White-collared Seedeaters and Friends

A rich site like the San José del Cabo Estuary invites exploring, especially in the cool early morning hours. Besides the waterbirds and celebrated Belding's Yellowthroats, many other species thrive in the riparian habitat. This must be the world epicenter for Hooded Orioles!

A splendid male Hooded Oriole

Gilded Flickers inhabit nearly the entire Baja peninsula.

Both Common Ground-Doves (like this one) and Ruddy Ground-Doves 

live at the estuary –– but have you ever seen one foraging in beach sand?

An elegant Rough-winged Swallow pauses for a moment.

Our most unexpected find is a handful of White-collared Seedeaters, which must be a recent arrival in Baja. The standard publications don't list them for the peninsula, although their occurrence here in southern Baja is mentioned on the website of Handbook of the Birds of the World (Internet Bird Collection).

A male White-collared Seedeater of the West Mexican race...

and the female White-collared Seedeater, also eating what seedeaters eat!

Hmm, yes –– we have to figure her out first. The male waits till the more difficult ID has been resolved, before he appears!

(By the way, if there is a next trip to Cabo, I'll be parasailing! It looks like great fun.)

Waterbirds at San José del Cabo Estuary

Face-to-face with a Common Gallinule

(Photos by Narca)

As a RAMSAR wetland of international importance, the San José del Cabo Estuary supports a wide range of water-dependent birds, ranging from that quintessential fisherman, the Osprey, to ibis, shorebirds, herons, ducks.

An Osprey in late afternoon light

We find the usual suspects for such a locale.

An immature Double-crested Cormorant, sporting orange lores

Reflections are lovely around this female Ruddy Duck.

Black-crowned Night-Herons quietly hunker down at the water's edge.

A graceful Great Egret leaps into the air.

A few Spotted Sandpipers still linger into early May.

A very tame American Coot

A few yearling White-faced Ibis forage here, 

probably not yet ready to head north to breed.

An immature California Gull, one of many

The bulk of the hundreds of gulls are immature California Gulls, also not yet old enough to head north to their breeding grounds. Might as well lounge on the beaches of Baja!