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| Sonora Trip ReportI've made dozens of wonderful trips to Sonora, Mexico since 1997. The following is a composite of those many exciting journeys. Southeastern Arizona is a great place to live and work. In addition to great scenery, birds, wildlife, and conservation opportunities, we're just minutes form the Mexican border and one of the most biologically diverse states in that vast country. The state of Sonora is the second largest in Mexico and harbors a startling variety of habitats and species. The Sonoran Desert, the beautiful and rich Sea of Cortez, the vast Sierra Madre, expansive mangrove estuaries, and the northern limits of tropical deciduous forest are all found here. The transitions and contrasts between the desert and the tropics is strikingly beautiful and always a treat for birders and naturalists. Our Sonoran journey begins by traveling
south along the scenic Rio Sonora as it winds its way through Chihuahuan Desert,
oak woodland,
Sonoran desert, the northern limit of tropical deciduous forest (TDF), and
several After a cold beer and an overnight in Hermosillo, we head east, making a spectacular ascent from the plains of Sonora to the Sierra Madre. Along the way we stop at the desert oasis of San Jose de Pima and the Rio Matape. Amidst the lush willows and the mesquite bosque we've enjoyed happy wren, great kiskadee, green kingfisher, rose-throated becard, varied and painted buntings, elegant quail, and streak-backed oriole. In the area we've also found migrating purple martins, northern caracara, rufous-winged sparrows, black-capped gnatcatcher, and non-avian treats such as desert tortoise, Sonoran mud turtle, and indigo snake. Continuing east, we make a lunch stop at the Rio Yaqui (part of whose headwaters are located in southern Arizona) where we've observed many raptors including zone-tailed, gray, short-tailed and red-tailed hawks as well as peregrine falcon and great-horned, barn, and western screech owls. Zebra-tailed lizards are often abundant along the Yaqui. We then climb higher into beautiful tropical deciduous forest, which can be emerald green in early fall or grayish with splashes of pink, white, and yellow flowers in spring. In the TDF we find gems such as rufous-backed and white-throated robins, elegant trogon, five-striped sparrow, Sinaloa wren, Nutting's flycatcher, the rarish fan-tailed warbler, and black-throated magpie jay as well as iridescent-green long-legged flies, owl butterflies, and colorful dung beetles in the fall. Higher up in the cool pines and oaks of the Sierra Madre,
we spend two nights in the charming mountain town of Yecora. From this
rustic home base we hike to the Mesa Campanero where we've found Aztec thrush,
white-striped woodcreeper, crescent-chested warbler. black-eared bushtit, tufted
flycatcher, greater pewee, mo While in the mountains, we visit the small, beautiful town of Santa Ana and the outskirts of Santa Rosa. These areas have been reliable for elegant quail, five-striped sparrow, magpie jays, zone-tailed hawk, yellow grosbeak, and many others. The well-kept homes with beautiful gardens of electricty-less Santa Ana are also homes for spiny-tailed iguanas. A nearby stream with figs is a great lunch stop. One never knows exactly when the figs will have ripe fruit, but when they do, they can be full of trogons, robins, tanagers, rufous-bellied chachalacas, and magpie jays. From the TDF around Santa Ana, we slowly descend to the coastal plain where we spend the night in Navojoa. The feel of the tropics is strong, and the grounds around our hotel are lush with figs, bananas, and plumeria . Mexican (blue-rumped) parrotlets and white-fronted parrots are sometimes seen in the nearby trees. Black-bellied whistling ducks, groove-billed anis, Sinaloa crows, and wood storks may be nearby in the late summer. From Navojoa, we head south to the fishing camp of Naopatia on the edge of the Estero Bamocha on the Sinaloa border. Our hosts, Adam Hannuksela of the Alamos Wildlands Project, and locals Ruben and Pita, have created an idyllic nature-based education camp, complete with "organic" dwellings and a solar-cooked fish fry lunch to die for. We prepare our appetite with a morning boat tour of the estuary. This nearly pristine place has a magical ambiance. The cactus forest, or mattoral, comes right down to the blue water's edge, creating an unforgettable image. Red, white, and black mangroves line the shores around the rich estuary. Dolphins are almost always seen as are frigatebirds, boobies, plovers, shorebirds, many species of waders, terns, and waterfowl. Mangrove vireo, warbler, and swallow approach their northern limits in this area. The mattoral is a good place for Harris' hawk and gilded flicker, and we've also seen bobcat, coyote, western diamondback rattlesnake, and boa constrictor. The Naopatia camp is a hard place to leave, but arriving
in the beautiful colonial town of Alamos will make our parting a little
easier. The colonial history and architecture of the town, the
tropical rivers, the wildlife, and our wonderful accomm The trip home, as always, includes a stop at the mudflats of Isla Huivulai and the Estero Tobari where thousands of birds take advantage of the rich resources - roseate spoonbill, ruddy and black turnstone, up to eight species of tern, peregrine falcon, and large numbers of waders, shorebirds, and waterfowl are regulars. One early October, while passing through an agricultural area on the coastal plain near Isla Hiuvulai, we crossed paths with about 100 migrating Swainson's hawks, which had found a mother lode of migratory fuel. A farmer was plowing a field and stirring up dozens of small rodents, which the dive-bombing hawks feasted upon. Dark, light, and intermediate morphs, including both adults and immatures of each morph, provided an almost overwhelming study of six flavors of these stunning birds. This memorable adventure in Sonora, because of the variety it offers, its proximity to Arizona, and the exciting transition between desert and tropics, is one of the places that I most enjoy sharing with others. Photos: Elegant quail, Blackened bluewing, and Crescent-chested warbler by Sandy & Betsy Kunzer |
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small towns with origins in the
mid 1600s. The lush Rio Sonora
attracts an excellent variety of birds including gray hawks, green kingfisher,
hooded oriole, violet-crowned hummingbird, and many warblers, flycatchers,
sparrows and buntings. Occasionally something a little unusual like a
flock of pinyon jays is seen, and towards the southern end of our drive we
sometimes encounter the first Mexican specialties - black-capped gnatcatcher, elegant
quail, and streak-backed oriole. Spring wildflowers vary with winter rains,
but cacti, poppies, composites, and legumes can produce spectacular
blooms. One of my favorite spring bloomers is the silky oak, an exotic
from Australia planted in small towns and displaying bright red-orange flower
clusters in a shape typical of its relatives in the Proteaceae. When ripe,
the nectar-laden flowers attract dozens of grosbeaks, tanagers, and
orioles. Early fall
flowers are usually outstanding and rich with butterflies and other
pollinators. The lushness and productivity of this remote area is seen
both in the flora and fauna and in the dark crimson chile ristras hanging from
village porches in the fall months. 
untain trogon, gray silky flycatcher, and Mexican chickadee. Amidst the pines, oaks,
manzanita, and madrone, we're had the good fortune to see mountain tree frog,
banded rock rattlesnake, and madrone caterpillar nests. We stop at several
lush barrancas where birds and wildflowers can be thick. Our favorite stop
is an area rich in red salvias that are magnets for berylline and white-eared
hummingbirds in the late summer. A resident northern pygmy owl once brought in a
mob of well over 50 berylline hummingbirds. Blue mockingbird,
orange-billed and russet nightingale thrushes, spotted wren, rusty sparrow, rufous-capped warbler,
slate-throated redstart, brown-backed solitaire, black-vented oriole, red-faced
warbler, rufous-capped brushfinch, and elegant trogon can all be found in this one spot.
odations at Rancho Acosta,
where we spend three nights, make for a perfect ending to the trip. Some of the birds we
see and enjoy while walking along the Rio Cuchujaqui and the Aduana Arroyo include Sinaloa wren,
flocks of purplish-backed jays, squirrel cuckoo, plain-capped starthroat,
Mexican parrotlet, social flycatcher, white-tipped dove, ferruginous pygmy owl,
great black hawk, and crane hawk. Spring highlights have included a fruiting
fig in the Aduana Arroyo filled with more than 50 white-fronted parrots and a
flowering guamuchil dripping with a dozen species of warbler. Among
the reptiles, we've had the great luck to find Mexican beaded lizard, green
parrot snake, and the striking cantil (Agkistrodon bilineatus).