Alamos Mexico

What a trip! It was perfect weather (low to mid 70s) the entire trip. Dave MacKay picked us all up in Sun City in his 15 passenger van and off we went heading for Alamos, Mecixo 580 miles away. The birders were Eleanore Campbell, Marshall Esty, Shirley Fackelman, Darlene Gatto, Gerry Horton, Chuck Kangas, Vera Markham, Barbara Meding and George Wall.

I might mention that this was a special trip that I (George Wall) put together. It was limited to nine people and was composed of Sonoran Audubon Society and Birders' Anonymous members. It was not advertised because as soon as I said I was putting this trip together, I had nine people plus a wiating list all by word of mouth. This was not surprising since Dave MacKay is a professional birder who has his own company called Solipaso and who has guided and still guides for many big time organizations like Field Guides. His wife Jennifer is also famous for her cooking and catering to large groups. Who could ask for anything more?

On Sunday the first day, we birded the Nogales River north of Magdalena and a vineyard area north of Hermosillo. We saw or heard 33 species that included good looks at Bend ire's Thrasher. We stopped for the night in Hermosillo at an extremely nice hotel called the Fiesta Inn.

The next morning we headed out to Alamos birding along the way. We birded Empalme Bay, the Gravel Pit near Obregon and the Rio Mayo Bridge in Navahoa before arriving in Alamos in the late afternoon. During this stretch of our trip, we saw or heard 88 species. Some of the better birds seen were the Tri-colored Heron, White Ibis, Northern Macana, and American Oyster Catcher. After being assigned our rooms, several of us had a glass of wine before going to dinner at the El Mirador Restaurant which overloooked Alamos. The food was first rate.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we birded the Cuchiuaqui River bed, the Sewage Ponds (Aguas Negras), El Pedregla, Cuchujaqui Bridge crossing, La Aduana and a few more small areas. On Tuesday, we saw or heard 63 species with the best birds being the Great Black Hawk, Elegant Quail, Black-throated Magpie Jay and the White-fronted Parrot. On Wednesday, we saw or heard 65 species with the best birds being the Rufous-bellied Chachalaca, Plain-capped Start-throat (a hummer) and the Rose-throated Becared. On Thursday, we saw or heard 67 species with the best ones being the Sinaloa Wren, Happy Wren and the Brown-backed Solitaire. After a great dinner, we packed up for our trip back.

On Friday morning, we started back and birded along the way. We again birded the bridge in Navahoa where we picked up a few more birds we had missed previously. The treat of the trip though was the Isla Huivilai (an island with a long causeway leading to it) which had thousands of birds along the shores. Altogether on this day, we saw or heard 114 species. The best birds were the Bleufooted Booby, Magnificent Frigatebird and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. We spent the night at a very nice resort hotel called the La Fiesta Real in San Carlos.

The next day we drove almost straight through to Phoenix arriving in Sun City at around 8 p.m.

Altogether on the trip, we saw or heard 197 speices of birds and they were Common Loon, Eared Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Blue-footed Booby, Brown Pelican, White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Neotropic Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant, Magnificent Frigatebird, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Tri-colored Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Roseate Spoonbill, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Brant, Gadwall, Wood Wood Duck, Mallard (Mexican Duck), Cinnamon Teal, American Widgeon, Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Crane Hawk, Grey Hawk, Common Black Hawk, Great Black Hawk, Harris’s Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon (saw him hit a dove in the sky), Rufous-bellied Chachalaca, Elegant Quail, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oyster Catcher, Northern Jacana, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-footed Gull, Gull Billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Forster’s Tern, Black Skimmer, Red-billed Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, White-tipped Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Inca Dove, Eurasian-collared Dove, White-fronted Parrot, Squirrel Cuckoo, Roadrunner (h), Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (close-up looks), Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Plain-capped Star-throat, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Russet-crowned Motmot (h) – this was one of our target birds but we only heard it several times, Elegant Trogan, Belted Kingfisher, Gila Woodpecker, Lad-der-backed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Gilded Flicker, Northern-beardless Tyrannulet, Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Vermillion Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Nutting’s Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Cassin’s Kingbird, Thick-billed Kingbird, Rose-throated Becard, Loggerhead Shrike, Plumbeous Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Black-throated Magpie Jay, Purplish-backed Jay, Common Raven, Sinaloa Crow, Tree Swallow, Mangrove Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Rock Wren, Canyon Wren (h), Sinaloa Wren, Happy Wren, Bewick’s Wren, “Northern” House Wren, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Townsend’s Solitaire (h), Brown-backed Solitaire, Rufous-backed Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Bendire’s Thrasher, Curve-billed Thrasher, Blue Mockingbird (h), European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Phainopepla, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Lucy’s Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Hepatic Tanager, Summer Tanager, Western Tanager (h), Green-tailed Towhee, Canyon Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Varied Bunting, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadow Lark, Brewer’s Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Bronzed Cowbird, Black-vented Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Streak-backed Oriole, Bullock’s Oriole, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.