Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Palm Warbler 'western', Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Osprey, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Least Grebe, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Verdin, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
White faced Ibis, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Sunrise at beach, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
On Thursday I had my first full day to explore the Estero San Jose and I was out well before sunrise. I arrived to find the beginning of the trail flooded out and not accessible. Once it got light enough to see I was able to weave my way along a wall and fence around the old Holiday Inn to make it out to the sand spit at the end of the estero. I could hear a number of yellowthroats and other warblers in the reedy marsh but wanted to wait until it was light enough to see well before checking them out. There were a number of shorebirds along the beach with Western Sandpiper being the most numerous. The estero also featured a decent assortment of waders and waterfowl. After the sun came up I spent time checking out the warblers in the area and found a couple Belding’s Yellowthroat among the more numerous Common Yellowthroats and abundant Orange crowned Warblers. I also had at least three Palm Warblers which showed up as unusual in eBird. Among the other passerines were Cactus Wrens in marsh and the local subspecies of House Finch that are much more red overall almost looking like a Purple Finch. I spent about two and a half hours exploring the very end of the estero before trying to figure out a way to check out the trails upstream of the flooded section. As I walked along the roadside I turned up a few new species for the trip. Eventually I made it up to a bridge that crosses the estero and found the upstream portion of the trail. I almost immediately had a somewhat cooperative Belding’s Yellowthroat in the area that showed much better then the ones I had earlier in the morning. After seeing the yellowthroat I ran into the first birder for the trip and oddly enough he ended up being a guy that just recently moved to western mass and now lives in Amherst…he said he was hoping to run across me at some point but did not think it would be in Mexico! I then spent the next hot hour and a half walking south along the estero and turned up a number of species including another lifer for me with a sighting of a California Gnatcatcher. I finally made it back to my lodging a bit after noon, hungry and very sweaty. After a quick lunch and cool down period I made a walk to pick up more water and on my way back came across the third lifer for the day with a female Cinnamon rumped Seedeater in a small weedy field near my lodging location. I also added a fourth new bird as I was bringing recyclables over to a bin when I had a brief look at a Xantus’s Hummingbird. I finished the day late in the early evening with a walk to where the estero joins the Pacific to watch birds come into roost as well as see the dozens of Lesser Nighthawks feeding over the estero. Overall a very productive day with 84 species.
Xantus's Hummingbird, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Hooded Oriole, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Great Egret, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Western Tanager, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Scott's Oriole, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Pacific slope Flycatcher, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Sunrise, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Snowy Plover, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Sunset, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
I decided to start my second full day by hitting the northerly section of the trail along the estero early. I covered the area fairly well over the course of about three hours before I had to head back to get a Covid test before my flight. Among the 65 species I had during this stop the highlights included much better looks at Xantus’s Hummingbirds, loads of waterfowl and waders, a fantastic look at a Pacific slope Flycatcher, eight species of warbler including an unusual for the area American Redstart and a number of other new species for the trip. I tried to find access points even further north but didn’t have any luck. Once the test was complete I went back again to the estero but as it was late morning the activity was down a bit and it was damn hot. Nonetheless I still had some good stuff with the big highlight being another lifer with a frustratingly brief look at the endemic Gray Thrasher. After another hour and a half in the midday heat I headed for home base to get something to eat and cool down a bit. After a few hours of recovery I made it back to the mouth of the estero to take in another fantastic sunset and watch birds heading to roost and the nighthawks beginning to feed. A very respectable 85 species for the day.
Dawn, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Verdin, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Ruddy Ground Dove, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Costa's Hummingbird, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Eared Grebe, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Western Sandpiper, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Semipalmated Plover, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
White Pelican, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Looking north from the ocean into the estero, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
On my final day in Mexico I spent most of the morning at the estero once again with a start before dawn and ending late in the morning on yet another clear, warm day. I covered the entire area from the bridge downstream to the ocean including a walk out onto the sand spit separating the ocean from the fresh water. My main reward for a long walk on the sand was a flyby Yellow footed Gull (plus another juvenile that I could not determine if it was a Western Gull or another Yellow footed Gull). The gull became the last life bird of the trip. A word of caution to anyone visiting the area. There were a few suspicious characters that I encountered that were a bit forceful asking for money and a couple seemed very interested in cars parked in a somewhat secluded area. I parked in a more public area and walked in and had no issues.
I took an early evening flight out headed to Florida with a stopover for the night in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Totals for the trip came to 113 species with seven of those being life birds. This brings my total up to 1664. I managed to add 57 species to my Mexico list bringing that total to 293. Overall a very productive quick getaway with all my targets seen including the yellowthroat. More on warblers for the trip at the following link.
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