Mexico Part 3: Remembering Álamos

 

Our first two full days in Álamos got us most of our target birds, but we still had two more mornings left and a few more birds we wanted to see. One bird mysteriously missing from our list was Mexican Parrotlet, an uncommon endemic, while another was the West Mexican Euphonia that Felipe and Nolan had had a few days earlier. We had also cleanly dipped on Buff-collared Nightjar the previous night, which Cedar still needed, so we had our tasks set out for us. 

Our third day we spent hiking up Arroyo La Aduana, another arroyo in Sierra de los Álamos that's a favorite spot for western Mexico specialties. We left El Pedregal just before sunrise and drove slowly along the dirt road to the little town of La Aduana. The road went through the lower part of the arroyo, which is a good birding site in and of itself and one we might have visited if we had a little more time. We did bird a little from the car, stopping for a group of Black-throated Magpie-Jays and again for a nice male Rose-throated Becard.

Black-throated Magpie-Jay

Rose-throated Becard

By 6:30 AM, we were starting the walk up the upper part of the arroyo, after parking our rental car in La Aduana. This was another walk up an arroyo, but unlike the ordeal of Arroyo Uvalama this was mostly a gentle climb up the river bed, without much elevation gain. That meant it doesn't have many of the really good birds that Uvalama does, but it was also much easier going for our tired legs. La Aduana was the site of one of the earliest silver mines in Álamos, and the trail up the arroyo was dotted with the ruins of old mills and other buildings- these days all going to ruin and returning to the forest.

The beginning of the arroyo

Things were quiet even early in the morning as we started walking, but there were many Tropical Kingbirds and Thick-billed Kingbirds along the edge of the arroyo, and even a White-tipped Dove walking across the path in the open. White-winged Doves, of course, were ubiquitous, along with a few Red-billed Pigeons. This got a little more interesting with a group of Black-throated Magpie-Jays, as always perching only in terrible light but at least giving us great looks. A raptor soared over, which I astutely remarked had a very short tail. That is, of course, because it was a Short-tailed Hawk- a bonus lifer for me as I had missed it several times before.

Thick-billed Kingbird

Black-throated Magpie-Jay

Short-tailed Hawk

Further up we came upon a thicket of trees that seemed to have a fair amount of bird activity. We tried playing a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl call, and were instantly surrounded by angry passerines- Sinaloa Wrens, Happy Wrens, Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, a surprise Yellow-breasted Chat, and approximately one million Warbling Vireos.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Sinaloa Wren

Happy Wren

Warbling Vireo

Broad-banded Swallowtail

Melon Mottled-Skipper

Ruddy Daggerwing

The mixed flock was a nice pick-me-up, and we kept going up the arroyo. Cedar and Mollee spotted a tiny dark bird at the top of a cottonwood tree that flew off before I could get on it, but that apparently looked a great deal like a West Mexican Euphonia- although not enough for them to want to call it for their lists. We were finally able to get closer looks at the Northern Beardless Tyrannulet that had been calling all morning, and Yellow Grosbeaks put on a nice show next to the trail. We came to a big fruiting ficus tree at the head of the arroyo, and soon I heard the twittering call of a few birds flying in- Mexican Parrotlets! Cedar and Mollee were able to get on them as well, and it was a much-awaited look at one of their much-wanted lifers. The same Ficus was also home to a Western Flycatcher, a Western Tanager, a few more Yellow Grosbeaks, and a gorgeous male Painted Bunting. We had flyovers from Red-billed Pigeons and a beautiful Crested Caracara.

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet

Yellow Grosbeak

Mexican Parrotlet

Western Tanager

Yellow Grosbeak

Varied Bunting

Crested Caracara

Rosita Patch

Plinthocoelium chilense

Tropical Checkered-Skipper

Malachite

The trail from there started climbing up the edge of the arroyo, but we didn't make it particularly far before we decided that a steep climb wasn't really going to do much for us that day- especially since there wasn't much higher up that we hadn't already seen. We stopped at another big Ficus tree, this one with an Elegant Trogon and lots of Hooded and Streak-backed Orioles in it. Another group of Mexican Parrotlets flew in, and we were able to get much better looks than we had earlier. 

Elegant Trogon

Streak-backed Orioles

Mexican Parrotlet

We made our way back down fairly quickly, mostly because it was late morning and already extremely hot. We did stop when we heard the call of a Russet-crowned Motmot, and after a decent amount of effort were able to see one on an open perch. Near where we parked the car, I was distracted by a big group of butterflies hanging out at a mud puddle. 

Russet-crowned Motmot

A mix of Tailed Orange, Yellow Angled-Sulphur, White Angled-Sulphur, and Boisduval's Yellow

Mottled Longtail

Marine Blue

White Spurwing

We returned to El Pedregal for lunch and a much-needed nap, but headed out late that afternoon for another try at the lowlands. After dipping hard on the nightjar the previous night we wanted to give that a solid try this time, as well as doing some cruising (not my favorite term, but that's what they call it) for reptiles and mammals. There is a nice paved road leading south from Álamos, and we followed that for a while, stopping for a trio of Crested Caracaras perched in nice light in front of the Sierra. Rufous-

crowned Sparrows were also singing nearby, a nice addition to our Mexico list. 

Adult Crested Caracaras

Juvenile Crested Caracara

We elected to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in Arroyo El Mentidero where we had been the previous day. This proved to be an excellent choice as it was full of wildlife even in the late afternoon. A White-fronted Amazon was perched on a distant cactus and eventually flew over us shrieking, and we got good looks at a Gilded Flicker, another nice Mexico tick. There was a territorial Varied Bunting further down that gave us great looks, as well as a few Black-throated Magpie-Jays and more Grey Hawks.

White-fronted Amazon

The good old GILF

Black-throated Magpie-Jay

Varied Bunting

Zebra-tailed Lizard

Roseate Skimmer

Variegated Fritillary

As night fell, many Common Nighthawks started to fly over, and Mollee was even able to get a cool picture of one swooping at bugs over the river. A Great Horned Owl and a Western Screech Owl hooted in the distance, and as we walked back it turned out that Buff-collared Nightjars were all over the place! We had at least four different individuals as we walked up the arroyo. I also had some cool herps and moths, although every time I turned on my flashlight I was instantly surrounded by about a million tiny buzzing gnats, making spotlighting much less fun than it otherwise would be.

Lesser Nighthawk

Buff-collared Nightjar

Black Witch! The largest moth in the world, although these ones weren't particularly impressive

Sonoran Desert Toad

Sinaloa Toad

Couch's Spadefoot

We drove back toward town very slowly, keeping our eyes on the road. We were rewarded with a Buff-collared Nightjar sitting by the edge of the road, and even better a baby American Hog-nosed Skunk hanging out in the road eating crushed grasshoppers. A Mexican West Coast Boa Constrictor was a candidate for second-best snake of the trip as well.

American Hog-nosed Skunk

Mexican West Coast Boa Constrictor

Some sort of tarantula (Aphonopelma sp.)

Following our successful night of cruising (again, not my favorite term), we had one more morning in Álamos before we had to make the long drive north back to the border so we could fly home. We chose to spend it on the grounds of El Pedregal, and had some nice relaxing early morning birding. Elegant Quails were hanging around outside our room, and there were many Sinaloa Crows around, finally allowing me to get decent pictures. I found a Rose-throated Becard nest, and I was able to get my best pictures yet of a male becard. 

Elegant Quail

Sinaloa Crow

Rose-throated Becard

Rufous-backed Robin

Tropical Kingbird

Northern Mockingbird

From there, it was a 9-hour drive back to Nogales to return our rental car. We did stop in the city of Hermosillo for lunch, specifically a place that I'd visited with Josh and Holly my first time in Mexico that had possibly the best birria tacos I've ever tasted. Back in Nogales, it was a simple affair to return the rental car and get a cheap taxi to the border, where we moseyed back into the US with little to no fanfare. At no point did we show our passports to anyone in Mexico, so as far as the government of Mexico is returned we were never there!

Pure bliss.

All three of us were flying out of Phoenix, two hours north of the border. Buses were few and far between, so we elected to book a Lyft, even if it was going to cost more than $200. Soon after I booked, however, the driver called me in Spanish and offered to drive us for a cash payment, meaning we would pay less and he would still get more than Lyft gave him. It went against approximately all of the terms of service and if I'd been alone I'd probably have passed it up, but there were three of us so we figured we'd give it a try. As it turned out, the driver was from Álamos, and was full of good conversation the whole way up. Three cheers for the informal economy! 

I flew back to DC that night, for a few more weeks on the East Coast before returning to Asia (like I said, I'm very bad at moving home). It had been an amazing trip, with the best birding company I could have asked for, along with great food and scenery- Mexico is hard to beat in that regard. We ended up with 164 species of birds for the trip, 14 of which were lifers for me. I also got a nice boost to my herp and lepidoptera lists, among others. I'm back in Southeast Asia now, which will be most of my upcoming blog posts, but it was a reminder that great things await me in the western hemisphere as well...