female – Baja California Sur, Mexico
Bird of the Day: Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Villa del Faro)
female – Baja California Sur, Mexico
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Organikos 
Hi Seth, I am very interested in learning more about the location of the color banded Bell’s vireo you photographed in Sierra de la Laguna on Oct. 1! I banded that bird in San Diego this past summer. I will be in Baja next week working on a research study of wintering Bell’s Vireo and would like to explore that area more. Please email me! Thanks, BK
Hi Barbara,
It’s great to hear that reporting my sighting to the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Bird Banding Laboratory resulted in you getting notified somehow!
The closest coordinates I have for where I photographed the vireo are 23.70249407, -109.9853057. I recorded those coordinates on my phone at 12:19pm and photographed the bird at 12:51. Even though I may have driven a bit between those times, I wouldn’t have gone farther than a mile.
To get to that spot, take Highway 1 to the general area and you’ll see a clear turn-off into the Sierra de la Laguna. Luckily, Google has that dirt road on its maps: https://www.google.com.mx/maps/place/23%C2%B042'09.0%22N+109%C2%B059'07.1%22W/@23.7025683,-110.0203253,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d23.7024941!4d-109.9853057?hl=en
The dirt road is drivable in a car without 4-wheel drive, but it must have high clearance, and I’d recommend 4×4 in case it rains, because in wet conditions the sandy and sometimes very steep, gullied roads would be very hard to manage.
I’m curious, not knowing enough about the difference between Bell’s Vireo and Least Bell’s Vireo: is there any way to tell which I saw from the photo?
Good luck here in Baja and let me know if you have any questions!
Hi Seth, Thanks so much for your reply!! We will definitely check out that area. I don’t remember if I told you that our research is focused on figuring out where Least Bell’s vireo spends the winter, so this is great information. Finding color banded birds is like searching for a needle in a haystack, and you found one! As for the difference between Least Bell’s versus the other 3 subspecies: Least ‘s are very white on the breast, while the other 3 have much yellower plumage on the back, flanks and breast. We sometimes see the Arizona subspecies in Baja, and they stand out as looking more yellow. Thanks! Barb