Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Wilson's Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Palm Warbler 'western', Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Orange crowned Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon', Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Common Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
Sunset, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 2, 2021
After being home for just a couple weeks I once again headed south with the destination this time being the southern end of Baja California Sur in Mexico. The main reason for making this trip was to catch up with another warbler, the range restricted Belding’s Yellowthroat that only occurs in a few areas in the southern end of Baja. I did this short trip solo with no guide s I felt confident I could get the birds without one. I arrived into San Jose del Cabo late in the afternoon and then settled into my lodging for the night.
The first full day found me before dawn at the Estero San Jose in search of Belding’s Yellowthroat. I arrived before dawn and found the trail along the estero flooded and impassable to the north. As it got light enough to see I found a muddy and slightly flooded path along a fence and wall at the former Holiday Inn resort. After getting a little wet I made it to sand spit and I could hear multiple yellowthroats calling but bypassed them until it was light enough to see them. There were a number of other warblers calling too. Once I started looking through the warblers I started finding many Orange crowned Warblers (the most numerous warbler species for the day). I also had multiple Wilson’s Warblers and Common Yellowthroats and eventually got some fleeting views of a couple Belding’s Yellowthroats. A bit later in the morning I got better looks at the Belding's Yellowthroats and got some photos and recordings. The species sounds slightly different than the wintering Common Yellowthroats that were all over the estero. The species looks quite similar to the Altamira Yellowthroat that occurs only in small pockets in northeast Mexico (a species I saw back in February of 2019). I also found at least three ‘western’ type Palm Warblers which came up as rare in eBird. Other warblers during my first stop of the morning included a Yellow Warbler and a few Yellow rumped Warblers (Audubon’s subspecies). I then started looking for a way to access the upstream part of the trail along the estero and during my walk along one of the roads nearby I had a male MacGillivray’s Warbler but had no luck getting a photo of it. Eventually I found a way in to the trails and almost immediately had a fairly cooperative Belding’s Yellowthroat which allowed great views and some good photo ops. I then walked south as far as I could go until I hit the flooded part of the trail. The entire area was fairly active despite it being later in the morning and quite warm. The only new sighting in regards to warblers were a couple Yellow rumped Warblers of the ‘Myrtle’ subspecies.
MacGillivray's Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Yellow Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Common Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Wilson's Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
Orange crowned Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 3, 2021
On my second day I covered the northerly part of the trail along the estero earlier and had some great luck over the course of three hours before I had to head back to get a Covid test. After the test I headed back to the estero again late in the morning and although less active than earlier it still held decent diversity. I had a total of eight species of warbler including a rare for the area American Redstart (try as I might I could just not get a photo of it). Other species were around in good numbers including at least three MacGillivray’s Warblers (which were super frustrating to try to get photos of). The most numerous species was once again Orange crowned Warbler.
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Belding's Yellowthroat, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Orange crowned Warbler, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Palm Warbler 'western', Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
Sunrise over the estero, Estero San Jose, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Dec 4, 2021
On my final day in Mexico I spent most of the morning at the estero once again with a start before dawn and ending late in the morning on yet another clear, warm day. I covered the entire area from the bridge downstream to the ocean including a walk out onto the sand spit separating the ocean from the fresh water. Nothing exceptionally different for warblers but did have more great looks at multiple Belding's Yellowthroats as well as at least two Palm Warblers.
It was a very nice trip with many looks at Belding’s Yellowthroats as well as loads of other warblers. I’m sure I could have found even more if I explored away from the estero but I wanted to maximize my birding time and minimize my driving time so I think I made the right choice.
Overall for the trip I found ten species of warblers with the Belding’s Yellowthroat being the only new species. Perhaps more accurately I had eleven species of warbler as I had both the Audubon's and Myrtle subspecies of Yellow rumped Warbler, which should have been split already.
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