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The Slate-throated Redstart is a gorgeous warbler of highlands and foothills of Mexico, Central, and parts of South America.
It looks a lot like the very similar Painted Restart which can be found in Arizona, but without the large white wing patches.
This bird comes in three different color varieties! The ones in Mexico look like this, elsewhere they may have or orange-red or yellow underparts.
This bird was found all over the Tufted Jay Preserve, but rarely held still for a decent photo.
At the Tufted Jay Preserve there is a water tank on the hill which provides water for the cabins below.
There is dripping from one of the pipes, so I figured birds would come drink from the source of water.
I spent a bit of time there, and only one bird approached. But what a bird!
The Golden-browed Warbler is found in highland forests in various parts of Mexico and Central America.
I previously photographed one in the mountains of Michoacán, and I saw others at the Tufted Jay Preserve, but this ended up as the best photo.
This is not a great picture.
It does demonstrate, though, the bird-finding abilities of Don Santos of the Tufted Jay Preserve (see yesterday's post).
This owl was perhaps 100 feet high in a tree, obscured by many branches. Somehow Don Santos had spotted it on one of his previous walks through the preserve, and upon our arrival led us to the owl. Another life-bird!
The birding highlight of my trip to Sinaloa and Nayarit was an overnight visit to the Tufted Jay Preserve in El Palmito, Sinaloa.
The Tufted Jay was unknown to ornithology until 1934, when the highway connecting Mazatlán to Durango was constructed.
The bird has a very limited range in the mountains of Sinaloa, Durango and Nayarit. The only feasible place for an outsider to see the birds is in the town of El Palmito.
In 2004 a preserve was established there to help maintain at least a small area of suitable habitat from encroachment of logging and other activities.
The caretaker of the preserve is Don Santos Vasquez, who served as my guide.
Don Santos has lived in El Palmito his entire life, and has learned the birds through a lifetime of observation.
Approaching the preserve:
There are rustic cabins for rent, which have gas stoves, hot water, and enough solar electricity to power a few LED lights:
Staying in these cabins is a treat. There are few places now that have no outside noise or light. This is one of them. The silence and darkness of the night was a unique experience, and I slept like a log!
Don Santos knows every inch of every trail on the preserve:
Besides the birds, the highlight of the trip was two lunches prepared by the family of Don Santos. In all of my hundreds of days traveling in Mexico, I have never tasted food so good!
Tortillas made from a local variety of blue corn, cooked on a wood-fire stove:
Chicken Mole, sabroso!
The birding highlight, was, of course, the Tufted Jays.
At the preserve we saw only a few, from a distance.
Driving back to preserve after lunch, however, I noticed a flock of birds alongside the highway. Some of the birds were Tufted Jays!
Tufted Jays are communal birds, traveling in flocks of around 12-15 birds.
An adult Tufted Jay:
A fledgling waiting to be fed:
A visit to the preserve can best be arranged through Onca Explorations, with the assistance of Oscar Guzón Zatarain, a naturalist in Mazatlán.
Over the next few days I'll be posting photos of some of the other birds seen at the preserve, most of them life-birds!
One morning in Mazatlán, in May of this year, I took a drive through the foothills east of town, to areas said to be good for birding.
I had very little luck finding birds to photograph, and decided to head back to town. On the way back, however, I came across a grove of trees on either side of the highway near the very small town of El Recodo.
Though the light was already harsh, the birding was excellent, and made the morning drive worthwhile.
The highlight was a number of nests being constructed by Streak-backed Orioles.
A Great Kiskadee, photographed moments after the above photo:
An Elegant Quail (life-bird!). The Elegant Quail can only be found in northwest Mexico:
A Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher (another life-bird!). This bird breeds in southeast Arizona, much of Mexico and Central America, and winters in South America.
Though I usually don't like photos looking up at a bird, this does show the bird's sulfur belly!
The rattle-like sound of the Gila Woodpecker formed a frequent background for birding in Sinaloa. Here is one taking a food back to its nest:
Another sub-optimal photo looking up at a bird. I'm only posting this because it was another life-bird, seen earlier the same morning.
The Yellow-green Vireo breeds in much of Mexico and Central America and winters in northwestern South America. This bird was easy to hear but very difficult to see high up in a tree.
Even though the birding was not productive during much of that morning's drive, it's not often I see four life-birds in one morning (including the Sinaloa Crow posted a few days ago)! All-in-all, the morning drive turned out to be a success!
The Gray Hawk is found in southern-most Texas and Arizona, as well as much of Mexico and Central America.
Here is one north of El Quelite, Sinaloa, photographed in May of this year:
I spotted these fledgling Great Horned Owls just off of the highway leading to El Quelite, Sinaloa, just after sunset.
Photographed in May of this year.
My most productive birding near the town of El Quelite, Sinaloa was on a short stretch of a country lane which divided two farm fields.
There were many Happy Wrens there (see the second photo in yesterday's post), as well as these birds:
The male Blue-black Grassquit is a striking blue and black. Unfortunately I did not see one, but did photograph this female. This bird is found throughout much of Mexico, Central and South America, but this is my first decent photo.
Since they prefer the weeds and brushy fields it's hard to get a photo that is not at least partially obscured by brush:
The Groove-billed Ani can be found in southern Texas, much of Mexico and Central America, and northern South America.
I found these Happy Wrens near the town of El Quelite, Sinaloa, Mexico. Happy Wrens are endemic to western Mexico.
I was happy to see them!
One bird I saw frequently and usually unexpectedly in Sinaloa was the White Ibis.
When I was birding sometimes I was unaware that I was near a large body of water until I saw a large flock of White Ibises fly overhead.
Here is one of a flock that flew overhead while I was photographing Crested Caracaras near the town of El Quelite.
