Saturday, June 7, 2014

San Carlos, Sonora, MX Day 3

I could get used to seeing this every morning!

Mt. Tetakawi
The first bird I heard that morning on day 3 was a Tropical Kingbird.  It was hanging out by the pool.

Tirano Tropical - Tropical Kingbird
But the resident Great Kiskadee was not to be out done.



Luis Grande - Great Kiskadee
A nice male Hooded Oriole put in his two cents.

Bolsero Enmascarado - Hooded Oriole
Add to that more Yellow Warblers and I was seeing yellow!


Chipe Amarillo - Yellow "Mangrove" Warbler
This was the only Royal Tern that I saw in breeding plumage with a complete black head.

Charran Real - Royal Tern
A Snowy Egret stalked the shallows nearby.  It's Spanish name translates to "Golden-toed Egret".


Garza de Dedos Dorados - Snowy Egret
I had seen a few Reddish Egrets fly by the condo, but never got a decent shot of them.  Here is a distant shot of one from the estuary that morning.

Garza Rojiza - Reddish Egret
I still had not refound a White Ibis from the first day or my most wanted bird, a Roseate Spoonbill.  So in the afternoon I decided to check a different section of the estuary to the north.  Right away I found a winter-type Forster's Tern and an oystercatcher.  Then far off in the distance I saw some pink!

Espatula Rosada - Roseate Spoonbill
I had to almost stand in the mud to get the angle needed to see this bird but it was worth it to see this lifer.  I was grateful for my newer 10x binoculars.  Interestingly it's being photo-bombed by a Great Egret and I believe a plover.  While looking at it I also discovered a Clapper Rail, something I didn't expect to see there.

I also had what I thought was another Forster's Tern with more black on the head fly by, so I took one shot of it.  When I looked back towards the spoonbill, it was gone, so the tern was quickly forgotten in my attempt to relocate the spoonbill.  I wish I would have paid more attention to it because after checking the photos later I noticed black legs and a black bill, so I'm wondering if this was a Common Tern?  The bill looks too thin to me for Gull-billed Tern and I'm leaning towards Common, but I have limited experience with these smaller terns.

unknown tern
Any thoughts on this bird?



No comments:

Post a Comment