Birding Notes

8:00 am April 22 I have reviewed and labelled my iPhotos for February 17. This entry will chronicle the birdwatching activities.

Today was a birdwatching day. We drove to the Cenote Noc-Ac north west of Merida and then followed the road north to Progreso, stopping at a number of marsh areas to admire the birds.

Larry and Phyllis saw a Turquoise-browed Motmot while Mary Ann and I were looking at the cenote. By the time we walked to where they were standing the Motmot had left. No photo. Rats.

Here is a photo of the cenote, followed by a image of the Cave Swallows flying out of the entrance. I was totally surprised that the picture worked. I simply took a few pictures with the flash on as the birds whirled by.

After we left the cenote we drove north and soon came to some marsh land. We could see a large group of Greater Flamingoes across the water.

We also saw the following birds (Snowy Egrets and 3 Wood Storks) nearby:

I then was able to get a good photo of a Willet:

After we returned to our unit, a group of Greater Flamingoes flew overhead:

During an early evening beach walk in front of the unit, I was able to take a good photo of a Semipalmated Plover.

Here is a table summarizing the day's observations.

Name	Photo	Time	Location	ID#	Lifer
Turquoise-browed Motmot	.	9:38 am	Cenote Noc-Ac	52	Yes
Cave Swallow	Yes	9:40 am	"	53	Yes
Ruddy Ground Dove	Yes	9:54 am	"	54	Yes
Green Jay	Yes	9:55 am	"	55	Yes
Rufous-browed Peppershrike	.	9:56 am	"	56	Yes
Roadside Hawk	Yes	10:31 am	road north of cenote	57	Yes
Greater Flamingos	Yes	10:52 am	"	9	.
White Pelican	Yes	10:53 am	"	33	.
Great Egret	Yes	10:53 am	"	14	.
Wood Stork	Yes	10:56 am	"	35	.
Snowy Egret	Yes	10:56 am	"	15	.
Greater Yellowlegs	Yes	10:56 am	"	27	.
Reddish Egret	Yes	10:56 am	"	10	.
Tricolored Heron	Yes	10:56 am	"	13	.
Little Blue Heron	Yes	10:58 am	"	58	Yes
Laughing Gull	Yes	11:05 am	"	6	.
Willet	Yes	11:11 am	"	59	Yes
Black-bellied Plover	Yes	11:15 am	"	49	.
Snowy Plover	Yes	4:55 PM	shore near unit	25
Semipalmated Plover	Yes	4:56 PM	"	26

SUMMARY of the session: We saw 20 different birds, including 8 new birds, all of which were lifers.