Our ornithologist friends Aaron Flesch and Moez Ali managed a very successful survey trip to the Northern Jaguar Reserve from July 8-13. They surveyed all eight of the established bird transects and also explored a few new areas on the reserve, including the saddle at the source of Babisal. Ninety-two species were detected with nine that had not previously been detected on the reserve. Most of the birds were breeding species (they found nests with eggs or young of more than 20 species), though they also detected three species that were obviously early migrants (western kingbird, western tanager, and painted bunting). Highlights included a pair of blue mockingbirds, a nesting least grebe, short-tailed hawk, northern flicker, and a plain-capped starthroat. Moez found a fan-tailed warbler nest with four young, which was a first for the state of Sonora.

Their next birding trip is scheduled for the last week of September with the goal of surveying migrants and obtaining foraging observations.

Photo by Ian Fritz