Last year, the oldest Christmas Bird Count in Mexico turned 50 years old. That would be the CBC in San Blas, Nayarit, founded by American birders in 1973.
We have a long ways to go before we reach that milestone in Michoacán. We held only four CBCs, making a complete circuit around the beautiful Lake Pátzcuaro, in 2018, 2019, 2023, and this year. So far, these counts have been done almost entirely by Mexicans, most of them biologists… as well as the local expat birder Georgia Conti, and yours truly. We may not have seniority in the Mexican CBC world, but we do have one spectacular setting:
Lake Pátzcuaro has an altitude of 1,920 m (6,300 feet), and is truly beautiful. Here are a few more photos of the lake, taken by the team that my Cuban ornithologist friend Jorge and I led:
Jorge and I
Everywhere you look, the lake is surrounded by volcanic mountains.
Some of the odd rock formations at San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro
Typical countryside near the lake
Looking for woodland birds near Matugeo
We can’t compete with the San Blas CBC, with its much larger habitat diversity. But we did achieve a very respectable 153 species seen. Our team of 9 observers saw 103 species, slightly edging out the other two teams.
My best birds for the day were several Grass Wrens. I previously knew this species from just one site, but that site is on private property, and this one has free access.
Grass Wrens apparently share this splayed posture with their relatives, the Marsh Wrens. But for every Grass Wren sighting registered on eBird, you can find 37 Marsh Wren sightings (or 6 sightings of the even more closely related Sedge Wren).
I expect to find the Gray Hawk in tropical lowlands. But this is our second year encountering it in the highlands around Lake Pátzcuaro.
It takes a bit of effort to spot a Say’s Phoebe down here.
American Pipits are common… on the ground, near water. But seeing this one, perched in a tree, almost seemed like a lifer to me.
A Neotropical Cormorant made a dramatic landing.
And a Black-crowned Night Heron struck a pose.
On our last stop of the day, in the woodland I showed above, I spotted this Hermit Thrush. He seemed very pleased with himself.
And now, we have a new development. In a few days, our region will add our first ever Christmas Bird Count for Lake Cuitzeo. Lake Cuitzeo is located a half hour north of Morelia. It is slightly less scenic than Lake Pátzcuaro, which is a half hour south-southwest of the same city. But I expect a higher species and individual bird count for Cuitzeo, as it hosts many, many more winter ducks and shorebirds.
Lake Cuitzeo
So here’s my offer to our American readers (and some especially adventurous European readers): Next year, you could do your Christmas Bird Count in your home town of East Plainville in Iowa. Or you could take a direct flight from Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Jose, or Oakland to the UNESCO World Heritage City of Morelia, founded in 1540. Spend a few days there, and a few more in the Pueblo Mágico (Magic Town) of Pátzcuaro, once capital of the pre-Columbian Purépecha empire. While you are here, you can get two Christmas Bird Counts for the price of one. (Which is no price at all, at least for the Counts themselves.)
We’ll even pick you up on our way to the Counts. And we’ll help you ID all those new birds.
Deal!
Here in the UK there’s no tradition for Christmas Bird Counts, probably because it’s one of the least productive times of the year to see birds. The days are very short – it’s dark in eastern England by 4pm – and finding birds can be hard work. However, many people like to start the New Year with a bid to see as many birds as possible. To see a 100 species on New Year’s Day anywhere in Britain is a real challenge. I’ve managed a score in the mid 90s, but bad light stopped play before we could reach our century.