Rich Hoyer on his recent private tour to Baja California Sur

Extremely pleasant weather, plenty of great birds, and some emotionally intense wildlife encounters outlined the Baja California Sur section of the tour. Topping all was our second boat ride on Bahia Magdalena to witness the wintering Gray Whales. After being thoroughly delighted with our views of a shy female with her very young calf, we proceeded to encounter another mother who seemed to enjoy showing her week-old baby the delights of a boatful of humans. Over an hour spent with them seemed to pass in a moment, during which time some of us even got to stroke the baby when it surfaced right next to the boat. On another occasion we had the fortune of staying at a B & B by a beach and arriving there in time to watch the sunset release of about 130 baby Olive Ridley sea turtles, hatched during the day in an enclosure protected from predators.

The rest of our week was spent visiting a variety of habitats from mudflats to desert to oak woodlands where we saw a total of 173 species, about 70 of which were new for the trip, including the few endemics found in the Cape Region. The adorable California Quail delighted most of all, but it was close in votes to a stunning male Costa’s Hummingbird with his glittering, violet-flared gorget and crown. Other bird highlights were colorful Spotted Towhees in the mountains; a couple of Greater Roadrunners; a Western Screech-Owl sitting low in a bush—doing its best, but failing, to avoid being seen; a stake-out vagrant Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that had been a longshot, not having been seen in over two months; and cheeky Cactus Wrens, always charismatic with their complex colors and patterns and bold personalities.

Gray Whales

Olive Ridley sea turtles

Gray Thrasher