view in Cañon El Novillo.

We had to tear ourselves away from here, driving only another hour or so to the south before a short stop resulted in our best views of the regional endemic, Green Parakeet, as well as a White-crowned Parrot and our only Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Upon arrival at our hotel in Gómez Farías, we couldn’t wait to start birding. Thicket Tinamous were calling from the woodlands in all directions (but not to be seen yet), while Masked Tityra, Social Flycatcher, Red-billed Pigeon (on a nest), and Yellow-winged Tanagers were right over our hotel grounds. We headed down the road and we found yet another new tropical bird, Black-headed Saltator before having to call it a day.

On our first full morning in the Gómez Farías area didn’t take us far from town, but we didn’t have to go far to have amazing birding. A Blue-crowned Motmot started the day before sunrise as we watched it from the balcony of our hotel. The entire blue crown was visible at such close range. Just up the road we were tantalized by the echoing Thicket Tinamous and a distant Singing Quail, but we eventually had to move on to avoid the construction noise. We learned the visual and vocal differences between Streaked and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, and over the next few days got repeated views of both species. We also saw all of the other “stripe-headed” tyrants – Social, Boat-billed, and Great Kiskadee. Wedge-tailed Sabrewings were usually furtive in the understory but came out agressively to imitations of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. And said imitations almost always resulted in a real Ferruginous Pymgy-Owl appearing – we saw or heard about 20 in our four and a half days. Other highlights on the road towards Alta Cima were a soaring Short-tailed Hawk, flocks of White-crowned Parrots, our first of many views of Spot-breasted Wrens, singing Brown-backed Solitaires (usually higher in the mountains), Yellow-throated Euphonias (which ended up being at almost every birding stop) and a pair of Hooded Grosbeaks, also lower in elevation than usual in the spring. We also had some northbound migrants, the more uncommon ones being Acadian Flycatcher, Western Tanager, Lincoln’s Sparrow (strange to see in the deep forest), and MacGillivray’s Warbler.

One of the big surprises was the near completion of an "Ecological Interpretive Center" at the junction of the Rancho del Cielo Road. It looks like way too much – too big, too expensive. A little kiosk and a parking area would have gone a long way. Now they'll have to find money to maintain and staff it. A disappointing amount of habitat had to be leveled to create this place. And the construction noise while we were there was unbearable. Oh well.

This orchid, Cyrtopodium macrobulbon, was growing along the roadside above the visitor center. Thanks to Brad Boyle and Gerardo Salazar for the names of the orchids.






A closeup of the same orchid.










Muted Hairstreak, Electrostrymon joya, not far from the orchid. Butterflies were not nearly as abundant as in October, but diversity was still good. Without trying I saw 50 species; a concerted effort should have produced some 250-300.

In the afternoon we headed to the lowlands in search for Tamaulipas Crows, finally discovering a notable nesting group in an old railroad bridge in the town of El Limón. But whiled driving the back roads nearby we hads some successful encounters, including great views of Altamira Yellowthroat as well as a male Rose-throated Becard, Hooded Orioles and White-collared Seedeaters. We also netted Ringed, Amazon and Green Kingfishers, and finally coincided with the long-resident pair of Bat Falcons below Gómez.

Altamira Yellowthroat









A highlight in the early evening was the boat trip down the Rio Frio at Bocatoma with single Boat-billed Heron and Sungrebe, both at the northernmost edge of their ranges. We also had our first Muscovy Duck and “Bronze-winged” Golden-olive Woodpecker here.

Views of the Frio River where we saw Sungrebe.













We finished off the day after dinner with a successful search for Mottled Owl which silently flew in to iPod and perched in the open on a power pole.

To make up somewhat for our not being able to get to Rancho del Cielo, we were given special access to the Gorgas Science Foundation property in the the lowlands called El Cielito. A misunderstanding of the directions was fortuitous, as it led to our having scope views of the only Red-crowned Parrots of the trip, perched on top of the Montezuma Bald-cypress over the Rio Sabinas. Once we found our way, the birding at Cielito was great. We started with several Red-lored Parrots, a Green-breasted Mango, and several Masked Tityras. The forest understory trails were our best chance for actually seeing one of the many Thicket Tinamous we had been hearing, and sure enough, one started calling close enough that we backtracked on the trail and had great views of it crossing the trail. Visually, it was as underwhelming as tinamous tend to be, but curiosity was satisfied for those whom this was a new family. Elegant Trogons were especially common here, and we saw both of the large woodpeckers (Pale-billed and Lineated), Smoky-brown Woodpecker, many of the locally breeding and resident Vaux’s Swifts, understory flocks with pairs of Red-throated Ant-Tanagers, and our only Gray-collared Becard of the tour. We came across a swarm of Eciton burchelli army ants covering the forest floor with a number of larger birds taking advantage of the arthropods being flushed from their hiding places. Sticking tight to the swarm was a Great Kiskadee, not normally in the forest understory, while an Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, several Brown and Green Jays, a Squirrel Cuckoo and more Red-throated Ant-Tanagers took advantage of the easy pickings. Other additions here were a heard-only Collared Forest-Falcon and great views of a male Yellow-faced Grassquit on the entrance road.

A view of the Sabinas River at El Cielito.







I surprised myself by finding this roosting Lesser Nighthawk.





The orchid Encyclia parviflora at El Cielito.
















We spent the late afternoon on a higher stretch of the road to Alta Cima, where a flyover of 3 Military Macaws was a great surprise. We found a pair of Rufous-browed Peppershrikes building a nest right over the road, finally got views of secretive White-throated Thrushes and added White-winged and Flame-colored Tanagers among mixed flocks of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Audubon’s Orioles. Crested Guans came out of hiding to feed in fruiting trees only towards the very end of the day.

We spent one entire day on the Ocampo-Tula road, which led us to a great mix of habitats at higher elevation, changing abruptly from wet forest to open oak, to a juniper scrub with giant yuccas. In each area the birds were strikingly different. Getting there very early was a good idea, as White-tipped Doves were wanding out in the open all over the place, including in the middle of the paved road where later many trucks would barrel around the curves. Many Blue Mockingbirds sang from hidden perches, but we eventually had great views of one. Trolling brought out a pair of comical Spotted Wrens, and purposeful whistling resulted in an amazingly close encounter with a Tamaulipas Pygmy-Owl, which was mobbed by Buff-bellied and White-eared Hummingbirds and a Rufous-browed Peppershrike that puffed up to a size that equalled the owl. Most of the other birds we lucked into, such as several Mountain Trogons, both Black-headed and Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrushes, numbers of Crescent-chested Warblers, Gray Silky-flycatchers (building a nest, a rather dense cup in an oak), Azure-crowned and Bumblebee Hummingbirds (in a gorgeous understory of pink locust flowers), a pair of Singing Quail, Greater Pewee, Acorn Woodpecker, Hutton’s Vireo, Olivaceous and Spot-crowned Woodcreepers (completing our woodcreeper list), Long-billed Thrasher, Rufous-capped Brush-Finch, Elegant Euphonia (building a nest), and both Flame-colored and Hepatic Tanagers. A Hermit Thrush was an unexpected rarity (late for a winter bird), and dipping into the drier side of the mountains surprised us with White-eyed Vireos and a very curious Bewick’s Wren. Towards the end of the day we were treated to another flyover of Military Macaws, added Brown-crested Flycatcher in a quick roadside stop in the blazing afternoon heat, and found a Black Phoebe, very scarce in this part of the world.

In the understory of the drier oak forest on the rainshadowed part of the Ocampo-Tula road were masses of this pink-flowering shrub, probably a locust in the genus Robinia.

















A 1 1/2-inch wasp in the family Scoliidae (thanks to Eric Eaton) feeding in the flowers of a Mala-mujer, Cnidoscolus species.







This epiphtyic orchid, Prosthechea cochleata, was growing in the forest on the wetter side of the Ocampo-Tula road.







Dropping down the west side of the range resulted in a very abrupt change in habitat. Here we had White-eyed Vireo and Bewick's Wren, two species completely absent just a few miles to the east.





Our final day presented a challenge, as our earlier success meant that the remaning possible new birds were few and far between. So we tried some target-birding, spending time in some habitats where we hadn’t done much birding yet. The early morning heavy clouds and light showers close to the mountains (a fine example of how the mountains here so drastically effect the climate on a local scale) probably affected migrants that would have passed through unnoticed, such as a Dickcissel, Baltimore Oriole and a Northern Waterthrush close to town. A pair of Grayish Saltators finally showed before we moved on to areas below town. A random stop along the road where there was some activity resulted in a singing Crimson-collared Grosbeak, another pair of Red-throated Ant-Tanagers, and a real prize, a pair of White-bellied Wrens. Dropping down through the agricultural area and forest edge near Ojo de Agua, we scored with our targets of Barred Antshrike and Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, netting our first White-tailed Kite, more Yellow-faced Grassquits, a bevy of Northern Bobwhites, some Least Grebes on the river, Common Ground-Dove and a dark morph Short-tailed Hawk. At La Florida we finally caught up with Olive-throated Parakeet and Scrub Euphonia before another delicious fish lunch at Bocatoma. The afternoon wasn’t as productive, but we did find Blue-gray Tanagers behind the Hotel Mante and then discovered where Northern Mockingbirds and Northern Bobwhite are most common in the Ciudad Mante area. A Greater Roadrunner and seemingly way out-of-place White-sided Jackrabbits were final additions.

White-crescent Mottled-Skipper, Codatractus alcaeus, near Ojo de Agua.








A Five-striped Leaftail (Phyllogomphoides albrighti) near Ojo de Agua. Thanks to Bob Behrstock for the name.







The last day’s drive back to the U.S. was far from birdless, with fourty-four species seen on the fly, including a small group of Varied Buntings flushed from the roadside that we had to drive back for. A Loggerhead Shrike also prompted a quick retreat for a confirmation, becoming our 206th species on this venture into the fascinating American tropics.

Tecolutla, Mexico

April 17-20 found me birding on the coast of north-central Veracruz state, Mexico. Flying to the small city of Poza Rica via Mexico City, I rented a car and drove about a hour eastward and discovered that this tiny coastal resort village is a booming metropolis during Semana Santa, the week following Easter. No worries – the birding I intend on doing will take me outside the town.

I've been asked to guide a client here for 2 days, and since I've never been here, I came down two days early to find areas of accessible habitat. The area is mentioned in Steve Howell's birdfinding guide to Mexico, but birders have found that the habitats closest to town aren't as good any more.

Using Google Earth, I was able to discover some new birding areas nearby, and by talking to many ranchers gained access to land that had never been birded before.

My client's target birds included several found in wet cattail and grass marsh, such as Yellow-breasted Crake and King Rail. Unfortuantely almost everywhere the marsh was dry. Channels had been dug to drain much of the marsh to create areas where cattle could graze, and almost everywhere one could walk right up to impenetrable cattails without getting wet feet.

We did manage to get some good birds, such as Sedge Wren, Swamp Sparrow, and Upland Sandpiper, and with the many migrants and tropical residents I tallied a total of 206 species in four days. In the meantime, I managed to take a few photos of the habitat, critters, and flowers.

Veined Tree Frog, Phrynohyas venulosa.







An unknown bush or small tree in the Mimosaceae family.









A band-winged grasshopper that found safety in open sand through camouflage.







I drove through the Rancho La Isla de Santa Maria.






The road eventually dumped me out on the beach 10 kilometers north of Tecolutla in the middle of a coconut plantation.




I then drove south on a road that paralelled the beach and found some nice shorebird spots.





Snowy Plover








Near town is this raised dike that still had some wet marsh on both sides; this is where we finally caught up with Altamira Yellowthroat.







Another private ranch called El Cacahuatal gave me permission to bird this fantastic marsh that was teeming with shorebirds, including American Golden-Plover, lots of yellowlegs, Pectoral, Stilt, and Least Sandpipers, White-faced Ibis, and many herons and egrets.

American Golden-Plover









A swamplily in the genus Crinum.










Snow-on-the-mountain, Euphorbia marginata









Rose-bellied Lizard, Sceloporus variabilis. Rarely can you see the belly so well.








Ladder-backed Woodpecker










Northern Jacana










Keeled Earless-Lizard, Holbrookia propinqua






Gentian species










Cardinal Coral-bean, Erythrina herbacea









Bullhorn Acacia, Acacia cornigera. This plant is well known for the Pseudomyrmex ants that live in the hollow spines and protect the plant from grazers and caterpillars. They also kill seedlings of plants around the base that might compete.











American Crocodile