Our southbound travel through the waters of the Gulf of California and over the Gorda Banks took us from the rich sea back to the thrift of the desert land again. After the morning of some fascinating humpback whale watching, we landed in the port of Cabo San Lucas where another sort of mammal-watching drew attention away from the wildness we have grown accustomed to enjoying.
An enthusiastic group cut the town visit short to get back into the desert again, and have a look at the avian life of the thorn forest/cactus desert of southern peninsular Baja California. Though the afternoon heat slowed down activity a bit, we began our bird walk observing some of the best-adapted desert survivors, the white-winged doves. Passing by elephant trees filled with tiny purple fruits we had an idea of what feeds these easily seen birds. Costa's hummingbirds perched high on prominent twigs and made short runs from long tubular red flowers from one thorny palo Adan shrub to the next. Soon the yellow-orange brilliance of hooded orioles caught our attention, followed by some sweetly sung tunes mimicked by a northern mockingbird. We wound our way through lovely forms of cacti, and marveled at the consistency with which the birds like to take center stage, viewing their world from the tops of the cardons and shrubs. What an easy habitat for viewing the bird world.
As the afternoon cooled down and the songbirds became more active we saw the graceful turkey vultures begin to come in to roost. Unable to fly far without the support of warm air thermals, these birds are some of the first to come to land for the evening. The "Zopilote" is a favorite bird in Mexico for the service it performs in scavenging its food from the desert dead. It has the rare ability among birds to find its prey by a keen sense of smell, even from very long distances. The featherless naked head of this creature drops its popularity among some observers but serves it well in keeping clean while scavenging the bones of large mammals.
