birding...

Xantus' Hummingbird Hylocharis xantusii ©Tom Haglund

Baja California Sur hasn't been a known birding hotspot for a couple of pretty good reasons; want of information because all major promotion is for other activities, and ease of access is recent and yet a touch rustic for many. Not, repeat, NOT for want of birds.

The peninsula's southern half hosts dozens of species of shorebirds and pelagics, three of doves, multitudes of raptors and scavengers, hummingbirds, songbirds, swallows, thrashers, quail, flycatchers, orioles, woodpeckers, wrens, cardinals, sparrows, waterfowl, corvids, and many, many others. There are endemics and migrators, nesters and vagrants, the bold and the very shy.

The northernmost major town in the state is Guerrero Negro, whose vast wetlands are seasonally alive with Black Brant, ducks and teal, and all the waders and fish chasers found on the central stretch of the Pacific coast. At the other end, San Jose del Cabo is divided by an estuary that is already one of the very few regularly visited birding spots in the state. Between lie more than a thousand miles of coastline, both Pacific and Gulf, that have been pretty much off the path of birders.

Bahia Magdelena is hundreds of square miles of salt water between barrier islands and mangrove channels and supports an astounding number and variety of birds. Mulegé is on the Gulf of California at the mouth of the river of the same name and is another flyway stopover and year-round water bird haven. Loreto is where we can see it almost literally rain pelicans, boobies, terns, cormorants, and gulls as they bombard huge shoals of sardines all along the waterfront every morning and evening. The islands of both the Pacific and especially the Gulf teem with seabirds.

The desert and mountains that separate the seas are not a sprawl of sameness as many believe but are varied in elevations, micro climates, and vegetation zones providing habitat for large populations of wildlife, including birds, birds, and more birds.

This recently opened up setting is perhaps different than the regular birder is used to. If you like to prop your scope on the hood of your car and spot in comfort and ease, BCS is perhaps not your dish. If you know about rough trails, good shoes, and proper hydration, you may have found here that magical place where you're not standing right where some other person has stood and looking at the same bird.