Birding with Ed

Jan 19  2017 Los Ayala Nayarit Mexico

One morning while birding I met a couple of hikers. We got talking about birds, I asked if they knew anyone local who might be able to provide some local birding tips. We exchanged e-mails and I thought nothing of it. Next morning I received a text from Quadra Island BC birder Ed Jordan. Ed spends his winters here. He knows his way around the area and has a very good knowledge of local birds. I think he said he has five hundred Mexicans species on his list. One morning we took a walk around his patch, the village of Los Ayala. We walked along the beach, through the sleepy village and skirted around some nearby farmland. The buntings were particularly skittish and I had to crop and enlarge them considerably but I am happy enough with results to publish them here.

Blue bunting 

One thing that has become apparent on my birding adventures is that the pure joy of observing birds, sharing those experiences with others like Ed provides just as much enjoyment as the bird photography itself. Freed from the constraints of having to "nail" the shot I am just as happy to get some decent ID shots for my slideshows.

Male blue grosbeak (Lifer)

As a photographer I have been wondering around about what will happen with all the thousands of files that I will or am amassing. Sometimes I think to myself , how many short-eared owl shots or vermillion flycatchers do I really need! I must be that collecting, listing obsession I touched on in an earlier blog.

Female blue grosbeak.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher.

Ivory-billed woodcreeper.

Russet-crowned Mot Mot (Lifer)

 Ed was particularly happy that I managed to see my first Mot Mot. Found in Mexico and Guatemala it prefers scrub and dry woodlands.

San Blas jay (Lifer)

For a complete list of birds check the link below:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33791290

"It's never too late to start birding in Mexico"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

BC Canada