Post by ed on May 26, 2024 19:01:19 GMT -8
We've been looking forward to spending time in Baja Mexico and finally took our Baja trip this year. We camped the entire time and most beaches are open for camping, the cost ranges from $0-$30C /day. We left home Feb 15 to return home May 15. Leaving in winter was nice but it seems as though we've returned to winter! The daylight is much longer here though. The beaches, the water, the kayaking, the rocky inlets, the people, the food and the laid back vibe all conspire to make it a great place to go....it's rustic though no luxury the way we did it. We did not reserve any campsites except once for a week when we went on a 5 day guided kayak trip and we would have to leave our car and 15' fiberglass trailer in a secure location. For us this was a sabbatical from the pressures and obligations of regular life. We are home now and a few changes are in order, so to live better. This is why travel is beneficial because sometimes we need to stand back and take a look into our lives from a different vantage so we see things we couldn't see from within. I realize not everyone can travel...for a variety of reasons, and that makes me even more grateful that we can and want to do this...Oh...this is a birding site 
Baja birding is fun just like anywhere new. New environments, new birds. You get to observe and enjoy even familiar birds such as our western warblers and sparrows on migration in a new habitat with new or altered behaviors. And then the resident birds, like weird light colored very reddish birds with unfamiliar sounds turn into Song Sparrows. I've been to Mainland Mexico once and with a small bit of birding on the east (Caribbean) side I know you would find more variety and more exotic birds in the mix there, perhaps more Central-South American species than you would find in Baja. So Baja birding is more limited in scope(no pun intended) and the birds you find there can for the most part be found somewhere in the US or Canada. This wasn't a birding trip and the birding was casual and more incidental than intentional. So now for the fun part.
My Stats:
255 species in Mexico all time
182 species in Mexico this trip
146 new species for Mexico
7 life birds (3 endemics)
Lets just go directly to the lifers.
Xantus's Hummingbird (Endemic to Baja)
-One hung around Gibsons BC for almost a year several decades ago. Easy to find in Baja.
Yellow-footed Gull
-They can be found at Salton Sea (USA 0 in the right season. I missed that one several years ago.
Elegant Tern
-A good description for most terns.
Blue-footed Booby
-Among my favorites. They dive, accelerating faster then gravity from heights of 50m or even higher, beautiful to watch.
Neotropic Cormorant
-Seen before but not reported on E-bird
Gray Thrasher (endemic)
-They were somewhat confiding...hopped as close to a meter from me when I sat still. Saw many, easy to find.
Beldings Yellowthroat (Baja endemic)
-I didn't know this one existed until my E-bird report offered this one as another species of Yellowthroat and they are apparently endangered. I might be challenged on it because my sighting was at the North
boundary of it's range. They are distinctive and fairly obvious though.
I'll mention several other species that I've seen once or seldom so they were particularly gratifying to get.
Pinyon Jay
-Seen in the USA a couple of times but fleeting glimpses, here I got better looks. Somewhat elusive.
California Gnatcatcher
-I saw a pair near San Diego about 10 years ago, also endanged, at least in the US. Found one in the Baja among mostly Blue-Gray and Black Tailed Gnatcatchers.
Wrentit
-A bird you will hear before you see it. They just speak that you are in an alien place, and skulky.
Wandering Tattler
-saw them so unexpectedly on random beaches.
Black-chinned Sparrow(not Black-throated)
At first I thought it was a Junco as I wasn't expecting it.
A missed species was the California Condor. They were seen and reported a day or 2 before we arrived at a Condor viewing (just remembered we were told all 11 were caught to be inoculated) place on a mountain in a National Park. Nothing. Nada. Elaine seemed to want to see them more than I
did...they would be a life bird for her. I think a Robin would be a life bird for her...
I've seen them in the Grand Canyon, Condors too!
Now I'll attempt to find trip reports and bring them over to here, that might be my biggest adventure!
ebird.org/tripreport/242600
ebird.org/tripreport/242595
Baja birding is fun just like anywhere new. New environments, new birds. You get to observe and enjoy even familiar birds such as our western warblers and sparrows on migration in a new habitat with new or altered behaviors. And then the resident birds, like weird light colored very reddish birds with unfamiliar sounds turn into Song Sparrows. I've been to Mainland Mexico once and with a small bit of birding on the east (Caribbean) side I know you would find more variety and more exotic birds in the mix there, perhaps more Central-South American species than you would find in Baja. So Baja birding is more limited in scope(no pun intended) and the birds you find there can for the most part be found somewhere in the US or Canada. This wasn't a birding trip and the birding was casual and more incidental than intentional. So now for the fun part.
My Stats:
255 species in Mexico all time
182 species in Mexico this trip
146 new species for Mexico
7 life birds (3 endemics)
Lets just go directly to the lifers.
Xantus's Hummingbird (Endemic to Baja)
-One hung around Gibsons BC for almost a year several decades ago. Easy to find in Baja.
Yellow-footed Gull
-They can be found at Salton Sea (USA 0 in the right season. I missed that one several years ago.
Elegant Tern
-A good description for most terns.
Blue-footed Booby
-Among my favorites. They dive, accelerating faster then gravity from heights of 50m or even higher, beautiful to watch.
Neotropic Cormorant
-Seen before but not reported on E-bird
Gray Thrasher (endemic)
-They were somewhat confiding...hopped as close to a meter from me when I sat still. Saw many, easy to find.
Beldings Yellowthroat (Baja endemic)
-I didn't know this one existed until my E-bird report offered this one as another species of Yellowthroat and they are apparently endangered. I might be challenged on it because my sighting was at the North
boundary of it's range. They are distinctive and fairly obvious though.
I'll mention several other species that I've seen once or seldom so they were particularly gratifying to get.
Pinyon Jay
-Seen in the USA a couple of times but fleeting glimpses, here I got better looks. Somewhat elusive.
California Gnatcatcher
-I saw a pair near San Diego about 10 years ago, also endanged, at least in the US. Found one in the Baja among mostly Blue-Gray and Black Tailed Gnatcatchers.
Wrentit
-A bird you will hear before you see it. They just speak that you are in an alien place, and skulky.
Wandering Tattler
-saw them so unexpectedly on random beaches.
Black-chinned Sparrow(not Black-throated)
At first I thought it was a Junco as I wasn't expecting it.
A missed species was the California Condor. They were seen and reported a day or 2 before we arrived at a Condor viewing (just remembered we were told all 11 were caught to be inoculated) place on a mountain in a National Park. Nothing. Nada. Elaine seemed to want to see them more than I
did...they would be a life bird for her. I think a Robin would be a life bird for her...
I've seen them in the Grand Canyon, Condors too!Now I'll attempt to find trip reports and bring them over to here, that might be my biggest adventure!
ebird.org/tripreport/242600
ebird.org/tripreport/242595
.