Day 3, December 7, Traveling to Paradise

We got up and had some breakfast outside at Las Gloriales. The weather was a bit foggy, but there was no rain. We had a pretty long drive ahead of us to Pico Bonito, but we could squeeze a bit of birding in on the way. We had to be in San Pedro Sula to transfer to a new van by 1:30PM. That gave us a couple of hours if we left early. After a quick stop near the hotel, without seeing much, we got on our way. Tegucigalpa was challenging again. There isn't a straight street in that city!

We made a quick stop along the road in the dry scrub forest,  where we found a couple of Streak-backed Orioles.  Martin spotted a pair of Western Tanagers. One bird that Martin really wanted to get some photos of was White-throated Flycatcher. It is one of the empidonax flycatchers, which all look alike. Identifying them is a huge challenge. White-throated occurs very close to the Texas border and could possibly occur there in the future. It likes wet marshy areas. Esdras knew a good spot at a hotel on Lake Yojoa, which was on our way. We could also grab an early lunch there.

We arrived at the hotel, called Finca Las Glorias. The grounds looked great. We spotted a couple of Rufous-naped Wrens chasing each other in a large tree. We stopped at the hotel restaurant to check on lunch and told them we would be birding around the grounds. We headed down to the lake side, where a large foot bridge crossed a small inlet. A young Snail Kite was perched on a light pole. Esdras started playing the call of the flycatcher and almost immediately one responded. We were able to get some photos and study the bird and its call, which is very different than any of the North American empidonax flycatchers. We scoped some ducks out on the lake to pad our Honduras list.

There was a stable between the lake and the hotel. Some guys rolled out a marimba and got out a few rhythm instruments and started playing. A man on a white horse came out of the stable, with the horse "dancing" to the music. They were followed by a young colt, who looked like he was imitating the dancing gate. I was impressed, but that isn't difficult. We walked around a bit more, looking for butterflies and other birds. It was time for lunch and we partook of the really nice buffet.

We hustled to our meeting point to change vans. Omar, our driver, had to return to Tegucigalpa. We arrived and moved our things to the Pico Bonito van. It was still a couple of hours to the lodge, so we took off. We were seeing a lot of Honduras! We passed huge plantations of African Palms, which are grown for oil. A lot of habitat has been lost to this crop.  Despite this, the countryside was beautiful, with lots of small mountains. We noted a lot of very clear looking rocky rivers, though there were few birds on them.

Finally, we arrived at La Ceiba, and took the turn for Pico Bonito. After a couple of kilometers, we reached the gate. The Lodge at Pico Bonito is one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. It is a far cry from some of the places Martin and I have stayed at in the tropics. It retains the adventurous feel of the tropics, but adds a great deal of luxury! The lodge sits on the edge of Pico Bonito National Park. There is over 400 acres of tropical forest. There are miles of trails and over 450 species of birds in the park. The game cameras routinely capture video of wild cats, including Jaguars.

We walked into the lobby and were met by a waiter with virgin juice drinks in hollowed out coconuts. The waiter asked if I would like rum and I replied, "Uh, yeah!" We checked in, and our luggage was taken to our cabin. We walked out on to the veranda where I got two life birds in 10 seconds, a Long-billed Hermit and the spectacular Violet Sabrewing. How can anyone not love a huge purple hummingbird with a snowy white tail? Crowned Woodnymphs and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds swarmed all around. A little Stripe-throated Hermit fed on some pink flowering shrubs. We could see the beautiful pool across the lawn.

Our cabin was a short distance away, so we walked up the path into the woods. When we reached it, Esdras pointed out a group of warblers up in a trees over the roof.  He left us and we got settled in. The cabin was beautiful, with heavy wooden shutters over the windows, a high vaulted ceiling with fans over both beds. The bedding was crisp and white. We unpacked, as we were going to be staying for five days. We stepped outside, where we heard and saw a Northern Bentbill. A Pale-billed Woodpecker was hammering away on a tree trunk above our heads. We went back inside to get ready for dinner and a Little Tinamou started calling right outside the window. This was going to be good!

We walked up to the restaurant for the first of a series of great meals. Martin had rack of lamb and I had sea bass cooked in garlic. The creme brulee. Our waiter, Howard, was awesome. We talked about how this was an experience even a non-birder would love. We went back to the cabin and fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle. There was no need for the air conditioning, as it was cool enough for a blanket. Here is a link to the lodge's web site. http://www.picobonito.com/the-lodge.html

Here are my photos for the day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157647465348594/

Bird list for the day:

Collared Aracari                
 Northern Bentbill               
Melodious Blackbird             
American Coot                   
Ring-necked Duck                 
Great Egret                      
Cattle Egret                     
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher       
White-throated Flycatcher       
Social Flycatcher               
Common Gallinule                
Great-tailed Grackle            
Roadside Hawk             
Long-billed Hermit              
Stripe-throated Hermit       
Tricolored Heron                 
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird       
Northern Jacana                 
Brown Jay                       
American Kestrel                
Tropical Kingbird               
Western Kingbird                
Great Kiskadee                  
Limpkin                       
Streak-backed Oriole            
Baltimore Oriole                
Montezuma Oropendola            
Osprey                          
 Green Parakeet                   
Tropical Parula                 
Black Phoebe                    
American Redstart               
Violet Sabrewing                
White-collared Seedeater        
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 
Barn Swallow                   
Western Tanager                 
Blue-winged Teal                 
Wood Thrush                     
Little Tinamou                 
Black Vulture                    
Turkey Vulture                   
Blue-winged Warbler             
Magnolia Warbler                
Yellow Warbler                  
Chestnut-sided Warbler          
Crowned Woodnymph               
Black-cheeked Woodpecker      
Golden-fronted Woodpecker     
Pale-billed Woodpecker       

Day 2 Dec. 6, Here Comes the Rain

Our second day was very important, as we only had one day to bird La Tigra National Park. Martin did not have many target birds for this trip; most of them were there. We both have a passion for hummingbirds. Martin wanted to see a Green-breasted Mountain Gem very badly. It would be the last member of the lanpornis family for him, and also a new bird for me. I wanted to see a Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird, and Martin wanted better looks, as he had only seen one briefly in Mexico years before. Besides the hummingbirds, there were a number of high elevation species we hoped to pick up, like Uniform Jay and several other hummingbirds for me. The hike was not going to be easy, but we were excited.

We left Las Gloriales early and started up towards the park. It was pleasantly cool, but the people we passed were bundled up like it was about to snow! We were in shirt sleeves and were fine. We stopped and Esdras started doing a Ferruginous Pygmy-owl whistle. Very quickly, we heard an answer. A very stern looking pygmy-owl glared at him. A pair of Band-backed Wrens, a new bird for me, fussed at both of them.  The first of many Wilson's Warblers flitted around. A gorgeous Blue-and-White Mockingbird gave me a really good look. It was a great start.

We moved up a bit further, to a spot that normally has the Sparkling Tailed Hummingbird. None were around, but a lot of other birds were. A Cinnamon-bellied Flower-piercer worked through the vines and bushes. We spotted a Hammond's Flycatcher. A Slate-throated Redstart joined in. I spotted an Olive Warbler. Then Martin got his target bird. Even though the Sparkling-tailed wasn't present, I was excited to get the mountain gem. Some of the pressure was off. Then it started sprinkling. It wasn't heavy and we pressed on.

We moved up further, checking places for my target hummingbird, but had no luck. We stopped in a pine forested area and heard an unearthly, beautiful song, a Slate-colored Solitaire. Tropical solitaires songs send shivers down my spine. We pushed up the hill, listening to the bird calling. Finally, we spotted the bird tucked in a pine. Esdras got the bird in the spotting scope very quickly and we enjoyed both hearing and seeing it. We also found another new bird for me, a Mountain Trogon. The sprinkling continued on and off. We made a few more stops, seeing lots of birds, but not the Sparkling-tail.

We reached the park entrance, had some late breakfast, while birding around the picnic area. The rain picked up slightly, but we didn't have any problems with it. We started up the trail. There was a pretty good incline, and I was slow, as usual. The further we got, the heavier the rain became. We were not hearing any birds at all. We kept going. The rain got even heavier. We stopped to re-evaluate our situation. The birds were totally silent. I was getting winded. We laid out our options and decided to cut our losses and head down slope. We wouldn't have minded getting wet, or tired, but not if we weren't going to see birds. We headed back down. I stopped in the headquarters, where I saw this marvelous mural.

Esdras said we could concentrate on the Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird, which was always around. Yeah, right. We made several stops, with no luck. We did see more of the mountain gems and some Azure-crowned Hummingbirds, Wilson's Warblers were driving us crazy. Who knew they could flit around like hummingbirds? The rain had slowed to a sprinkle again, making conditions more pleasant. We toyed with going back up to the park, but the last bit of the road was difficult before the heavy rains. Our vehicle was only two wheel drive, so we thought better of it. We took our time and arrived back at the hotel and had a late lunch. Martin was not feeling well, so I birded around the grounds, while he rested. It was a bit disappointing to miss the high altitude birds, and for me, the Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird, but I was still really enjoying it.

Photos from the day:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157649787320755/

Honduras, a New Notch on the Passport and Some Fabulous Birds

Martin and I had thought we wouldn't do a trip this year, but when I saw I had seven days of vacation time to use, we started thinking about what to do with it. After looking at airfares and possible birds, Honduras looked very promising. Martin would not get many life birds, but a couple were important to him. I have not had nearly the experience in Central America as Martin, so I had a lot more to gain. We put out some feelers and got an offer we couldn't refuse from James Adams from the Lodge at Pico Bonito. James put together a great package, visiting several locations, but allowing a nice long stay at the lodge, which is amazing! More on that later.

We were able to book mileage tickets on American. We flew from Houston to Miami, then to San Pedro Sula. The best part of the flight was sitting in the plane looking at Cuba below us, while eating Cuban sandwiches we picked up at the Miami airport. We landed at San Pedro Sula around 8PM. We met a driver sent by the hotel, Metrotel Express, and had no issues at all getting to the hotel. The hotel was great. They have good security, which is important, if you know anything about San Pedro Sula. Even in the dark, the gardens looked very promising.

Our guide wasn't scheduled to arrive until about 11:00 AM, so we took full advantage of the hotel garden. The first bird we ticked was Clay-colored Thrush, a bird we see in Texas. We heard Tropical Kingbirds, another bird we see in Texas. Then Great-tailed Grackles flew over. Guess where we see them? It continued with a number of birds we see in the Rio Grande Valley, Groove-billed Anis, White-collared Seedeaters, Great Kiskadee. Finally, I found a Blue-crowned Motmot, which does not occur in Texas. It is a great looking bird with long "raquets" on the end of its tail. They swing their tails like a pendulum on a clock. We picked up a number of other birds, though nothing new for us. Despite that it was great to be birding in the tropics and were enjoying our first morning. Common Basilisk lizards ran by on their hind legs. A few butterflies were flying. We looked for the resident iguana, but had no luck.

Our guide, Esdras Mejia and our drive Omar, arrived and we got on our way. We were driving to Tegucigalpa, the capital city, to stay near La Tigra National Park. Esdras had a couple of stops planned for us. The first was a restaurant on Lake Yojoa for a quick lunch and some water birding. The food was great and the lake beautiful. I was surprised to find Tilapia just pulled out of the lake is actually good! A Snail Kite hunted over the reeds. We had a few Northern Jacanas, American Wigeons, Blue-winged Teal, and I misidentified a Common Tody-flycatcher, something I didn't think possible.

Our next stop was some dry forest habitat, where I got my first life bird of the trip, White-throated Magpie-Jay. What a stunner! With a crazy dealy-bopper crest and an overly long tail, it looks like a Blue Jay that met up with Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A couple of orange orioles, darted out of sight, before we could ID them. I was hoping for a Spot-breasted, but we didn't see enough to rule out Altamira.

We drove through Tegucigalpa, which made me really happy that we had not tried to rent a car. It was insane! The streets are winding and random, and road construction was going on everywhere. We finally got through and started heading up a steep road into pine forest. Many wealthy Hondurans have homes up in this area above the city. It made the division of poor and rich very obvious. Esdras heard some bird calls and we stopped and jumped out. Bushy-crested Jays were calling in the trees above us. Unfortunately, they didn't allow for any decent photos. There were Band-backed Wrens calling in the trees lower down the hill.

We pushed on further up to our hotel, Las Gloriales Inn. This hotel has great grounds, with birds all around. Across the road, we walked past a small house to a ridge, where we picked up Azure-crowned Hummingbird, and Blue-and-white Mockingbird, a real stunner! I practiced my very poor Spanish with a little boy named Marlo, who lived in the house. The sunset over the mountains was spectacular. We walked back to a very nice dinner. After I recovered from the shock of finding out there was no WIFI, we went walking around looking for a Fulvous Owl in vain. I collapsed into bed at about 8PM.

Link to my photos for the day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157649349080967/

The Last Day of BIrding. Have the Pancakes!

After returning from Rio Lagartos, we sat at dinner and discussed what we should do on our last day. It was the one day we left open, thinking we could return to the coast or try and find someplace close to Cancun. I suggested we visit Coba, a small near by city with a lake known in the past for having Spotted Rail and a great archaeological site set back in the jungle. Martin and Dan said it sounded good to them, so a plan was made.

We got up and left the hotel, a bit regretfully, I will say. We drove to Coba and scanned the lake, which the town is built around. There was some flooding going on. Several low lying businesses were partially underwater. It didn't look promising for rails at all, but we thought we would give it a go anyway.  We were a bit hungry and Dan and I were craving coffee, so we stopped at a restaurant next to the lake. The waiter told us they opened at 8:00AM, which wasn't too long. We said we would be back. We drove around the lake as far as we could, until flood waters were too deep. Both a Ringed and Belted Kingfisher were hunting from utility wires over the lake. The lake itself was almost devoid of water fowl. In fact, there were no ducks at all, only some Pied-billed Grebes.

Where we ran out of dry road had a small group of trees and some tall grasses in the water. We started scanning the trees and Martin found a female Cape May Warbler. I discovered a great looking lizard with a very long tail. Some friends identified it as a young Basilisk. Martin had moved down to the end of the grasses looking for dragonflies. Suddenly he started waving for us to come over. There was a Ruddy Crake working through the grasses. Crakes are almost always tough to see, but this one was semi-cooperative. We even got a few pictures. Then we saw another one and heard a third. A Limpkin strolled by. It was 8:00AM so we decided to celebrate with breakfast.

We drove back to the restaurant and parked the car. We went in only to find out they actually don't serve breakfast until 9:00AM. The 8:00AM opening was for the ruins, which, unknown to us, were right behind the restaurant. We decided to go to the ruins and come back out at 9:00AM. As we were preparing to go in tourists started to arrive, but not in huge numbers. We passed the souvenir vendors, who were also selling things for "almost free." We purchased tickets and walked in. It was a bit of a walk to get to the ruins. As we passed through the trees we came to a huge lot with hundreds of bicycles and pedi-cabs. This was rather disconcerting. How many people were they expecting?

We walked further in and the ruins were great! They are very similar to the ones at Calakmul, buried in the forest. There was a really cool structure with huge stone rings on either side, that I assume was a game court. The pyramid was awesome. We quickly found Yellow-throated Euphonias and a stunning Gartered Trogon. I found a couple of butterflies, including a Ruddy Daggerwing. It was finally 9:00AM, so we decided to go eat and then return.

We sat down and ordered breakfast. Dan and Martin got Huevos Mexicanos, but I am not all that crazy about eggs, so I ordered pancakes. They both looked at me like I was silly for getting pancakes in Mexico, but boy, were they wrong. The waiter brought our food and as soon as he sat mine in front of me Martin said "Those pancakes smell incredibly nice!" They were incredibly nice. I am not sure what they do to them, but they were the best pancakes I have ever eaten. They were yellowish, and I suspect they had corn in them. They were naturally sweet. I gave Dan and Martin both a bite and they were very jealous!

After we ate we went back into the ruins. Martin wasn't feeling very well and didn't want to walk a long way, so we agreed to meet at the restaurant at about 11:30AM. Dan and I took off to see some structures about a kilometer away from the entrance. We got about half way there when we heard a lot of jays calling down low. There was an ant swarm. Ant Tanagers were all over the ground. Ivory-billed, Olivaceous , and Ruddy-winged Woodcreepers were on the trees. We worked the flock for a bit and then took off walking to the ruins. I got about a city block down the path, when I realized I couldn't leave that ant swarm. I told Dan I was going back and would meet him later.

As I started back, I saw some movement on the forest floor next to the path. A White-nosed Coati scrambled up one of the trees and sat on a branch looking at me nervously. I have seen Coatis before, but I was still excited. I looked up and a family with two kids were approaching in a pedi-cab. I called out "Coati!" to them and pointed up in the tree, but they were not interested at all and didn't even answer. They probably thought I was crazy. All I know is that when I was a kid I would have freaked out seeing a Coati.

I got back to the ant swarm and the birds were still very active. A number of flycatchers were moving in the tree tops. Dan came back fairly quickly and we spotted an Eye-ringed Flatbill, a flycatcher. A Bright-rumped Attila came in for a few seconds. Even though there were no new birds, it was still so much fun to watch. It was getting close to the time we were supposed to meet Martin, so we headed back. We hadn't gone far when we noticed a young man kneeling down taking photos of something on a tree trunk. Of course we had to look. It was one of the creepiest things I have ever seen! A flat mass of huge caterpillars arranged in a large oval, tail to tail. Their mouths were moving. I took a short video of it. It doesn't even begin to show the shivery creepiness of it.

 Martin was sitting at a table in the restaurant. I was surprised he didn't have a plate of pancakes in front of him, instead of just a Coke Zero. We all had a drink and then headed back out to bird. We worked the roads above the lake. I took a few butterfly photos. We saw a few birds, but it was getting really hot. We found a different restaurant with a "Mayan" buffet. The restaurant was packed with people from tour buses, probably from cruise ships, but with it being a buffet, we didn't have to wait. The food was actually quite good. We had a bit of a drive back to Cancun, so we decided to wrap things up and head back.

This trip was so much fun! I highly recommend the Yucatan. There are enough wild areas left for it to feel exotic and to see plenty of things you won't see at home. It is easy to get there. It is easy to get around. We did everything with a regular car, an SUV was not needed. The food is so good. You can find reasonably priced hotels if you get out of the tourist areas. There are not the safety issues you have in other parts of Mexico. The people were wonderful! This would be a great first trip to the tropics. If you have any questions please let me know. Thanks for sharing our trip. I can't wait for the next one!

Photos-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157638365698434/

Bird List-
Yellow-throated Euphonia      
Orange Oriole                 
Yellow-tailed Oriole          
Great-tailed Grackle          
Melodious Blackbird           
Gray-throated Chat            
Red-throated Ant-Tanager      
Red-crowned Ant-Tanager       
Summer Tanager                
Rose-throated Tanager         
Black-headed Saltator         
Black-throated Green Warbler  
Magnolia Warbler              
Northern Parula               
Cape May Warbler              
American Redstart             
Hooded Warbler                
Common Yellowthroat           
Tennessee Warbler             
Black-and-white Warbler       
Tropical Mockingbird          
Tropical Gnatcatcher          
White-bellied Wren            
Spot-breasted Wren            
Yucatan Jay                   
Green Jay                     
Yellow-throated Vireo         
White-eyed Vireo              
Rose-throated Becard          
Masked Tityra                 
Tropical Kingbird             
Social Flycatcher             
Great Kiskadee                
Bright-rumped Attila          
Eye-ringed Flatbill           
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper      
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper      
Olivaceous Woodcreeper        
Pale-billed Woodpecker        
Golden-olive Woodpecker       
Belted Kingfisher             
Ringed Kingfisher             
Gartered Trogon               
White-bellied Emerald         
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing        
Squirrel Cuckoo               
White-winged Dove             
Eurasian Collared-Dove        
Rock Pigeon                   
Ruddy Crake                   
Roadside Hawk                 
Turkey Vulture                
Black Vulture                 
Green Heron                   
Cattle Egret                  
Little Blue Heron             
Snowy Egret                   
Great Egret                   
Great Blue Heron              
Pied-billed Grebe             

A Bit of Tourism, Then Back to Birding.

We had a bit of trip north on this day. We had decided to relax a bit and leave at about 9:00AM, but I still was compelled to do some birding around the hotel. A White-bellied Emerald was visiting the flame tree by the parking lot. Blue-gray Tanagers and a few other birds came into a fruiting tree behind the building next door. I got a couple of photos of a juvenile Gray Hawk across the road. After a breakfast of eggs with hotdogs (I really need to work on my Spanish!) and a fabulous glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, we took off.

This was our day to visit Chichen Itza. Since this is a birding blog, I won't go into great detail, but I will say it was pretty spectacular. I was put off by the gauntlets of vendors all promising that their kitschy goods were almost free. It was a bit crowded, which I expected. On a positive note, I felt like the open grounds were probably more like what the original inhabitants experienced. I did feel like the constant hawking of souvenirs on the actual grounds seemed disrespectful.

We left and drove to Valladolid and our hotel, Meson del Marques. Vallodolid is centrally located and is a good jumping off point for Rio Lagarto, our next birding stop. The hotel was an amazing surprise! I highly recommend it. The atmosphere is wonderful. Our rooms were beautiful. The restaurant was fabulous, with amazingly cheap prices and fabulous margaritas.  Unfortunately we arrived and left in the dark both days, so I never got to see it in daylight.

Morning came too soon. The drive to Rio Lagartos, which is on the coast, was uneventful, with a few Road-side and Gray Hawks. We came to our first stop, a road leading to Los Colorados. We got out of the car and Dan said he had a hawk. We turned to see a slate gray bird with a longish tail, unlike any hawks we had seen. Martin was thrilled beyond words, it was his long-time nemesis, the Crane Hawk. He had been in its range dozens of times, but had never been able to see one. He was able to take some diagnostic photos. It is always nice to get a "tart's tic" as they call it in the UK out of the way. It was a life bird for both Dan and me, also!

We quickly found a pair of Yucatan Wrens in the bushes near the road. A Vermilion Flycatcher sallied back and forth from a perch in the pasture. We moved down the road, searching for hummingbirds. Our main target was the Mexican Sheartail, which are fairly common in this area. We checked all of the flowering shrubs, but came up short. We also listened for Yucatan Bobwhite and Lesser Roadrunner, but again had no luck. We did see quite a few warblers and vireos working the shrubby woods along the road. I always wonder if I have ever seen any of the birds I am looking at before in Texas. I know the chances are infinitesimally small, but it is still fun to speculate.

We decided to drive into town, as we had read the sheartails can be found feeding in gardens there. Rio Lagartos is a small town, best known as a place to see American Flamingos. This usually involves a local guide taking you out in a boat. We have already seen flamingos, including one on the Texas coast that was banded as a youngster in the Rio Lagartos area, so we decided to pass. Driving into town it was obvious we didn't come from those parts. To be blunt, Martin is the whitest man in North America, with his blond hair and very fair English skin. We stood out like sore thumbs. Immediately guys on motorbike pulled up along the car offering boat trips. We politely declined and they would smile and speed off. We cruised around looking for flowers and didn't have any success finding the hummingbird. As we were driving out I noticed what I thought was a plastic flamingo in a swamp behind some houses. I yelled "Stop! Flamingo!" and we backed up. Sure enough about six were working the wet land. The owner of one of the houses motioned for us to go back and get a closer look, which we did. Martin slipped a guy a few pesos in thanks, which made the guy laugh.

We drove the opposite direction on the road we had birded earlier. We found quite a few flowers along the road and along with them, some hummingbirds. Most of what we were seeing were Ruby-throats, but we finally found our target, a female Mexican Sheartail. We were very happy, to say the least. We also discovered a Great Black Hawk perched. A Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture flew overhead. Our best find, though, wasn't a bird. A car stopped on the opposite side of the road and a very enthusiastic group of local birders jumped out.  They were with Yucatan Jay Valladolid Birding and were scouting for a birding festival, being held the following day. We had a great time visiting with them. The work with local Mayan groups trying to raise awareness of the wonderful birds in the Yucatan. They gave us advice on where to look for birds. We all left with huge smiles on our faces. They have a Facebook page. Check it out!

It was lunch time, so we went back into town. We went to a restaurant we had seen advertised, only to find it was closed. A young man, Diego, one of the guides for the flamingo trips, told us to follow him and he would take us to a different place with good food. We took him up on it. The restaurant was right on the water and we enjoyed terns, skimmers and gulls flying by. During lunch we saw a couple more flamingos across the bay. We pointed them out to a young couple and discovered the young man was from St. Auburns, right next door to where Martin grew up in England.

Diego told Martin he knew where a Mexican Sheartail nest was, so after we ate we followed him there. A nest with two hummingbird chicks was stuck on top of a light fixture hanging in front of a door to a small house. We stood across the street, so as to not disturb them and to make sure the mother felt free to come and go. Soon she arrived, perching on a phone wire over the street. She then flew in, feeding the two young birds. We certainly had not expected this when we started out in the morning. My new camera has a great zoom, so I was even able to get some photos.

We headed back to the Los Colorados Road to look for Lesser Roadrunner and Yucatan Bobwhite. There is a turn off to San Salvador, a decent dirt road. It was supposed to be a good area for the hummingbird, and we still wanted to see a male. We saw a few birds, including a couple of birds we flushed out of the grass that were certainly bobwhite. A beautiful Laughing Falcon perched up cooperatively. We came to a turn off and a man road up on a horse. He seemed agitated and in pain. Our Spanish is not always the best, but we finally gathered that he was injured and needed help. He asked that we drive back about a mile to a ranch house and let them know he was hurt. We took off and were about half way there, when two Yucatan Bobwhites strolled out on the road. We braked, but only stopped for a couple of seconds. We arrived at the ranch house and the communication problems started again. Martin was trying very hard to get them to understand. He usually does a great job, but this time they just weren't getting it. Finally I blurted out "El Caballero necesita ayuda! I am not sure that was grammatically correct, but they got the idea. We pointed them in the right direction and they tore out. Thank you Rosetta Stone!

We moved on, driving down to the beach at Los Colorados. We saw scads of flamingos along the way. We arrived at the beach in late afternoon and immediately found an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. I also found a friend, a darling five year old boy named Liam. I was actually able to carry on a bit of a conversation with him. He is going to be a heart-breaker someday. His mom came down and talked to us, as we watched fishermen bring their catch in for the day, including a huge pail of octopus. We had a long drive back to Valladolid, so we said goodbye to Liam and started back. As dusk was falling I noticed a bird on a snag in the middle of a field. We stopped and scored a Barn Owl.

Photos from the day-www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157638334982335

Bird list-
Altamira Oriole              
Orange Oriole                
Orchard Oriole               
Great-tailed Grackle         
Melodious Blackbird          
Indigo Bunting               
Blue Grosbeak                
White-collared Seedeater     
Black-throated Green Warbler 
Yellow Warbler               
Northern Parula              
American Redstart            
Common Yellowthroat          
Northern Waterthrush         
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher        
Yucatan Wren                 
Mangrove Swallow             
White-eyed Vireo             
Rose-throated Becard         
Masked Tityra                
Couch's Kingbird             
Tropical Kingbird            
Social Flycatcher            
Great Kiskadee               
Vermilion Flycatcher         
Least Flycatcher             
Peregrine Falcon             
Merlin                       
American Kestrel             
Laughing Falcon              
Crested Caracara             
Belted Kingfisher            
Cinnamon Hummingbird         
Canivet's Emerald            
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    
Mexican Sheartail            
Barn Owl                     
Groove-billed Ani            
Black-billed Cuckoo          
Mangrove Cuckoo              
Ruddy Ground-Dove            
Common Ground-Dove           
White-winged Dove            
Eurasian Collared-Dove       
Rock Pigeon                  
Black Skimmer                
Sandwich Tern                
Royal Tern                   
Forster's Tern               
Common Tern                  
Caspian Tern                 
Lesser Black-backed Gull     
Herring Gull                 
Laughing Gull                
Western Sandpiper            
Sanderling                   
Stilt Sandpiper              
Ruddy Turnstone              
Lesser Yellowlegs            
Willet                       
Greater Yellowlegs           
Northern Jacana              
Killdeer                     
Black-bellied Plover         
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt           
Short-tailed Hawk            
Gray Hawk                    
Roadside Hawk                
Great Black-Hawk             
Crane Hawk                   
Osprey                       
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture 
Turkey Vulture               
Black Vulture                
Roseate Spoonbill            
White Ibis                   
Green Heron                  
Cattle Egret                 
Reddish Egret                
Tricolored Heron             
Little Blue Heron            
Great Egret                  
Brown Pelican                
American White Pelican       
Double-crested Cormorant     
Neotropic Cormorant          
Magnificent Frigatebird      
Wood Stork                   
American Flamingo            
Black-throated Bobwhite      
Blue-winged Teal            

Calakmul. The Road to Ruins.

We had to get up very early to reach the gates to Calakmul before dawn. I think we left the hotel at about 4:30AM and arrived at the first gate a bit after 5:00AM. Even though it was very early for birds, with sunrise not until 6:00AM, this would maximize our opportunity to see mammals, with any of the cats being very high on our want list.  The bio-reserve is the best possible place to see Jaguar. The gate was open and we drove in.

We hadn't gotten 100 yards down the road when our first mammals crossed the road, a pair of Raccoons. Of course they are super common in Texas, but still, mammals are always fun! We drove a bit further and spotted eye glow. We eased up and saw a rabbit, probably an Eastern Cottontail. Guess who also lives in Texas? The next two sets of bright eyes were night birds, a Common Paraque and a Yucatan Poorwill. At least the poorwill isn't in Texas! We pushed on and as it got light we turned a corner and there in the middle of the road was a Gray Fox! Even though they live in Texas, I was still excited. I don't see fox very often. A couple of Great Currasows ran in front of us, allowing me one really awful photo.

We heard several eerie sounding whistles, Slaty-breasted Tinamous! Timamous are notoriously difficult to see. Their calls echo in the forest, but almost all looks, when you get one at all, is a tail end disappearing into the forest. They walk through the forest, camouflaged incredibly well. There were probably four or five calling and they sounded very close. Martin whistled back and one seemed to be coming closer. We peered into the dark forest, but didn't even have a glimpse. Martin whistled again and the bird seemed to be even closer. After several back and forths we gasped when the bird walked into full view! We were incredibly lucky. There were high fives all around and we got back in the car.

We arrived at the second gate and stopped to pay our fee. We heard hammering and saw a beautiful Pale-billed Woodpecker on a pole. The Ocellated Turkeys were still wandering around.  Now came the long slog to the ruins. The forest had been good up to this point. It became even better. All along the road flocks of Brown Jays flew up yelling. It sounded like they were announcing us, "CAR! CAR! CAR!" We had more Yucatan Jays, with their 1960s powder blue tuxedo wings. Much of the woods was flooded; we wanted dry ground, hoping for ant swarms. As we got further in we finally found a small swarm. Both Red-throated and Red-crowned Ant-tanagers were in attendance. We had several species of wood-creepers. The swarm was small and we decided to move on to try and find more.

We finally arrived at the site of the ruins. We started down the path towards the main temple and saw something amazing. An ant swarm was moving across the path, with the ants so thick it looked like smoke. We checked for birds, but didn't find any, but the swarm itself was stunning. None of us had ever seen one like it. I was able to get a quick video clip.







Calakmul is not one of the manicured archaeological sites. The pyramid and other structures rise right out of the jungle. We walked through moss draped trees and came face to face with a huge imposing temple. One of the nice things about Calakmul is that you are allowed to climb the structures. Unfortunately, my knees and sense of balance kept me from doing so. Dan climbed up and had incredible views of unbroken forest as far as he could see. I found it difficult to tear my eyes away from the tree draped structures and look for birds.

On the walk in we had passed a small lake. Martin was lusting after dragonflies, so he went back and Dan and I agreed to meet him a bit later. We wandered around and I found what was almost my bird of the day, a beautiful male Golden-winged Warbler, which is considered rare in that area. I photographed a few butterflies and we met back up with Martin. We did a bit more birding and decided to head back out to the entrance road. As we headed back to the car we flushed a Ruddy Quail-Dove.

We hadn't gone very far when we found another ant swarm. This one had five species of Woodcreepers, Ivory-billed, Ruddy, Olivaceous, Tawny-winged and Northern Barred. Ant-tangers were running everywhere. Martin found a Rufous Mourner, a real surprise, at least for me. A Squirrel Cuckoo came in, a bird I never tire of. Different flycatchers, including an Eye-ringed Flatbill, flitted around higher in the trees. It was very difficult to leave, but we were concerned about the gate being closed when we got back. We saw two more mammals, White-tailed Deer and Collared Peccaries, again, both commonly found in Texas. What the heck?

We worked our way back and were able to get through both gates with no problems. We arrived back at our hotel and had an excellent dinner. We discussed what we wanted to do the following day and decided to have a leisurely morning and leave for our next destination, Chichen Itza a bit later. I think we all slept very well.
Photos - www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/11172006624/in/set-72157638281416383

Bird list for the day-

Yellow-throated Euphonia     
Indigo Bunting               
Blue Grosbeak                
Gray-throated Chat           
Red-throated Ant-Tanager     
Red-crowned Ant-Tanager      
Summer Tanager               
Rose-throated Tanager        
Black-throated Green Warbler 
Magnolia Warbler             
Northern Parula              
American Redstart            
Hooded Warbler               
Common Yellowthroat          
Golden-winged Warbler        
Blue-winged Warbler          
Ovenbird                     
Gray Catbird                 
Clay-colored Thrush          
Swainson's Thrush            
Tropical Gnatcatcher         
White-bellied Wren           
Spot-breasted Wren           
Carolina Wren                
Yucatan Jay                  
Green Jay                    
Brown Jay                    
Lesser Greenlet              
Yellow-throated Vireo        
Mangrove Vireo               
White-eyed Vireo             
Masked Tityra                
Social Flycatcher            
Boat-billed Flycatcher       
Great Kiskadee               
Brown-crested Flycatcher     
Great Crested Flycatcher     
Rufous Mourner               
Least Flycatcher             
Eye-ringed Flatbill          
Northern Bentbill            
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper     
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper  
Ruddy Woodcreeper            
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper     
Olivaceous Woodcreeper       
American Kestrel            
Pale-billed Woodpecker       
Keel-billed Toucan           
Collared Aracari             
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing       
Yucatan Poorwill             
Common Pauraque              
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl   
Squirrel Cuckoo              
Ruddy Quail-Dove             
Ruddy Ground-Dove            
Red-billed Pigeon            
Scaled Pigeon                
American Coot                
Roadside Hawk                
Turkey Vulture               
Ocellated Turkey             
Great Curassow               
Plain Chachalaca             
Slaty-breasted Tinamou       

The Yucatan, Should I Stay or Should I Go? Felipe Carrillo Puerto to Calakmul

We had a long day ahead. We were moving south, almost to the border of Belize, and then west to Calakmul. Despite the longish drive, we decided to give Vigia Chico Road another shot. Before we left, Dan ran across the street from the hotel to grab a cup of coffee and brought me a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice. I can't say enough about how good orange juice can be in the tropics!

We decided to work for the Black-throated (Yucatan) Bobwhite in the scrubby fields at the start of the road. We heard a few calls and walked out on a dirt road through one of the fields. Martin whistled a few times, but got no response. Despite the lack of visible quail, we really enjoyed the field. There was a lot of "blue", Blue Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings. Orioles were abundant. We had been looking for Orange Orioles, but had only seen Altamira's and Hoodeds. Finally, a group of three birds flew around us. Martin was concentrating on photographing something, probably dragonflies, and didn't see them. Dan and I both saw the birds had orange backs, one of the distinguishing field marks and less extensive markings on the face. We also had a Black-cowled Oriole, which was new for me.

At this point we started the discussion about what to do next. Should we continue down the road, or cut out and drive to Calakmul and try to maximize our birding there? Dan and I voted to go, but Martin wanted to stay a bit longer. Martin was driving, so we stayed. We drove on and found a few birds, including a Golden-olive Woodpecker. There was a another Gray-throated Chat and a few other nice birds, but it seemed slower than the day before. We finally all agreed it was time to go.

We started south, driving to Chetumal, where you can cross the border into Belize. We kidded around about crossing over to get our passports stamped, but decided it probably wasn't a good idea. Anyway, I am boycotting Belize because of their anti-gay laws. We turned west and headed to the Campeche province. Our base of operations was in the town of Xpujil, at the Hotel Calakmul. Neither Dan nor I could get the hang of pronouncing Xpujil. That X threw us for a loop. By the time we left, a day and half later, we sort of had it, but probably not quite. As we entered town there was a fabulous statue of a very strong looking woman. I have had no luck finding out who she is, but she looks like she could kick your butt!

We checked into our hotel, which was great, by the way. It was immaculately clean, very comfortable and had a beautiful sparkling pool, with the best pool rules ever. (See my photos for the day.) We got our things settled in and jumped back in the car for the drive to Reserva de la Biosfera Calakmul.

When we talked about going to the Yucatan and I started doing research, Calakmul captured my imagination so throughly I really pushed to visit. It was way out of our way, but I just had to go. This is an area that is not well known to most Americans. The biosphere is massive, covering almost 15% of the state of Campeche. It is the site of the ancient Mayan city of Calakmul, an archaeological site comparable to Tikal in Guatemala, with 7,200 rements. The ruins are still mostly buried in the jungle, unlike the manicured Chichen Itza. The jungle holds five species of wild cats, including Jaguar, and well over 200 species of birds. Unfortunately, it is also very remote. The entrance road is 59 kilometers from Xpujil. After you turn on that road it is 20 kilometers to the first gate, then you drive another 40 kilometer to reach the ruins. The good part is the forest begins almost immediately after turning off of the highway. There is a lodge near the entrance gate, but it is very pricey, so we chose to drive from Xpujil.

We reached the turn off and found of local people manning a gate. They charged us an entrance fee and told us that gate is open all of the time. We turned in and started birding immediately. It was like the road at Felipe Carrillo Puerto; it was difficult to decide when to stop, as we were always wondering if it might be a bit better further on. We also wanted to make good use of the time scouting for the next day. The road was excellent, raised and dry. We had an agouti run across the road in front of us, so we stopped and hoped some predator would be chasing after it, but no. He was safe. We also found a Yucatan Squirrel. Then we had a wonderful surprise; a Great Currasow ran in front of the car! That was a very much wanted bird. We pushed on to the second gate, arriving right at 3:00PM, when the museum closes. We talked with the workers, who appeared to live there. They said there were Ocellated Turkeys behind the museum. We went back and one was walking around like a farm yard chicken, extremely tame and eating grain they threw out for it. It always seems a bit sleazy counting a bird like that, but I took it!

We worked our way back, birding along the way. A really awesome tarantula skittered across the road in front of the car. I was able to get some decent photos of it. A friend IDed it as a male Brachypelma epicureanum. We also had our best looks yet at Yucatan Jays, with a flock of adults and juveniles perching right by the road.  We got the main road, and headed back to the hotel. Dan took a quick swim before dinner, making me regret not bringing a swimming suit.

Here are my photos for the day-
www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157638154679814/

Bird list-
Road to Calakmul

Yellow-throated Euphonia      
Summer Tanager                
Black-throated Green Warbler  
Magnolia Warbler              
Black-and-white Warbler       
Wood Thrush                   
White-bellied Wren            
Yucatan Jay                   
Yellow-throated Vireo         
Great Crested Flycatcher      
Eastern Wood-Pewee            
Yellow-olive Flycatcher       
Northern Bentbill             
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 
Keel-billed Toucan            
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing        
Squirrel Cuckoo               
Roadside Hawk                 
Ocellated Turkey              
Great Curassow 
              
Felipe Carrillo Puerto

Plain Chachalaca              
Yellow-billed Cacique         
Orange Oriole                 
Yellow-tailed Oriole          
Black-cowled Oriole           
Great-tailed Grackle          
Melodious Blackbird           
Indigo Bunting                
Blue Grosbeak                 
Blue Bunting                  
Northern Cardinal             
Green-backed Sparrow          
Black-headed Saltator         
Thick-billed Seed-Finch     
White-collared Seedeater      
American Redstart             
Hooded Warbler                
Tropical Mockingbird          
Gray Catbird                  
Spot-breasted Wren            
Brown Jay                     
Mangrove Vireo                
White-eyed Vireo              
Masked Tityra                 
Couch's Kingbird              
Tropical Kingbird             
Social Flycatcher             
Barred Antshrike              
White-fronted Parrot          
White-crowned Parrot          
Olive-throated Parakeet       
Pale-billed Woodpecker        
Smoky-brown Woodpecker        
Ladder-backed Woodpecker      
Collared Aracari              
Cinnamon Hummingbird          
Buff-bellied Hummingbird      
Canivet's Emerald             
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl         
Groove-billed Ani             
Ruddy Ground-Dove             
Common Ground-Dove            
Eurasian Collared-Dove        
Rock Pigeon                   
Short-tailed Hawk             
Turkey Vulture                
Black Vulture                 
Cattle Egret                  
Snowy Egret                   
Black-throated Bobwhite - heard only