“Let’s look after wildlife. Fowl crossing.”
One of many issues I get pleasure from 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 individual has their very own favourite distraction, however every of those enrich all of us.
My very own non-birding passions are the vegetation we discover, and particularly, the general environmental methods that affect the birds we search. This has turn out 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 complete lake system but?
The “deepest” a part of “Lake” Cuitzeo in July, 2023, on the top of our “wet season”
A glance in direction of that japanese part of the lake in September 2024
That one elementary query led to an extra sequence of questions. Would the 1000’s 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 just lately devastated by drought and fireplace? How about creatures just like the lake’s water snakes which, in contrast to migratory birds, can not fly away searching 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 problem of fishing on the lake. However I can, certainly, affirm that the lake is making a strong comeback. The western finish, which principally receives its water as soon as the japanese aspect has turn out to be deep sufficient to spill by means of the culverts beneath the 2 north-south causeways, is certainly starting to replenish. Because it takes fairly some time for rainwaters to filter by means of the soil, into waterways, down these waterways, and into the lake by the east-to-west route, the lake will little doubt proceed to fill lengthy after our summer season rains finish.
And every little thing factors to our waterfowl and shorebirds turning up in good numbers as effectively, despite their unhappy expertise final winter. My mid-September go to confirmed that many Blue-winged Teals and Northern Shovelers had arrived, with extra little doubt arriving each day. As I watched flocks of Shovelers fly right down to the lake floor, it made me marvel if a few of them weren’t making their first look earlier than my eyes.
Northern Shovelers reducing onto the lake
A Blue-winged Teal doing the identical
Whereas a lot of our winter duck species have but to show up, there appeared to be representatives of most of our winter shorebirds already current. I noticed plenty of Lengthy-billed Dowitchers, with the standard admixture of similar-looking Stilt Sandpipers. At the very least one Pectoral Sandpiper turned up, though it would presumably quickly proceed touring additional south. There have been undoubtedly some Western and Least Sandpipers current, in addition to a couple of remaining Baird’s Sandpipers which can even quickly proceed to fly additional south. A number of Soras labored their method by means of 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.
Plenty of 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
Just lately 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 a minimum of 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 must 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.
Autor Paul Lewis
