Week 3: Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Hola!  Greetings from Mexico... Yes, not exactly birding locally on my 3rd week of my "little year", but I've been seeing some great birds here in Loreto, a small village near a marine sanctuary in the southern state of Baja California in Mexico.  

Here's what I've seen so far that I haven't seen elsewhere this year:

• Blue-footed Boobies diving after sardines in the harbor here.  It's an amazing sight to see the 50 or more dive in unison into the water.
• Brown Boobies flying amongst the many other birds hunting for sardines, too.
• Heerman's gulls stealing sardines from Brown Pelicans.
• Hooded Orioles in the brushy trees in front of the house where I'm staying.
• Two Gila Woodpeckers that hopped on the fence across the street looking for food briefly.

The marine protected area here must be helping the vast numbers of seabirds that are found rafting off the coast of Loreto.  If I had a spotting scope, I bet I'd be seeing lots more.  I'll keep updating this as the week goes on.  

I'm arranging a birding trip to San Ignacio Lagoon in January next year that will include seeing the wintering gray whales that come to breed and maybe even some sea turtles.  I'm going to come down again in June if possible to set up the trip and check out the birds.  The local guide has a list of over 200 species just in the lagoon.