![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Ring-billed-Gull-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022-1.jpg?resize=740%2C457&ssl=1)
The fall of 2022 turned out to be a good time for birding and me. But I didn’t do a very good job with the follow-up tasks: processing my photos, completing my reports, and writing about them in this site. Which is why, upon reviewing my photos from my first post-Old World outing, I realized two things:
- I hadn’t attached a single photo to my eBird list.
- There were a lot of nice shots in there.
Because of point number two, I will avoid my usual wordy exposition, and go straight to the photos. These are all from Lake Cuitzeo, to which I went to see the migratory waterfowl and shorebirds that had arrived while we were in Spain and the Middle East.
I’ll start with this Cinnamon Teal. Occasionally a bird photo is more about the habitat than the bird itself.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Cinnamon-Teal-female-in-flight-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
The same could be said about this shot of a Northern Shoveler.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Northern-Shoveler.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
There seem to be an unusually large number of American Wigeons on the lake this winter. Which is fine… I like American Wigeons.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/American-Wigeons-in-flight-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
I’m also a big fan of birds lining up in pairs for purpose of comparison. These two are a Cinnamon Teal and a Blue-winged Teal.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Cinnamon-and-Blue-winged-Teals-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
You can always count on Northern Pintails being present at the lake in winter.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Northern-Pintail.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
Ring-billed Gulls are the most common gulls at the lake. But they rarely fly by me at such a close distance.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Ring-billed-Gull-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
Unfortunately, Ruddy Ducks can’t always have bright blue bills. But they keep their tails stiff anyway.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Ruddy-Ducks-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
And then I came across an American Avocet, who gave me a class in the strange art of Avocet feeding.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/American-Avocet-1-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/American-Avocet-2-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/American-Avocet-3-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
Avocets sometimes line up in a sort of sweeping, avian feeding chorus line. Several photos from this day suggest that Lesser Yellowlegs prefer the synchronized doubles event.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Lesser-Yellowlegs-2-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C421&ssl=1)
For some reason, when I see two Red-tailed Hawks flying together down here, one always seems to be a light morph, and the other a dark morph. I appreciate the diversity.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Red-talled-Hawks-2-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
As I continued on to the north shore of the lake, a Loggerhead Shrike let me get an unusually close look.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Loggerhead-Shrike-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
After that, it was all about the shorebirds. Some Western Sandpipers gave me a rather poetic look at them.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Western-Sandpipers-Lago-de-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
A Semipalmated Plover gave me a look that pierced my soul.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Semipalmated-Plover-among-Killdeers-Capacho-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
A Willet flew by, leaving no doubt that it was, in fact, a Willet. This was a bit of a privilege, since Willets usually head straight to the coast in the winter.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Willet-Capacho-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C389&ssl=1)
But one of the favorite sightings I may have at the lake in winter is of Wilson’s Snipes. A few birds seem to exist to help us laugh.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Wilsons-Snipe-Cuitzeo-October-2022.jpg?resize=630%2C420&ssl=1)
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