I’m a person obsessed. Ever since our close by Lake Cuitzeo, a significant wintering grounds for all kinds of waterfowl and shorebirds, dried up for many of final 12 months, I’ve been obsessive about the potential of its restoration following our very profitable 2024 summer season wet season.
That’s the reason the the lake was the final place I visited earlier than our latest work journey to Europe and northern Africa, and the primary place I visited upon our return final week. Simply earlier than that journey, the western facet of the lake nonetheless had a protracted solution to go. Now, in mid-November, that western facet reveals an increasing number of water, and fewer grass. The jap facet has nearly reached its most doable depth, and water continues to circulate westward beneath the 2 highways that cross the lake. Will it attain full capability earlier than spring, or will the western facet dry up once more in April and Might, because it usually does? Time will inform.
west facet
fringe of west facet
east facet
Final 12 months, with solely the slightest quantity of water remaining within the jap lake, nearly not one of the a whole bunch of 1000’s of geese that usually depend upon this important wintering floor had been to be discovered there. A couple of geese did flip up in essentially the most unlikely our bodies of water that remained elsewhere in our area. However I might like to know the place the overwhelming majority went. Did they fly past central Mexico, or to the Mexican coast? Would they arrive again to our lake this 12 months, or did they discover new everlasting wintering grounds? Or, worst-case state of affairs, did they die from lack of their regular wintering habitat? This closing doubt induced me to go to the lake now, with my coronary heart in my hand.
The excellent news, as of November 18th, is that I did see all of the species I might usually look forward to finding there in a traditional November: resident Fulvous Whistling Geese, Mexican Geese, and Ruddy Geese; and migratory Blue-winged, Cinnamon, and Inexperienced-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, and Northern Pintails. The unhealthy information is that their numbers appeared low, particularly for the Northern Shovelers and Pintails, which might usually be seen within the a whole bunch or extra. (It’s a bit too early within the season to see our different frequent winter geese: Gadwalls, American Wigeons, Canvasbacks, and Redheads.)
Northern Shovelers — however not by the a whole bunch –, a Northern Pintail, and a Inexperienced-winged Teal, plus a Black-necked Stilt.
Blue-winged Teals
I used to be shocked to see Fulvous Whistling Geese caring for ducklings in November.
Nonetheless, there may very well be a extra hopeful interpretation for these low duck numbers. Lake Cuitzeo is huge, and because it fills, habitat choices for birds change into many. Birds could transfer round this lake as its water ranges consistently change. In the course of the drought, most of its reedbeds burnt, and their uneven however regular restoration additionally causes birds to maneuver round to search out their excellent spot for every second. Extra considerable deep-water choices most likely defined why I solely noticed a single Clark’s Grebe this journey. And reedbed restoration most likely defined why I noticed many Marsh Wrens and Widespread Yellowthroats, however no micro-endemic Black-polled Yellowthroats. (These are usually a tough discover on Lake Cuitzeo, although the location is one in all solely three wetlands on this planet with a inhabitants of this species).
Widespread Yellowthroat
It appeared that the story for shorebirds could be just like that of waterfowl, with all frequent species current, however in a lot smaller numbers. However because the day glided by, and I moved to totally different spots on the lake, I regularly discovered an increasing number of shorebirds. After midday I used to be handled to the spectacle of monumental clouds of shorebirds flying comparatively closeby. Lengthy-billed Dowitchers, Stilt Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Sandpipers, and Least Sandpipers had been most typical. A number of the lake’s resident Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets joined the social gathering. There was an sudden contingent of Wilson’s Phalaropes, a species that has normally moved additional south by this time. Six different shorebird species (plovers and sandpipers) had been additionally seen on this outing.
So many Lengthy-billed Dowitchers and Stilt Sandpipers
So, so many Lengthy-billed Dowitchers
So, so, so many Lengthy-billed Dowitchers
And a few Wilson’s Phalaropes among the many Dowitchers
Each journey has its highlights, and this time it was a pair of Lengthy-billed Curlews, not all that tough however at all times spectacular, and a single Aztec Rail which shocked me by furtively strolling slightly below the freeway. Because the “Aztec” suggests, this hen is a Mexican endemic. And because the “Rail” suggests, it’s a very exhausting hen to see.
Lengthy-billed Curlew (numerous long-bill motion occurring right here)
Aztec Rail
American Bitterns are additionally on the hard-to-see checklist. And they’re nearly at all times seen flying away.
I used to be additionally very comfortable to see a good-sized water snake performing very a lot alive, as I had seen far too many of those lifeless on final 12 months’s dry lakebed.
In the long run, I noticed 64 species this present day. That’s a superb whole for a day through which I didn’t considerably discover the terrestrial habitats surrounding the lake. In December-February, with a buddy or two by my facet, and spending time in these dry woods, it’s doable to see greater than 100 species in a single day round Lake Cuitzeo. And now that I’ve confirmed the lake’s persevering with restoration, I’ve excessive hopes for our upcoming first Annual Christmas Depend there.