“Let’s look after wildlife. Hen crossing.”
One of many issues I take pleasure in about going into nature with different birders is that we’re all so darned curious. We are saying we go to see birds. However give us a half hour, and we’ll certainly go down some rabbit gap involving fascinating bugs, wildflowers, or geological formations. Or a literal rabbit gap, ought to we occur upon one. Every particular person has their very own favourite distraction, however every of those enrich all of us.
My very own non-birding passions are the crops we discover, and particularly, the general environmental techniques that influence the birds we search. This has grow to be extra marked as we fell into, and now are climbing out of, a historic drought right here in central Mexico. Which is why I simply needed to drive north to Mexico’s second-largest lake, Lake Cuitzeo, to see how far its restoration has progressed. Would our super-abundant 2024 rainfall be reaching your entire lake system but?
The “deepest” a part of “Lake” Cuitzeo in July, 2023, on the peak of our “wet season”
A glance in the direction of that jap part of the lake in September 2024
That one basic query led to an extra collection of questions. Would the hundreds of birds that flew south late final summer season, solely to discover a dry lakebed, attempt their luck there once more this 12 months? Would their populations nonetheless be wholesome? What concerning the restoration of our essential reedbeds, so lately devastated by drought and hearth? How about creatures just like the lake’s water snakes which, not like migratory birds, can not fly away in the hunt for a substitute physique of water? And would the fishing trade of the lake’s cities present any signal of restoration?
I can not converse but to the difficulty of fishing on the lake. However I can, certainly, affirm that the lake is making a strong comeback. The western finish, which largely receives its water as soon as the jap aspect has grow to be deep sufficient to spill via the culverts underneath the 2 north-south causeways, is certainly starting to refill. Because it takes fairly some time for rainwaters to filter via the soil, into waterways, down these waterways, and into the lake by the east-to-west route, the lake will little question proceed to fill lengthy after our summer season rains finish.
And all the things factors to our waterfowl and shorebirds turning up in good numbers as properly, regardless of their unhappy expertise final winter. My mid-September go to confirmed that many Blue-winged Teals and Northern Shovelers had arrived, with extra little question arriving day by day. As I watched flocks of Shovelers fly all the way down to the lake floor, it made me surprise if a few of them weren’t making their first look earlier than my eyes.
Northern Shovelers decreasing onto the lake
A Blue-winged Teal doing the identical
Whereas lots of our winter duck species have but to show up, there gave the impression to be representatives of most of our winter shorebirds already current. I noticed numerous Lengthy-billed Dowitchers, with the same old admixture of similar-looking Stilt Sandpipers. At the least one Pectoral Sandpiper turned up, though it is going to presumably quickly proceed touring additional south. There have been undoubtedly some Western and Least Sandpipers current, in addition to just a few remaining Baird’s Sandpipers which can even quickly proceed to fly additional south. A number of Soras labored their means via the recovering reedbeds, in addition to one obvious Virginia Rail. Yellowlegs, each Larger and Lesser, have proven up in good numbers. Unusually, a number of Willets have been current, though these ought to quickly depart for the coast.
Numerous Lengthy-billed Dowitchers… with some White-faced Ibises and Yellowlegs for good measure
Western Sandpipers (black legs)
Least Sandpipers (yellow legs) and Lesser Yellowlegs; pardon the redundancy
That Virginia Rail, making a fast getaway
a Sora, doing the identical
Not too long ago arrived (or arriving) Lesser Yellowlegs; Larger Yellowlegs have been additionally considerable elsewhere.
Ruddy Geese and Clark’s Grebes are regular residents on the lake. Their want for deeper water, nonetheless, compelled them to desert it when the lake nearly disappeared. They’re now again, I’m delighted to say.
I did see at the very least one water snake on this outing. I additionally noticed a spider consuming a butterfly, which appeared uncommon. As to my different questions, the reedbeds are making solely a gradual restoration after they dried up and have been burned. The cattails appear to be particularly slow-growing. And I should wait till later within the winter season to see if our waterfowl populations look as spectacular as they as soon as did. I’m crossing my fingers.
