Magdalena Bay, Baja California
We had ventured here from as far away as Australia, Scotland, Canada and mainland Mexico, as well as from Hawaii, Alaska and many other states within the Union. We had come to explore, to learn, to experience. The natural and cultural history of Baja California formed our curriculum. Most of all, however, we had come here to enjoy a winter vacation on an astonishingly rich body of water that surrounds a bountiful and beautiful desert.
Whales were the major attraction. We were fortunate to find ourselves among Blue Whales, the largest creature on Earth, even before our first breakfast. Later, we glimpsed a Bryde’s Whale, marveled at the rough and tumble antics of courting Humpback Whales and enjoyed the body surfing of Bottlenose and Common dolphins.
Like us, many of the whales are visitors, but there are other visitors here, as well. The number of bird species in Baja, California may not be as impressive as in the diverse habitats of other parts of Mexico, but Baja’s birds are no less exciting and no less challenging to identify. In the short time we have been here we have seen both resident and visiting species. Among the later are some that may very well have come from the same countries and states that we on board represent. Greeting us as we entered Magdalena Bay today was a Sooty Shearwater, possibly one that has been following the clockwise gyre of the North Pacific Ocean and is now returning to its Australian nesting grounds. Black Turnstones, Whimbrels and Red-breasted Mergansers may well have traveled south from Alaska. Representing Canada may be the Marbled Godwits and Least Sandpipers. The Eared Grebes and Belted Kingfishers are likely winter visitors from the United States. And the White Ibises in the mangroves of Hull Canal may have come over from mainland Mexico.
It is quite understandable that we have not yet encountered birds from Scotland or Hawaii. However, the many Red Phalaropes and Red-necked Phalaropes seen today are of the same species that moves along the coast of Scotland on its annual migration between the circumpolar tundra of the Arctic and the rich Benguela Current off southern Africa’s Atlantic coast.
Today was a travel day for us, from a jumbled Pacific Ocean to a placid Magdalena Bay on the west side of this mysterious peninsula. And today was a day for birds. Tomorrow we will search for Gray Whales. For centuries this summer visitor to Alaska has chosen the calm, warm and protected waters of Baja’s coastal lagoons as its place to breed and give birth. Mexico is home to the Gray Whale.
We had ventured here from as far away as Australia, Scotland, Canada and mainland Mexico, as well as from Hawaii, Alaska and many other states within the Union. We had come to explore, to learn, to experience. The natural and cultural history of Baja California formed our curriculum. Most of all, however, we had come here to enjoy a winter vacation on an astonishingly rich body of water that surrounds a bountiful and beautiful desert.
Whales were the major attraction. We were fortunate to find ourselves among Blue Whales, the largest creature on Earth, even before our first breakfast. Later, we glimpsed a Bryde’s Whale, marveled at the rough and tumble antics of courting Humpback Whales and enjoyed the body surfing of Bottlenose and Common dolphins.
Like us, many of the whales are visitors, but there are other visitors here, as well. The number of bird species in Baja, California may not be as impressive as in the diverse habitats of other parts of Mexico, but Baja’s birds are no less exciting and no less challenging to identify. In the short time we have been here we have seen both resident and visiting species. Among the later are some that may very well have come from the same countries and states that we on board represent. Greeting us as we entered Magdalena Bay today was a Sooty Shearwater, possibly one that has been following the clockwise gyre of the North Pacific Ocean and is now returning to its Australian nesting grounds. Black Turnstones, Whimbrels and Red-breasted Mergansers may well have traveled south from Alaska. Representing Canada may be the Marbled Godwits and Least Sandpipers. The Eared Grebes and Belted Kingfishers are likely winter visitors from the United States. And the White Ibises in the mangroves of Hull Canal may have come over from mainland Mexico.
It is quite understandable that we have not yet encountered birds from Scotland or Hawaii. However, the many Red Phalaropes and Red-necked Phalaropes seen today are of the same species that moves along the coast of Scotland on its annual migration between the circumpolar tundra of the Arctic and the rich Benguela Current off southern Africa’s Atlantic coast.
Today was a travel day for us, from a jumbled Pacific Ocean to a placid Magdalena Bay on the west side of this mysterious peninsula. And today was a day for birds. Tomorrow we will search for Gray Whales. For centuries this summer visitor to Alaska has chosen the calm, warm and protected waters of Baja’s coastal lagoons as its place to breed and give birth. Mexico is home to the Gray Whale.
