December 2-7, 2024 with Micah Riegner
This was the fourth time we ran this short easy tour based out of the town of Bahia Kino. We started in Hermosillo visiting Parque Metropolitano, a wetland in the middle of the desert. Water levels were quite low due to a prolonged and intense drought, but we saw a decent variety of waterbirds including Least Grebes, Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teal, Long-billed Dowitchers and a super cooperative Bendire’s Thrasher digging around in some cow manure. We could see it had a relatively short bill—shorter than that of a Curve-billed Thrasher.
Early the next day we took off for Puente el Gavilan, a riparian corridor along the Rio Sonora, with my buddy Carlos, a resident birder from Hermosillo. Despite the drought, there was still a bit of water flowing through the cottonwood corridor and a number of birds came down to drink. We had nice looks at both Sinaloa and Happy Wrens, Black-tailed, Black-capped and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a vagrant Eastern Phoebe, Black-chinned Sparrows in winter plumage and another eastern vagrant, White-throated Sparrow. We heard Elegant Quail, but this time they didn’t show. After lunch we packed up and drove west to Kino Bay, making a stop at Estero la Cruz for the afternoon. At first glance the mudflats were empty, but with a scope we could see dozens and dozens of Wilson’s and Semipalmated Plovers scuttling around on the mud.
The next day was our offshore islands boat trip, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Before getting on the boat with Capitan Cosme we birded the desert around Kino Nuevo where we saw several overwintering Gray Vireos defending patches of Elephant Trees, which they depend on.
We had a great day on the south end of Isla Tiburon, seeing lots of Black-vented Shearwaters, Craveri’s Murrelets, a close Red-billed Tropicbird and a pod of Blue Whales. It’s not every day you get to spend time with the largest animal in the world! We had a picnic lunch at Coralitos Bay at the southern end of Isla Tiburon, then we circled Isla Cholludo, the small island covered in Cardons. From there we crossed to Isla Datil where we saw a Rock Wren down by the water’s edge. As we neared Isla Alcatraz, the island right in front of Kino Bay, we came across several Pomarine Jaegers in a loose aggregation, which was the first time I’ve seen this species in Sonora. We made a brief landing on Isla Alcatraz, seeing a trio of Common Goldeneyes, and good numbers of Yellow-footed Gulls getting ready to breed, and huge numbers of Brown Pelicans also in breeding condition.
Before our second boat day, we did some more birding around Kino Nuevo and had great looks at a Streak-backed Oriole, a rather scarce species along the coast. Then, after another fine breakfast at the hotel, we drove to Punta Chueca where we were picked up by Cosme on the panga. We were joined by two Comcaac guides, Rey and Ana Maria. On our way up the Infernillo Canal we saw a number of Brant, though nothing like the usual thousands. Redheads too were in alarmingly low numbers. We also saw a smattering of Surf Scoters, Horned Grebes, a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins and several hundred Blue-footed and Cocos Boobies plunge-diving. We had a hot tamale lunch at Punta Perla and scanned the mud flats for shorebirds. There were several Snowy Plovers and some Sanderlings running around. After lunch, Rey and Ana Maria talked to us about the Comcaac nation, and Ana Maria sang us some songs that pertained to the birds we had seen. On our way back we stopped at Estero Arenas where I called in a male Mangrove Warbler from the band of White Mangroves. Gorgeous bird!
Our final full day, we birded locally around Kino. In the morning, we stopped at Estero la Cruz and I called in a pair of Ridgway’s Rails that walked right out in front of us—certainly the best views I’ve had of the species! We spent the rest of the morning birding along the peninsula that forms the mouth of the estero, finding several shorebirds and an overwintering Northern Waterthrush. On our way back through town, we stopped at the tortilleria and I bought everyone some fresh flour tortillas, perhaps the best in the world! In the afternoon we took off to go to the Cardon forest outside Kino Viejo where we saw Gilded Flickers on the giant 50-foot cacti. Before reaching the hotel for our final dinner, a Western Screech-owl swooped across the road and landed on a palm, another first for the tour!
I’d like to thank Caroline in our office for lining up all the reservations, Lorayne Meltzer, the Prescott College Field Station Director, for giving us a nice introduction, Cosme our captain for the two boat trips, Jaime and Aly for their presentation about waterbirds, Vickey for her wonderful lunches and Carlos for taking us to the riparian spot on the Rio Sonora. I’d like to thank you all for joining me on this tour and I look forward to seeing you on more Field Guides adventures!
Mammals
Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) Seen a couple times in the desert around Kino Nuevo.
Harris's Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus harrisii) These miniature squirrels were along the road to Punta Chueca.
Common Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus)
Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) We saw a small pod of these coastal dolphins along the Infernillo Canal.
Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) Wow! It's not every day you get to spend time with the largest animal ever! We saw these in the waters at the southern end of Isla Tiburon.
Coyote (Canis latrans) We spotted one at Puente el Gavilan along the Rio Sonora.
California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) We had our best looks at Isla Alcatraz. Big males were hauled out on the rocks at the south end of the island.
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) We spooked a few along the Rio Sonora outside Hermosillo.
Reptiles
Zebra-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides) I was amazed to see these speedy desert lizards out and about in December! Just crazy.
Odonates
Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/306125
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/goc24TRIPLIST.pdf
Micah