August 8th – 15th, 2013
Besides being climatically comfortable for all but the very last day, the Northwest Mexico tour is possibly one of the most
scenically impressive tours that we run! There is something about passing through mile after mile of lush green meadows under crystal clear blue skies, spending a couple of days in a fir forest that looks more like coastal Oregon, and seeing a 1000 foot waterfall in full flood that really helps make a birding tour! This is certainly our most remote tour as well! A great treat to get to go to places where tourists are appreciated for being a novelty and happy that we came to enjoy their beautiful home!
The tour started out with a nicely broken up drive from Tucson through southern Arizona to the central plateau of Mexico and the small city of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Along the way, we made stops that got us looks at some of the usual grassland and riparian species one would expect, and uncommon views of a Mississippi Kite that flew over my friends Jim and Patty’s house in St. David. On the outskirts of Casas Grandes we birded the Laguna Fierro reservoir, often a trap for vagrant water birds, which unfortunately were not around this time. However, we had both Clarke’s and Western Grebe that made for a neat comparison, and while I am thinking about it… does anyone have photos of that Dowitcher that we saw? I said I thought it was a Short-billed, but that would be a first record for Chihuahua, so it would be good to have some documentation! The other one that got away was certainly the tern that David picked up WAY across the lake, it was big and most likely a Caspian which is also not recorded for Chihuahua. Once again, it is too hard to say for sure what it was.
The second day we made one stop at Laguna Fierro and found a few items but we were on to bigger fish in the highlands. Along the way to lunch we drove through miles of beautiful mountain valleys and stopped in the junipers where we got looks a Mexican Chickadees and a host of other pinyon-juniper birds. We had a picnic lunch at Cuarenta Casas and took a walk in the rather quite forest before heading on to the mountain town of Madera for the night dreaming of parrots and quetzals!
The following morning we met our local contact, Saul Torres, as well as my friends Rosanne Rowlett and Richard Webster, who came along just for the day. We drove one hour out of town to the our first stop at the mouth of the canyon where, historically, I have had good luck finding Eared Quetzals. We were not denied! After a short walk up an incredibly wet trail (which would more accurately be called a creek!) and nearly in the same spot that I had seen them the previous year, Saul heard the call of a quetzal from behind us! With just a bit of coaxing, the bird came in and hung around for a few marginal photos and some great vocalizations.
Then, it was up the hill where we spent the rest of the afternoon communing with the Thick-billed Parrots…not a bad way to pass an afternoon! We also got stunning looks at a pair of Russet-Nightingale Thrushes and very cooperative Olive and Red-faced Warblers.
We left Madera for Basaseachic early, making a couple of fun stops along the way. At a small lake just off the road, we were circled and harassed by a funny Greater Roadrunner and found a Scrub Jay, a member of an isolated interior group known as Grisea. Maybe the most memorable stop of the day came after scanning miles of meadows looking for proper habitat that might be home to the endemic Striped Sparrow! After a few non-productive stops, we came across one that looked really good. I played some Ipod hoping to draw some interest, but it did not seem to be working…that is until Ted asked me to look in his scope at a bird he was not sure of. Yee HAAA! It was a Striped Sparrow and it was looking our way! After rather far off scope views by everyone we decided to cross the fence and go for a better look and photos which, without too much trouble, we all got!
We enjoyed a lunch as the waterfall with a cast of thousands! The last weekend before school started had a lot of people out
enjoying the cool mountain weather! We birded around the falls in the afternoon and went owling close by after dinner and had excellent success with a Whiskered Screech Owl.
Had we not seen one in Madera two days before, the Eared Quetzal that came into the front yard of the hotel would have certainly been the bird of the day. Ted and David heard it calling as they were leaving the restaurant after breakfast!
We spent the rest of the morning hiking from the main parking lot to the point where the river drops the 1000 feet into the canyon below…it is an impressive sight! Along the trail, we had looks at Rufous-capped Brush-finch and dipped on the Dipper! Everyone made it as far as the last viewing spot of the falls on a steep downhill trail that is by no means easy! I was very impressed! Ted, David Pauline and I continued to the bottom hoping that lightening would strike twice and we might find the Hooded Grosbeaks that I had two years before. No luck this time, but we did have great looks at the falls and birds such as Brown-backed Solitaire, Slate-throated Redstart, Canyon Wren, Black Swift, Flame-colored Tanager, Rufous-capped and Crescent-chested Warbler!
After lunch back at the ranch, we were off to the west and the town of Yecora, Sonora. A few stops along the way got us looks at the usual Sierra Madre birds and at our last stop before Yecora a whole bunch of trip birds including Gray-silky Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Woodpecker, White-striped Woodcreeper, Greater Pewee and a Mountain Pygmy Owl! Soon we were on our way to Yecora and our first night at the Motel King where we fought over light bulbs and then enjoyed dinner at Octavio’s!
It was a beautiful morning that started out at the sewage ponds where we didn’t see too much. However, the couple of stops that we made headed up to Mesa Campanero were pretty good. More looks at White-striped Woodcreeper, another Pygmy Owl, a family of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers and a couple of Mountain Trogons. Higher up, we finally saw a Tufted Flycatcher and our first and only Zone-tailed hawk of the tour. Unfortunately, the birding on the Mesa was pretty slow so immediately after lunch we drove down the hill to the famous ‘Barranca’, under ever increasingly threatening skies. The Barranca was good even with the clouds and we found a few birds…Allen’s Hummingbird, Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush, White-throated Robin, Blue Mockingbird, Spotted Wrens and Rufous-crowned Sparrow and a surprise look at a Black-vented Oriole which made David very happy! Unfortunately, all of us could only mark “heard” in the Military Macaw column on the list. I had a distant
view of a pair flying towards the cliff face. Soon the rain hit and it became obvious that it would continue for the rest of the day, so back to town for dinner we went.
On our last morning in the mountains, we made one last long stop at the Barranca where we saw most all of the birds from the previous afternoon and added Western Wood Pewee. After we began our drop in elevation, things started to get really good! As we came down the hill, I had my window down and heard the call of an Elegant Quail along the road. Fortunately, there was an easy pullout and with some effort we eventually located the bird perched up in a very dense tree. Fortunately, a little farther down the hill we saw four more quail right on the edge of the road and had great views! Our first stop after the military checkpoint was at the Rio San Nicolas bridge. It was full of birds! Everything from Green Kingfishers to Varied Buntings to Black-throated Magpie Jays. Others included Five-striped Sparrow, Sinaloa Wren, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Thick-billed Kingbird and Rose-throated Becard!
The next stop was a Virgin Rock and it turned out to be a miracle spot! Once we were all out of the van and enjoying the new found heat, I put on a bit of Colima Pygmy Owl tape. We never got an owl, but man did it bring in the birds! Immediately, we had a HUGE flock of Yellow-green Vireos (at least 30 of them) along with a couple of Tropical Parulas and some Warbling Vireos. But the big surprise came while I was following a group of Yellow-green Vireos that had flown across the road when I stumbled upon a Fan-tailed Warbler! Eventually, we found two of them and everyone got on them…wonderful!
Next was lunch under the Yaqui River bridge (Billy Goats Gruff-style) where the birding was slow except for the Cliff Swallows.
The heat was now fully on us and we used that as a great excuse to drive a most of the way to Hermosillo. One roadside stop produced fantastic looks at a very curious Yellow-billed Cuckoo and our stop at the bridge over Rio San Jose del Pima produced great sweaty looks at Varied, Painted and Lazuli Buntings!
We had a nice farewell dinner in Hermosillo where we were joined by my lovely wife, Jennifer…although she got there a bit later than dinner!
The last day found us searching for desert birds…a bit of a downer after a week of fantastic stuff in the mountains, but we still had fun! We had great looks at Bendire’s Thrashers, Cactus Wrens, Lesser Nighthawk and Crested Caracara!
The border crossing was a breeze and we were back in the USA. It was a super tour! Thanks to all of you for being so much fun and enjoying Mexico to the fullest. I hope to see you all back here again in the near future!
Basaseachi falls
Thick-billed Parrots at Cinco Millas
Finally a Striped Sparrow!
A curious Berylline Hummingbird
White-striped Woodcreeper
Bendire's Thrasher