Musings from the Las Conchas Peninsula

This Beach if for the Birds

I returned recently to Puerto Penasco from a month in Salt Lake City Utah, looking forward to the perfect fall weather. I am anxious to see all the owners of Tessoro who have moved into their condos and are making new friends and new buyers as they go.

In the past week, I have been working early mornings and late afternoons doing some landscaping at my own home in Las Conchas. Something I always pay attention to is the beautiful surrounding and the multitude of nature that is on my back doorstep in Rocky Point. I could not help notice a distinguished visitor.

One of the intriguing creatures I’ve encountered over the past 18 years of frequenting Puerto Peñasco, traveling the beaches of Sonora and taking several trips into the Baja is the majestic Frigatebird. It is actually called the “magnificent Frigatebird”(Fregata magnificens). These birds have a wingspan that is over 7 feet long. Although they are quite common in the Baja and the southern coastlines of Sonora, in Puerto Penasco they are more of a rare visitor. They hover in groups of two or three (sometimes more) using updrafts to soar and play in the wind. They live on remote nests on islands or areas that are difficult to get to, and they feed on fish. They are really fun to watch, in both their majesty and mischievousness. It happens they are masters at theft, stealing fish in air from other birds.

Just this past week, in Rocky Point and in Las Conchas, there have been several Frigatebirds or groups of them soaring high above the beaches, seemingly just having fun. They are an amazing bird and one to look for when you visit Tessoro. You may well see them if you hurry down but, again, they are not that abundant in our area. That is why my personal landscaping project is not moving forward as quickly as it should – - I’ve been watching the birds . . .

By Scott Spackeen