I’m a person obsessed. Ever since our close by Lake Cuitzeo, a serious wintering grounds for all types of waterfowl and shorebirds, dried up for many of final 12 months, I’ve been obsessive about the potential for 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 increasingly water, and fewer grass. The jap facet has virtually reached its most potential depth, and water continues to stream 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 Could, 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, virtually not one of the a whole lot of 1000’s of geese that usually depend upon this significant wintering floor had been to be discovered there. Just a few geese did flip up in probably 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 situation, did they die from lack of their regular wintering habitat? This last doubt triggered 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 anticipate finding there in a standard 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 lot or extra. (It’s a bit too early within the season to see our different widespread winter geese: Gadwalls, American Wigeons, Canvasbacks, and Redheads.)
Northern Shovelers — however not by the a whole lot –, a Northern Pintail, and a Inexperienced-winged Teal, plus a Black-necked Stilt.
Blue-winged Teals
I used to be stunned to see Fulvous Whistling Geese caring for ducklings in November.
Nonetheless, there might 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 might transfer round this lake as its water ranges continually change. Through the drought, most of its reedbeds burnt, and their uneven however regular restoration additionally causes birds to maneuver round to search out their ultimate spot for every second. Extra ample deep-water choices in all probability defined why I solely noticed a single Clark’s Grebe this journey. And reedbed restoration in all probability defined why I noticed many Marsh Wrens and Widespread Yellowthroats, however no micro-endemic Black-polled Yellowthroats. (These are usually a troublesome discover on Lake Cuitzeo, though the location is one in every of solely three wetlands on the planet with a inhabitants of this species).
Widespread Yellowthroat
It appeared that the story for shorebirds could be much like that of waterfowl, with all widespread species current, however in a lot smaller numbers. However because the day glided by, and I moved to completely different spots on the lake, I progressively discovered increasingly 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 commonest. A number of the lake’s resident Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets joined the occasion. There was an surprising contingent of Wilson’s Phalaropes, a species that has often 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 troublesome however at all times spectacular, and a single Aztec Rail which shocked me by furtively strolling just under the freeway. Because the “Aztec” suggests, this chook is a Mexican endemic. And because the “Rail” suggests, it’s a very exhausting chook to see.
Lengthy-billed Curlew (a number of long-bill motion taking place right here)
Aztec Rail
American Bitterns are additionally on the hard-to-see record. And they’re virtually at all times seen flying away.
I used to be additionally very blissful to see a good-sized water snake appearing very a lot alive, as I had seen far too many of those useless on final 12 months’s dry lakebed.
In the long run, I noticed 64 species at the present time. That’s a very good whole for a day through which I didn’t considerably discover the terrestrial habitats surrounding the lake. In December-February, with a pal or two by my facet, and spending time in these dry woods, it’s potential 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.
