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MEXICO - GUERRERO
23 - 30
November 2006
by Russ Namitz
The primary purpose of this trip for me was to locate some target
endemic bird species, but the primary purpose of the 9 other group
members, including my wife, was to surf. The group was stationed
out of Troncones, a surfing destination located about ½ hr north
of the Ixtapa/ Zihuatanejo region. I was able to use the rental
car for a long day trip up the west slope of the Sierra Madre de Sur
(Sierra de Atoyac) and also for an overnight trip to the east slope of
the Sierra de Atoyac.
Thursday,
November 23: Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa/Troncones
We flew into the Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo airport in the afternoon and spent
over an hour haggling with car rental companies. We had reservations
with Thrifty rental car agency (www.expedia.com), but they did not
honor our reservations and said that they had no cars available.
We had to check around with other agencies to see if they had rental
cars. We settled on Budget rental car agency which was more than
DOUBLE the cost of our original reservation. We drove 35 minutes
north to Troncones, checked into our palapas and went in search of surf
boards to rent.
No real birding was done, but while driving I did see common species
like MAGNIGICANT FRIGATEBIRD, BLACK & TURKEY VULTURE, SHORT-TAILED
HAWK, GREAT KISKADEE, TROPICAL KINGBIRD, ROCK PIGEON, GREAT-TAILED
GRACKLE, INCA DOVE, RUDDY GROUND-DOVE, CRESTED CARACARA &
WHITE-THROATED MAGPIE-JAY.
Friday,
November 24: Troncones/Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa
I woke up while it was still dark and birded the 3 km road between
Troncones and the main coastal highway (Hwy 200). Along this
stretch of road, I heard 3 pairs of MOTTLED OWL that were all spaced
about 1 km apart. I also heard PARAQUE, BUFF-COLLARED NIGHTJAR,
THICKET TINAMOU, COLIMA PYGMY-OWL & COLLARED FOREST-FALCON.
Passerine birding was a bit slow, but managed to see STREAK-BACKED
& ORCHARD ORIOLE, PALE-BILLED WOODPECKER, RUFOUS-NAPED WREN &
STRIPE-HEADED SPARROW. At Hwy 200, I drove north for a kilometer
or two and then took the first exit (Lagunillas) which quickly leads to
a left turn to the Majahua beach. This 6 Km dirt road leads back
to Troncones through farm fields, orchards & scrub habitat.
Additional species seen were RUDDY-BREASTED SEED-EATER, BLUE-BLACK
GRASSQUIT, NUTTING’S & DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, BLACK-CHINNED,
RUBY-THROATED & CINNAMON HUMMINGBIRD, LARK SPARROW, LAUGHING FALCON
& GROOVE-BILLED ANI.
I returned to Troncones to pick up the surfers and enjoyed looks of
nearshore species like GREAT & SNOWY EGRET, BROWN PELICAN, BROWN
BOOBY & NEOTROPICAL CORMORANT. After lunch, we had to drive
to the airport and change rental cars. We checked out the Playa
Linda area north of Ixtapa for surf and then stopped for some sunset
birding on the way back to Hwy 200. At an open field, we saw
WHITE-WINGED DOVE, CATTLE EGRET, CRANE & GRAY HAWK, BRONZED
COWBIRD, ANHINGA, ROSEATE SPOONBILL & other previously mentioned
species.
Saturday,
November 25: Sierra de Atoyac – west slope
I slept through my 3am watch alarm and woke up at 4:18am. I
frantically packed and drove south 2.5 hours to Atoyac. I had to
ask for directions several times to get on the right road to Paraiso
into the Sierra de Atoyac. About 35 minutes up the mountain from
Atoyac, I had my only looks at LILAC-CROWNED PARROT. I also saw
YELLOW-WINGED CACIQUE, RUSSET-CROWNED MOTMOT, WEST MEXICAN CHACHALACA
& CINNAMON HUMMINGBIRD before hurrying up the mountain to San
Vicente at Km 32. I made several stops between here and Km 45
(Paraiso) looking for endemic species with an emphasis on
hummingbirds. Sadly, I only saw 1 hummingbird all day above San
Vicente, including later when I traveled above Paraiso. It turned
out to be a WHITE-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD feeding next to a large mature
patch of bamboo about 3 km above San Vicente. It was the only
“old growth” bamboo that I noticed along the road between San Vicente
& Paraiso and there was a small shack up the hill from the
bamboo.
New trip species seen here included GREENISH ELAENIA, GREEN JAY,
WAGLER’S TOUCANET, GRAY-CROWNED & SMOKY-BROWN WOODPECKER, DICKEY’S
(AUDUBON’S) ORIOLE, RUFOUS-CAPPED, COLIMA & GOLDEN-CROWNED WARBLER,
STREAK-HEADED WOODCREEPER & BOAT-BILLED FLYCATCHER.
Another kilometer further, on top of an open ridge, I saw 2 WHITE-NAPED
SWIFTS circling with a flock of WHITE-COLLARED & VAUX’S
SWIFTS. I continued on to Paraiso and beyond with the hope of
birding above Nuevo Delhi & also at Arroyo Grande as described in
Howell & Webb’s site guide. Access to Arroyo Grande is still
impossible by vehicle due to a huge landslide that washed the road away
about 1 km from the turnoff mentioned in Howell. There was heavy
construction with multiple dump trucks hauling dirt & rock
away. I tried birding the road between Paraiso & Nuevo Delhi
with limited success, probably due to the midday lull. The road
was muddy, but passable to a 2-wheel drive car. I did not make it
all the way to Nuevo Delhi & beyond as I needed to make the 5hr
drive back to Troncones and arrive by 8pm. Other than ornamental
species, I saw no flowers or flowering trees and not a single
individual hummingbird.
Birds seen above Paraiso include COMMON BLACKHAWK, BROAD-WINGED HAWK,
BLACK HAWK-EAGLE, BAT FALCON, BAND-TAILED PIGEON, HEPATIC TANAGER,
ORANGE-FRONTED PARAKEET, ROSE-THROATED BECARD, ORANGE-BILLED
NIGHTINGALE-THRUSH, BLACK-HEADED SALTATOR & BROWN-BACKED SOLITAIRE.
I made a stop about 3 km below San Vicente on the way home and picked
up a few new species like PILEATED FLYCATCHER, FERRUGINOUS PYGMY-OWL
& COLLARED TROGON. Wintering flocks of Neotropical migrants
were common along the entire stretch of road and commonly consisted of
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, NASHVILLE, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, TOWNSEND’S
& ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, BLUE-HEADED & WARBLING VIREO.
It was a disappointing drive home having not seen the endemic
SHORT-CRESTED COQUETTE.
Sunday,
November 26: Zihuatanejo/Troncones
This morning I arrived at dawn at a microwave tower hill located just
southeast of Ixtapa on the old road to Zihautanejo. To get to it,
take Hwy 200 towards Ixtapa, and up at the top of the hill, take the
turn towards Ixtapa (this is the southern most exit). Immediately
take the "Retorno" to loop back towards Zihuatanejo. At this
point, instead of taking the "Zihuatanejo Directo,” curve off to the
right (which is also labelled "Zihuatanejo"). At this point you
don't need to drive too far (maybe a km or two?), you'll pass a tower
on your left, but you'll look for a road labelled "RMO Mazahuita" on
the right. Drive up this gravel road to a flat parking area just
past the junkyard with crushed cars. There is a system of gravel
roads that traverse the hillside and an adjacent gulch through good
thorn scrub habitat.
New birds species seen include BUFF-COLLARED NIGHTJAR, WHITE-FRONTED
PARROT, DOUBLEDAY’S HUMMINGBIRD, CITREOLINE TROGON, SQUIRREL CUCKOO,
plus a good mix of other thorn scrub species.
At around 9:30 am, I continued south on the old Zihuatanejo road until
I came to stone wall on the ocean side of the road indicating a housing
development. There is one entrance to this development that is
gated and has a security guard. This is the “police box”
mentioned by Nick Lethaby’s report. The housing development is no
longer abandoned as there are villas for rent and more being
renovated. I asked to bird the grounds and was granted
permission. I was specifically looking for RED-BREASTED CHAT
& WHITE-LORED GNATCATCHER, but only found the gnatcatcher and heard
a LESSER GROUND-CUCKOO. This housing development is located at
the bottom of the same hill that the “good” microwave tower is on.
After lunch, I birded the 6 Km dirt road between the beach village of
Majahua & Hwy 200. Majahua is located about 4 kilometers
north of Troncones via a dirt road. A few surfers joined me and
we finally got good looks at a pair of COLIMA PYGMY-OWL.
Other birds seen included ORANGE-BREASTED BUNTING, VERMILION
FLYCATCHER, WHITE-TIPPED DOVE, SINALOA & HAPPY WREN, GODMAN’S
(SCRUB) EUPHONIA & SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER.
Monday,
November 27: Sierra de Atoyac – east slope
Today I left at 5am and drove 4 hours south to Acapulco and then 1.5
hours north to Chipalcingo. I was trying to get onto the eastern
slope of the Sierra de Atoyac and bird the villages of Filo de Caballo
& Carrizal de los Bravo, but I had a little trouble finding the
road. To reach “Milpillas” in Howell’s book, follow the signs for
Iguala on Hwy 95 at the north end of Chilpancingo. This is the
old 95 highway that Howell talks about. Drive about 30 kilometers
(not 38 like stated in Howell) to the sign for Filo de Caballo.
Take this left and it takes you to the town of Xochipala at around Km
12. Follow the directions in Howell’s book from here on
out. There is a military presence along this road, both with the
police & army. I was warned not to get out of sight of my
rental car or it might get stolen. I heeded this advice, but
asked locally in 2 different villages if there were dangerous people
around. They said “No” both times. The road was quite busy
with local traffic and didn’t seem isolated or dangerous to me.
Stopping to bird above Xochipala (Km 16/17) yielded BLACK-CHESTED
SPARROW, WESTERN KINGBIRD & DUSKY HUMMINGBIRD. As I drove
higher (Km 25), I saw BOUCARD’S WREN, PILEATED FLYCATCHER, BLACK-VENTED
ORIOLE, GRAY SILKY, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, WESTERN SCRUB JAY &
DWARF VIREO. I made a brief stop after the village of Mirabel (Km
33) and saw RUSTY SPARROW, ACORN WOODPECKER, BRIDLED TITMOUSE and
YELLOW-RUMPED & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS. Upon reaching
the village of Filo de Caballo, one can look over and see Carrizal de
los Bravo a few kilometers away. What a change in the amount of
flowers and hence, hummingbirds there were on this side of the
mountains. In the fading light driving to Carrizal de los Bravo,
I was able to see CALLIOPE, WHITE-EARED & BERYLINE HUMMINGBIRD as
well as PAINTED & SLATE-THROATED REDSTART.
I drove past Carrizal de los Bravo about 1-2 kilometers and turned
right at a fork, heading up a hill following a sign for Textla
(Yextla). After about 3-4 kilometers, there was the inactive
lumber camp (I think) mentioned in Howell’s book. There were no
buildings, but there was a clearing on the left side of the road with
many large boulders that were painted white and the mileage
corroborated the location. I camped here, but before I went to
sleep I drove around playing tapes for MOUNTAIN PYGMY-OWL & EARED
POORWILL. I did not hear either species, but I did hear a MOTTLED
OWL down a canyon and I also called in and saw a pair a STYGIAN OWLS
right above where I camped.
Tuesday,
November 28: Sierra de Atoyac – east slope
I woke up at dawn and started walking the side road into the
forest. The main road between Textla & Carrizal de los Bravos
was actually quite busy for an isolated mountain road. As I
birded into the forest on the side road from the lumber camp, I began
seeing high elevation species and hummingbirds were everywhere.
GREEN VIOLET-EAR, WHITE-EARED & BUMBLEBEE HUMMINGBIRD were the most
common species, but I also saw 3 other species including a single
GARNET-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. About a kilometer or two down the
side road, there is a fork. Both forks had good birding although
if you take the right fork, be prepared to ford a stream and get your
shoes wet. In this general vicinity, I saw 3 of my target
species. First, a covey of 9 WHITE-FACED QUAIL-DOVE nearly
exploded at my feet. Second, as I turned around a covey of 6
LONG-TAILED WOOD-PARTRIDGE crossed the road while calling. And
lastly, I watched a single WHITE-THROATED JAY come to feed with a flock
of STELLER’S JAYS at the same spot the wood-partridges crossed the
road. Other species recorded included CHESTNUT-CAPPED
BRUSH-FINCH, RUSSET NIGHTINGALE-THRUSH, GOLDEN-CHEEKED, HERMIT &
RED WARBLER, CINNAMON-BELLIED FLOWERPIERCER and COMMON
BUSH-TANAGER. Back at the car in the clearing, I saw HAIRY
WOODPECKER, RED-TAILED HAWK & PINE FLYCATCHER.
Unfortunately, I had to zoom down the mountain at 11:30am to arrive
back in Troncones at a decent hour (7 p.m.), but this area could
certainly warrant another whole day of birding. Oh yeah, on the
new cuota freeway between Acapulco & Mexico City there are tolls
every once in awhile for about $9 a pop. There is a toll at the
north end of Chilpancingo, but if you take the correct turn on the old
Hwy 95 towards Iquala, you should miss that toll at least. I made
a few wrong turns and got dinged twice, once going & once coming.
Wednesday,
November 29: Troncones
I was scheduled to take a pelagic trip on a deep-sea fishing charter
run by an ex-patriot by the name of Ed Kunze. He was going to let
me tag along on a fishing trip for $30! My wife had misplaced my
alarm clock, so I used my watch and unfortunately I slept through
it. This was a major blow to my birding trip as I REALLY enjoy
pelagic birding. The Middle America Trench is nearest the west
Mexican coastline off the state of Guerrero and I was hoping to rack up
species like CHRISTMAS, AUDUBON’S, TOWNSEND’S & WEDGE-TAILED
SHEARWATER, GALAPAGOS (WEDGE-RUMPED) STORM-PETREL and possibly even a
COOK’S PETREL. I was literally dumb-founded and sat on the couch with
my head in my hands for about 15 minutes.
Slowly I gathered myself up and as the sun still was quite up yet, I
decided to head out locally. I birded around Troncones on the
road past Majahua and out to the highway (Hwy 200). There weren’t
too many new birds, but I did log ZONE-TAILED HAWK, BLACK-CAPPED VIREO,
WILLOW FLYCATCHER, RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN & RED-BILLED PIGEON.
After lunch, I took some of the surfers out and showed them the common
birds along the same stretch of road and took some photographs.
Thursday,
November 30: Zihuantanejo
I birded the microwave tower hill between Zihuatanejo & Ixtapa this
morning before I flew out. I saw all the “regular” thorn scrub
species that I saw previously. I was concentrating mostly on
getting photos, but I did manage to spot a fly-by of a pair of
YELLOW-HEADED PARROTS. This was a significant sighting as this is
a very scarce species due mostly to poaching & illegal pet
trade. There were plenty of WHITE-FRONTED PARROTS flying around
with which to compare. I had the best looks yet (5 minutes each)
of COLIMA PYGMY-OWL, RUSSET-CROWNED MOTMOT, CITREOLINE TROGON &
LESSER GROUND-CUCKOO. I was tempted to try for the RED-BREASTED
CHAT in the housing development, but the time was late and I had to fly
home. Seas la vida.
SPECIES
DETECTED ~ 201 seen, 4 heard (* = life bird)
Thicket Tinamou (heard)
Least Grebe
Brown Pelican
Brown Booby
Neotropic Cormorant
Anhinga
Magnificent Frigatebird
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Wood Stork
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Crane Hawk
Common Black-Hawk
Gray Hawk
Roadside Hawk (heard)
Broad-winged Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Hawk-Eagle
Crested Caracara
Laughing Falcon
Collared Forest-Falcon
American Kestrel
Bat Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
*West Mexican Chachalaca
*Long-tailed Wood-Partridge
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Semipalmated Plover
Whimbrel
Spotted Sandpiper
Wandering Tattler
Willet
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Brown Noddy
Rock Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
*White-faced Quail-Dove
Orange-fronted Parakeet
White-fronted Parrot
*Lilac-crowned Parrot
*Yellow-headed Parrot
Squirrel Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
Lesser Ground-Cuckoo
Mottled Owl (heard)
*Colima Pygmy-Owl
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
*Stygian Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
Pauraque
*Buff-collared Nightjar
*White-naped Swift
White-collared Swift
Vaux’s Swift
Green Violet-ear
White-tailed Hummingbird
Dusky Hummingbird
*Doubleday’s (Broad-billed) Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Berylline Hummingbird
Garnet-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Bumblebee Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird
Citreoline Trogon
Collared Trogon
Ringed Kingfisher
Russet-crowned Motmot
*Wagler’s Toucanet
Acorn Woodpecker
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
*Gray-crowned Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Olivaceous Woodcreeper
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Spot-crowned Woodcreeper
Greenish Elaenia
*Pileated Flycatcher
Greater Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
*Pine Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Nutting’s Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Cassin’s Kingbird
Thick-billed Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Rose-throated Becard
Masked Tityra
Gray-breasted Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray Silky-flycatcher
Rufous-naped Wren
*Boucard’s Wren
Happy Wren
*Sinaloa Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Brown-backed Solitaire
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Russet Nightingale-Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush
White-throated Thrush
Rufous-backed Robin
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
White-lored Gnatcatcher
Bridled Titmouse
Brown Creeper
Steller’s Jay
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Green Jay
*White-throated Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
House Sparrow
Black-capped Vireo
*Dwarf Vireo
Plumbeous Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Hutton’s Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Yellow-green Vireo
Red Crossbill (heard)
Lesser Goldfinch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
*Colima Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Golden-cheeked Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Red Warbler
Painted Redstart
Slate-throated Redstart
Golden-crowned Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Golden-browed Warbler
Common Bush-Tanager
Hepatic Tanager
Summer Tanager
Western Tanager
Godman’s (Scrub) Euphonia
Blue-black Grassquit
Ruddy-breasted Seedeater
*Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
*Black-chested Sparrow
Stripe-headed Sparrow
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Rusty Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-headed Saltator
Northern Cardinal
Black-headed Grosbeak
Orange-breasted Bunting
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Streak-backed Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Orchard Oriole
*Black-vented Oriole
Dickey’s (Audubon’s) Oriole
Yellow-winged Cacique
Russ Namitz
<namitzr@hotmail.com>