Yecora and Alamos, Sonora
April 14-22, 2012
Day 1: April 14th- We woke up to cold and rainy weather in Tucson, a welcome sight after months of dryness! I could only hope the same
was happening in Alamos but unfortunately that was not to be the case. Once out on the road it became quite obvious that the wind was going to be a factor with the birding today and it might not be a good thing. It was mostly a travel day and I would much rather have the wind blow itself out today in hopes of better weather tomorrow! The border was exceptionally easy to cross today and we had the nicest immigration guy I think I have ever had! He seemed to be more connected to the tourism department than immigration! What a nice way to enter Mexico! It makes such a difference and it is so easy to make happen! Officials from both sides of the border should go through some sort of ‘niceness training’ and this guy probably could teach it!
We made a couple of short stops of the way to Arizpe at different crossings of the Rio Sonora. I was surprised at how much water was still there considering the lack of rain. Notable birds were American Pipit, lots of Vermillion Flycatchers and what must have been migrating flocks of Common Yellowthroats which were pretty much the most common bird at every stop!
We got to Arizpe to find Ramon’s ‘Open’ sign in the windows of Restaurant El Rodeo, but the door was locked and no one was around. Even the dogs seemed glad to see us. Although there is another option for lunch down the road, El Rodeo is far better. Fortunately, we decided to go ahead and visit the church and plaza in town which was cool. But the best part was that when we returned to the restaurant, the door was open and Ramon was there and very happy to see us! He made us come into the kitchen and see what he was cooking up…a beautiful red chili with beans and salad. It looked and smelled wonderful, and it was! We all munched it down with vigor. One great thing about Ramon’s restaurant is that he plays fantastic music on his boom box. Today it was Orchestra Otoño from Mapatachi and Hermosillo, Sonora…beautiful Mexican music from the old days.
After lunch, our big birding stop was at the Aconchi hot springs about an hour south of Arizpe. Arriving, I asked the woman taking money at the gate if there were a lot of people at the upper pools, as this was technically the last day of Semana Santa and the only time in Mexico that everyone in the country goes to places where this is water to get into. I was surprised when she said no. Well to her credit I’m sure there were far less people at the tubs on this day tan there were over the past two weeks of Easter, but there were still a lot of people up there. Fortunately, it appeared that the birds had become well accustomed to all the activity and we managed to still get some good birds. Nice looks at Nutting’s Flycatchers and a Canyon Wren were highlights. Afterwards, we were out in the parking area where we had an invasion of Verdins and our first McGillivray’s Warbler of the tour.
We spent the evening in the teaming metropolis of Hermosillo at the very nice Holiday inn, where a cold beer and a light dinner was all we needed after a long day on the road.
Day 2: April 15th – I set up a nice, quick breakfast in my room before we hit the desert habitat just west of the cement plant east of Hermosillo.
We did pretty good with Cactus Wrens, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Clay-colored Sparrow and a very retiring Gray Vireo which was uncharacteristically shy.
Next stop was the San Jose del Pima arroyo and a bit of riparian birding that included Western Flycatcher, Varied Bunting, a Bell’s Vireo that would not show itself and the usual flycatchers, but already the heat of the day was upon us and bird activity was diminishing. We had fun digging out some extra food to hand over to a pair of very nice stray dogs that were at the parking area. I recognized them from the fall trip, although there were four of them then. Fortunately they looked pretty good; apparently someone had been feeding them a bit.
Last chance for gas is at the junction with the road to Tecoripa. I actually needed gas pretty bad and there was no way I would be able to get to Yecora with what I had. As luck would have it, this being Sunday, all the rancho guys were at the gas station getting their fuel for the week, which means filling up multiple 55 gallon barrels that they can transport out to remote locations! Fortunately, I picked the better line to get in and the guy in front of me only needed to fill one 55 gallon barrel, so the stop didn’t last that long! Next stop was at the big bridge that crossed the Rio Yaqui where I set up a nice lunch along the bank of the river and in the shade of the bridge. Here we got our first Osprey of the tour and were entertained by a beautiful male Red-napped Sapsucker in a willow tree.
We made a number of post lunch stops at various habitats including the big fig tree where we spent some time chasing around a very elusive
Sinaloa Wren. The better stop was just before we go to the military check point where these is a medium deep canyon with some aspen trees, just south of San Nicolas. Here we got a few good looks at Black-throated Magpie Jay, always a crowd pleaser!
As we approached Yecora, I made the obligatory afternoon stop at the ‘Barranca’ just to see what we could check off the list. Just as we got out of the van, I saw two Rusty Sparrows foraging around in the dust in front of the van with a Lincoln Sparrow, and we heard the unpleasant calls of a very wayward Black-vented Oriole that was quite far north and rather high up in elevation! We got only a fly-over look at him as he went up slope even farther! We nailed down the favorite perch of a beautiful Tufted Flycatcher for protracted scope views. Then came the family of playful and numerous Spotted Wrens that gave us a fantastic show that lasted so long that we ended up walking away from them! With the wrens came a pair of Rufous-capped Warblers that also gave us some good looks. Later, a Blue Mockingbird teased us with some vocals, but never gave us a look.
After a long day of birding a exploring we were ready to end the day at the Hotel King and a special dinner at Octavio’s! He was actually closed tonight, but I guess years of being a good customer was all it took for him to open up and serve us a wonderful bistec ranchero with veggies, beans and rice.
Day 3: April 16th – A 5:30 a.m. breakfast in my room got us out the door and birding in no time! First, we were off to the ponds on the east side of town. There were hundreds of Lark Sparrows in the willow scrub along with a couple of American Robins with a pair of wonderful Bullocks Orioles. Then, a Peregrine or two came through and got the Mexican Mallards up and out of there! The area was super birdy and also had a fair share of puppies that were living in a small shack near the community center.
We made a couple of stops on the uphill climb towards Mesa de Campanero, It was slow birding at nearly every stop, maybe due to the dryness, but we managed to pull out a few things. Everything seemed really dry and the amount of spring song was minimal compared to other years. The new power line up to the microwave tower destroyed a good chunk of habitat on the cobblestone road, but we still managed to run into an amazing mixed species flock of warblers led by nearly a dozen Hermit Warblers. We were well entertained for quite some time by this ever growing flock of warblers!
We put out a wonderful picnic lunch on top of Mesa Campanero, the highest point in Sonora, and then did a nice walk in the forest that included great looks at Short-tailed Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk and a very cooperative Mountain Trogon! Afterwards we headed back down the hill and back over to the ‘Barranca’. I have to say that the birding was as slow as it gets at the so-called ‘glory hole’, but we still managed to pull out a few new birds. Some of them were Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Flame-colored Tanager, Merlin and White-throated Swift.
Tonight Octavio outdid himself with a nice chicken soup and then plates of enchiladas with all the trimmings! A couple bottles of nice wine
were a nice way to end the evening.
Day 4: April 17th – This morning we made one last check of the ponds before hightailing it up the mountain for one last meeting at the ‘glory hole’! On the way, we stopped for a nice look at a Mountain Pygmy Owl at the small Mexican cypress forest near the pass. The glory hole was not exceptional this morning but it did reveal some of its finest residents! The Gray-collared Becard had to be the highlight as it posed for us for several minutes for photos!
I decided to take the back road to Santa Rosa which is always a bit arduous but always a lot nicer, and birdier than the crappy, potholed highway that forces you to visit with the military. Just outside of Santa Rosa, we got our prize for bumping along for an hour. I saw a pair of Lesser Roadrunners jump quickly off the road and head for the brush. I quickly put on some tape and in a few minutes they came cautiously back out to the edge of the road. Soon we had them posing for us in the middle of the road and calling back to us! We ended up stopping for a hurry up lunch just on the side of the road and were treated to a nice Plumbeous Vireo sharing the same shade tree with us.
After lunch we made stops at Barranca Hondo and found the resident Black-hawk, the first of the trip. Then made one last stop at the outflow of Presa Oviachi just outside of Obregon, which was slow for birds in the heat of the afternoon.
Our last stop of the day was at El Pedregal where Jen had a wonderful stuffed chicken breast dinner waiting for us! It is always such a treat to arrive at El Pedregal!
Day 5: April 18th – Before this tour, I had been birding the Aduana arroyo on my own more than I had been earlier in the year and decided to go for it on our first morning in Alamos. It turned out to be a fantastic decision! We started out with a couple of stops in the lower portion of the arroyo closer to the highway. Here, we were strafed by a male Elegant Quail who was not happy at all with the vocal completion he was getting from my Ipod! He literally headed right for us and buzzed the tops of our heads! Just before the town of Aduana, we stopped at the gray water puddle and were treated to Blue Grosbeak, Rufous-backed Robin and great looks at Plain-capped Starthroats and lots of Lark Sparrows.
Arriving at the parking spot where we begin the hike, we were greeted by two calling Russet-crowned Motmots, a bird that had been hard to find all over Alamos during the winter. A great start to the hike!
The upper portion of the arroyo was simply amazing! We had Berylline Hummingbirds, Five-striped Sparrow, Rufous-capped Warblers, Elegant Trogon, Yellow Grosbeak and surprisingly a Lilac-crowned Parrot in the fig tree above us! We also caught up with a very cooperative Blue Mockingbird that posed for photos this time! After a very successful morning, we headed back to El Pedregal for a nice lunch in the palapa, followed by a welcome siesta!
The afternoon trip was out to the Cuchujaqui River bridge crossing where I was hoping to see a Crane Hawk. This was not to be, and in general the heat kept the activity low. However, we did manage to call in a pair of Green Kingfishers with the Ipod…something I had never done before!
This evening we went up to the Mirador Restaurant for a delicious Mexican buffet and we dined outside, enjoying the warm breeze, a beautiful
view and good company!
Day 6: April 19th – No birding trip to Alamos is complete without a visit to the local sewage ponds. It is typically one of the birdiest areas around and this morning was no different. Today, we got even better looks at Elegant Trogon and Rufous-bellied Chachalaca. The big prize of the morning was the late arrival of a nice flock of Purplish-backed Jays; we got good views of both adults and juveniles. After another very birdy morning in the field, we headed back to El Pedregal for another great lunch and siesta!
This afternoon we opted for what turned out to be more of a nice walk in a beautiful canyon than a real bird fest. The Agua Marina drainage is one place where you can find some very large tropical deciduous trees in relatively intact habitat. It is also a great place for woodpeckers and creepers on some days, but this was not one of them. This evening, Jen whipped up a tasty chicken fajita feast!
Day 7: April 20th– We got out of the Pedregal a bit earlier this morning to make the 30 minute drive to the Mentidero arroyo, the largest drainage that comes off of the Sierra de Alamos. We ended up driving all the way down the arroyo Mentidero to the confluence with the Cuchujaqui River, which still had some good pools of water in it. The walk down to the fig trees got us more good looks at Plain-capped Starthroats and
really good views of a cooperative male Summer Tanager in a cypress tree. There were still a couple of Spotted Sandpipers around and we were treated to very good views of Green Kingfishers again. As we got close to the fig trees, we needed to cross the arroyo…just as we started, there was a burst of movement in front of us and a big flock of woodstorks took off in front of us! I counted 22 of them after I came to my senses and realized what was looking at…a very good sighting indeed!
We got back to town early and found time to do a little town tour while birding was slow and did a little trip through my parent’s old colonial house and we tried to do a bit of shopping! For a change of pace, we had lunch at our friend’s restaurant, Teresita’s Bistro and Panaderia.
After a siesta, this afternoon, a few of us id one more hike up the Aduana arroyo hoping to find a Colima Pygmy Owl so that we could say that we had seen all three possible pygmy owls in Sonora. Well, we worked hard and it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. But, just as we were about to call it a day, I heard the distinct, yet distant call of a Lineated Woodpecker. He never called again, but eventually I scanned the hillside long enough to find him working away on an old dead tree! An awesome bird to see this far north and a great way to end the day! Marty had decided to stay in town and walk around and enjoy some time exploring on her own. We reunited back at El Pedregal for another good dinner…tonight it was a carrot ginger soup, pork tenderloin with potatoes au gratin and haricot verts. A nice change of pace from Mexican fare!
Day 8: April 21st– It is always a bit difficult to pull out of Alamos after being at El Pedregal for a few days…I was getting used to being home for
a while! The good news is that this day of the trip is typically the one where we see a lot of birds, indeed the most birds! Today proved to be no different! We started out with one last trip to Aduana and a visit to the big puddle on the entrance to town. I don’t think we had any new birds there, but we got more looks at a lot of things. Then it was on to Navojoa and the ever dryer lagoons that are part of the Rio Mayo drainage. Birding was pretty good with better looks at Sinaloa Wren and we got our first and only look at Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
On the drive through the agricultural fields to the sea, we found a small flock of Least Grebes in a roadside ditch. Arriving at the causeway we got our first looks at the thousands of water birds while being escorted along by two Lesser Nighthawks. At Huivulai, we had a bay side lunch and watched the Mangrove Swallows and Least Terns patrol the edges of the water. During lunch, a very curious Large-billed Savannah Sparrow spent time under the van picking up wind-blown potato chips, as Gull-billed Terns picked unsuspecting crabs off the mudflats. On the drive out, I made one last pass along the big irrigation canal hoping that the Burrowing Owls would now be there. Indeed, they were and posed nicely for photos.
We made one last stop in Empalme and the fishing docks where we added Yellow-footed, Heerman’s and Laughing Gull to our list. Our last dinner of the trip was at La Palapa in San Carlos, where we enjoyed a seaside dinner and some pretty good music!
Day 9: April 22nd – After a noisy night at the Hotel Playa de Cortez, we headed out for some morning birding and got a new bird right in the parking lot - a Tropical Kingbird. We then made a quick stop at the OXXO (which is Mayan for Circle K) for a cup of coffee and a banana, before heading over to Estero el Soldado for a bit of ‘desert meets the sea’ birding. Thank goodness the sea was there, because the desert wasn’t giving up too much this morning, except for a Gray Vireo and a Rufous Hummingbird. We made one stop to scan some rocks on the way and got distant views of Blue-footed Booby and a large raft of Eared Grebes. Once at the estuary, we again had good looks at Mangrove Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Elegant Tern, and a chorus emerged out of the mangrove from a number of Clapper Rails that were not interested I coming out. Finally, we called an end to the birding on the tour and headed over to the Fiesta Hotel for brunch and a final bird list.
The drive north was uneventful, save for the stop at 21 km to pick up Jen, who had driven up separately in our old Isuzu Trooper to cancel the car permit and pass it off to our mechanic! Boy, that was an easy goodbye, what relief to get rid of that old car! We drove through downtown Nogales and had a short wait at the border. In Arizona, Marty shared with us several of the good birding spots around where she lives in Tubac. In Tucson, we said our goodbyes! Thanks to all for a wonderful 9 days in Sonora!
More Photos area at this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdgeek/sets/72157629941529805/
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Restaurant "El Rodeo"
We did pretty good with Cactus Wrens, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Clay-colored Sparrow and a very retiring Gray Vireo which was uncharacteristically shy.
Next stop was the San Jose del Pima arroyo and a bit of riparian birding that included Western Flycatcher, Varied Bunting, a Bell’s Vireo that would not show itself and the usual flycatchers, but already the heat of the day was upon us and bird activity was diminishing. We had fun digging out some extra food to hand over to a pair of very nice stray dogs that were at the parking area. I recognized them from the fall trip, although there were four of them then. Fortunately they looked pretty good; apparently someone had been feeding them a bit.
Last chance for gas is at the junction with the road to Tecoripa. I actually needed gas pretty bad and there was no way I would be able to get to Yecora with what I had. As luck would have it, this being Sunday, all the rancho guys were at the gas station getting their fuel for the week, which means filling up multiple 55 gallon barrels that they can transport out to remote locations! Fortunately, I picked the better line to get in and the guy in front of me only needed to fill one 55 gallon barrel, so the stop didn’t last that long! Next stop was at the big bridge that crossed the Rio Yaqui where I set up a nice lunch along the bank of the river and in the shade of the bridge. Here we got our first Osprey of the tour and were entertained by a beautiful male Red-napped Sapsucker in a willow tree.
We made a number of post lunch stops at various habitats including the big fig tree where we spent some time chasing around a very elusive
Lesser Roadrunner too!
Mountain Trogon
Gray-collared Becard
Lilac-crowned Parrot
Nice look at an ELegant Quail
22 Woodstorks at the Mentidero
Mangrove Warbler
Large-billed Savannah Sparrow