February 19 – 28, 2010 (SAF)
October `18 - 26, 2010*
April 30 - May 8, 2011
* In association with Solipaso Tours & led by Dave MacKay
COST PER PERSON, DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: Feb 2010: $2200
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $450
DEPOSIT: $500
From Tucson; includes eight nights lodging, all meals from 1st day's lunch through lunch during return trip to Tucson; excursions, guides, taxes & tips.
Not included: Laundry, phone calls, other personal expenses
Easy with a couple of moderately strenuous hikes of up to 2 miles that are optional.
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Our trips to friendly Sonora are in great demand. We typically record 225 to 250 species on our trips, while observing many of the Northwest Mexican endemics. The culture, history and cuisine of Sonora are especially appealing to our participants. Sightings such as the Mexican Beaded Lizard, Desert Tortoise and Parrot Snake add to the excitement and diversity of these trips.
An advantage of our Sonora trips is their accessibility by vehicle from Arizona, allowing us to enter Mexico in well-supplied and good vehicles. Please consider joining us for an adventure to the vast and beautiful state of Sonora, Mexico.
These are the areas we expect to visit in Sonora.
Estero Tobari is located between Cuidad Obregon and Navajoa. Its mudflats typcially host thousands of wintering shorebirds, egrets, herons, spoonbills, gulls and terns.
Of particular note and easily seen are. Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Roseate Spoonbills, Yellow-crowned Night-herons, Wilson's Plovers, Marbled Godwits, Elegant and Gull-billed Terns. A quarter mile beyond the estuary is the Sea of Cortez where we usually find Blue-footed & Brown Boobies; and Pacific & Common Loons.
Yecora is located 168 miles east of Hermosillo, deep in the barrancas of the Sierra Madres. It's a small, dusty, charming cattle town tucked into a valley be-tween two high mesas.
Our Christmas counts have been averaging more than 165 species. Military Macaw; Blue-hooded Euphonia; Hooded Grosbeak; Red-billed Pigeon; Mountain & Least Pygmy-owl; White-eared and Berylline Humming-bird; Mountain & Eared Trogon; Gray-crowned Woodpecker; White-striped Woodcreeper; Gray-collared Becard; Black-throated Magpie-Jay; Mexican Chickadee; Spotted Wren; Brown-backed Solitaire; Russet & Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush; White-throated Robin; Blue Mockingbird; Slate-throated Redstart; Fan-tailed, Rufous-capped & Crescent-chested Warblers; Rusty Sparrow; Rufous-capped Brushfinch; Black-vented & Streak-backed Oriole; and Black-headed Siskin, have all been seen in the Yecora area as well as montane-forest breeding species of Southeastern Arizona.
We also drive some backroads through several timeless towns such as Santa Ana, where electricity has only been introduced in the last year.
We often see many of the species we are seeking on these back roads, but we also get a chance to see how the rural Mexicans or campesinos continue to live as they have for centuries.
Designed in the 1700's by the King of Spain's personal architect, Alamos represents one of the finest examples of old Spanish colonial architecture. The city has been completely restored over the past fifty years, with considerable assistance from expatriate Americans. In the Alamos area, we encounter pristine tropical deciduous forest for the first time. The Alamos area represents the Northern extent of this habitat that stretches all the way to Costa Rica. The Rio Cuchijaqui provides a rich riparian garden for many of the tropical species.
We’ll be spending four nights in the newly completed El Pedregal, www.elpedregalmexico.com, owned by our long-time birding friends, Dave & Jennnifer MacKay. They have 20 acres or more at the base of Sierra de Alamos, and the birding is exceptional. Jennifer, as usual, provides outstanding cooking as well.
Military Macaw nest in the cliffs of the Sierra de Alamos though not easy to find before they begin nesting in late May. Bare-throated Tiger-Heron; Rufous-bellied Chachalaca; Crane Hawk; White-tailed Hawk; Great Black Hawk; Solitary Eagle; Laughing Falcon; White-fronted & Lilac-crowned Parrots; Mexican Parrot-let; White-tipped Dove; Ruddy Ground-Dove; Lesser Roadrunner; Groove-billed Ani; Ferruginous Pygmy-owl; Mottled Owl; Plain-capped Starthroat; Violet-crowned Hummingbird; Russet-crowned Motmot, Lineated Woodpeckers, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper; Tufted & Nutting's Flycatcher; Bright-Rumped Attila; Great Kiskadee; Social Flycatcher; Thick-billed & Tropical Kingbird; Rufous-backed Robin; Gray Silky-Flycatcher; Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush; Purplish-backed Jay; Sinaloa Crow; Sinaloa & Happy Wren; Five-striped Sparrow; Scrub Euphonia, Yellow Grosbeak, and Rusty Ground-sparrow have all been seen in the Alamos area. If the water level is high enough, we will take a lovely raft trip down the Rio Mayo.
DAY ONE: Depart after breakfast at about 7:30 AM. Cross border at Naco, Arizona. Birding along the lovely Rio Sonora Valley. Arrive Hermosillo about 5:30. Dinner and overnight in Hermosillo.
HOTEL: Hermosillo
DAY TWO: Breakfast at 6:00 AM. Depart by 6:30 AM for Yecora. Birding along the way with significant stops at Puente San Jose de Pima and fig tree canyon as well as“The Barranca”. Arrive Yecora by about 5:00 PM. Dinner at Los Agualitos and overnight at Motel King.
HOTEL: Yecora
DAY THREE: Breakfast at 5:00 AM. Birding all day at the Barranca and Mesa Companera with box lunches. Dinner at Los Aguajitos. Overnight at Motel King.
HOTEL: Yecora
DAY FOUR: Breakfast at 6:30 AM. Depart for Alamos. Drive the back way through Santa Ana and beautiful habitat for birding. Box lunch along the way. Arrive Alamos at about 5:30. Dinner and overnight at El Pedregal.
HOTEL: Alamos, El Pedregal
DAY FIVE: Breakfast at 6:00 AM. Depart for Aduana Arroyo and birding all morning. Back for lunch about 12:30. Siesta after lunch until 4:00 PM. Drive to microwave tower road, bird for a couple hours.
HOTEL: Alamos, El Pedregal
DAY SIX: Breakfast at 6:00 AM. If water level is adequate, all-day raft trip on the Rio Mayo. Otherwise, drive to Mintedera and Rio Cuchiqaqui. Birding all morning, lunch along the river, then return about 2:00.
HOTEL: Alamos, El Pedregal
DAY SEVEN: Breakfast at 7:00 AM. Drive to Estero Tobari and Sea of Cortez. Birding all day with lunch there.
HOTEL: Alamos, El Pedregal
DAY EIGHT: Depart from Alamos at about 8:00 AM after breakfast. Drive to San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez.
DAY NINE: After a leisurely breakfast, we make our way back to Tucson where the trip ends.
Temperatures will generally be in the 60’s to 80’s, but it can get cool in the morning, sometimes down to 30 or so.
Casual, informal attire is acceptable everywhere we’ll be dining, although you’re welcome to dress up if you’d like. You would fit in either way.
A best field guide for birding in Mexico is A Guide To The Birds Of Mexico and Northern Central America by Steve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb; Oxford University Press; 1995. If you buy it via the Audubon Shoppe, have them do the plates separately, or go to Kinko’s and have them cut and bind.
The Secret Forest by Charles Bowden; University of New Mexico Press; Albuquerque, 1993.
The Birds of Sonora by Steven Russell & Gale Monson; The University of Arizona Press; Tucson; 1998. Unfortunately, bird distribution patterns are already outdated, but still a good reference.
All books can be obtained from Madison Audubon Shoppe (888) 505-9056 at a 10% discount for High Lonesome BirdTours trip participants .