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MEXICO -- QUINTANA ROO
30 December 2002 - 6 January 2003
Akumal, Coba, Tulum, Road to Punta
Allen
Introduction
We took a family vacation (my wife and I and our four children) to
Quintana Roo, Mexico in January and did some birding each morning,
usually from 7am to 10am, though on the trip to Coba we were active
until almost 11am. Didn’t want to cut into too much of the snorkeling
and beach time for family so we restricted birding to a few hours in
the mornings. It all worked out for a great balance: trogons and
parrots in the mornings, sea turtles and parrot-fish in the afternoon.
My son Jon (13) and I, the two who did most of the birding, saw around
90 species in six days and we were happy with that. The rest of this
report is broken down into a few categories that explain our experience
with the amenities most birders are interested in and then a summary of
birds we saw at various sites as well as some general birding advice.
Car rental:
used Budget rent-a-car from the Cancun airport, booking a Tsuru months
in advance. But they won’t let you guarantee the thing with an advance
payment, credit-card or otherwise, so when we arrived an hour and 45
minutes late (de-icing took that long here in Regina), our car was not
there waiting for us. Even though I had called the kiosk at the airport
the day before to confirm our booking and ask how long they will hold a
car (they said two hours), they had given our car away to someone else.
This was not altogether surprising and fairly typical of car rental in
Mexico. They said they had no other cars to give me but I kicked up a
fuss and used every sort of tactic I could dream up until they relented
and said they would get a car ready for us. Renting a car in this part
of Mexico is very expensive—it was $460 U.S. for the week—but
indispensable for birding.
Accommodations:
We stayed at a condominium called “Luna Azul” on Half-Moon Bay, Akumal,
which is south of Play Del Carmen but a lot quieter. You book these
privately-owned condos through a central agency on the internet. It
works great. You can cook for yourself if you like but there are lots
of good restaurants near by if you have a lot of money you need to get
rid of. By booking this place and eating in we saved a lot of money.
Our condo (one of eight units in the building) was very beautiful and
comfortable—from the front balcony you are a stone’s throw from the
ocean. You can see turtles coming up for air out front and out back the
view is solid jungle west to the horizon: some birds—either hundreds of
Vaux’s swifts, an osprey, a black vulture, or a kiskadee—were always in
view.
Buying food:
Best grocery prices by far were in the Chedraui in Playa Del Carmen.
The local grocerias at Akumal were very high-priced. Restaurants were
outrageous.
General birding advice:
It is tempting but not really that safe to stop along the main
highway south from Cancun. There are shoulders and I did pull off once
or twice for it seemed to be the best place to find raptors. Better and
safer is to take one of the roads that plunge away into the jungle
perpendicular to the road, either west or east. Many of these now seem
to be blocked off by the All-Inclusive mega-resorts but there are still
a few open. We found that you have to get up at dawn to see the
birds—the hours from 6:30 am to 10:30 am were best. Activity trailed
off sharply after that. Places where you can see water birds were hard
to come by—in retrospect I would have allowed for some time at Cancun
to check out its lagoon or found some other lagoon on the peninsula.
Some people find a lot of water birds at Coba Lake but that was not our
experience. The Road to Punta Allen and into Si’an Ka’an, though
passable and perfectly safe, is so bumpy that it is miserable to drive
on. Which would be fine if there were many birds to see, but after
driving thirty kms in two hours and seeing very few birds and none that
we couldn’t find elsewhere, we realized that we had made a bad choice.
As for general forest birding advice, it seemed to work best simply to
walk along trails fairly briskly until we heard or saw signs of birds
and then stop to stay in a birdy area for a while. There was little
point in walking along slowly and trying to be thorough because birds
often seemed to be concentrated in little roving groups spaced fairly
far apart from one another. A lot different from what we see here in
forest habitat where the birds are thinly and fairly evenly scattered
through an area during breeding season—more, in fact, like what you
find in fall here when migrants are passing through the woods in
foraging groups led by local chickadees and nuthatches.
Birds Seen
by Site
We’ve decided to talk about the birds by site and habitat rather than
as a day-by-day log.
1. Road from Akumal core area north to
Yalku Lagoon:
East side of road is landscaped garden space around condos with
palms and other ornamental trees and shrubs. Some small vacant lots
grown over with beach dune shrubs and plants. On the other side (west)
it is low and dense jungle vegetation, mix of palms and deciduous
trees, epiphytes. Short and very narrow overgrown trails head off into
the jungle for ten or forty metres and then peter out, often at a place
to dump trash. Some of these are worth visiting, but to find them you
have to watch carefully as you make your way along the road.
Birds seen: Great-tailed
grackles everywhere in developed areas, as well as melodious
blackbirds. Next most common bird is Tropical Mockingbird, then
Tropical Flycatcher and Social Flycatcher. Then Great Kiskadee. Many of
these birds perch on utility wires and trees along roadsides. Orioles
do the same—sometimes in interspecies flocks: Hooded make up half of
the orioles you see, then a few Orange and Yellow-backed; Black-cowled
oriole and Altimira we only saw once in this area. Yellow-throated
warblers common around Condos, sometimes in twos and threes. Turkey
vultures seemed more numerous than Black in Akumal. Lineated
Woodpeckers appeared 1 or 2 per morning on utility poles along the
road. Yucatan Woodpeckers 2 or 3 per morning in palms and on poles. One
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Saw two traveling bands of Yucatan Jays in
the area as well. In a short trail leading to a 5 metre wide patch of
water surrounded by mangrove, saw a White-winged Dove, a Northern
Waterthrush and Belted Kingfisher. Twice from trails heard calls of
Chachalaca coming from further into the jungle. On one short trail
found Cinnamon Hummingbird; Yucatan vireo and White-eyed Vireo on some
trails; also Gray Catbird, two Rufous-browed Peppershrikes. Saw
hundreds of Vaux’s Swifts and 10-20 Southern Rough-winged Swallows
swooping above the condos and the jungle. Saw a Ferruginous Pygmy
Owl on a tall perch in the jungle within thirty metres of the road.
2. Beach area of Half-Moon Bay, Akumal:
Coral sand beach with low, three and four-story condominiums:
Birds seen: royal terns flying
by in midday; brown pelicans (singly and in small flocks),
Black-bellied Plover (1), Osprey (daily), Magnificent Frigatebird (2 or
3 a day).
3. Yalku lagoon and immediately south
of the fenced area where the lagoon continues in a shallow mangrove
towards some private properties:
Access is from a road that runs south from the gate to Yalku past some
homes. Habitat is low shrubs and mangrove, but the nice thing about the
area is you can see into the distance toward some of the higher jungle
vegetation away from the disturbed areas of the resorts.
Birds seen: at the shallow
mangrove we had an excellent view of 2 Green Herons. Also saw a
Little Blue Heron and a Great Egret. In a bush near the trail
into this mangrove just outside the Yalku fenced area, there was a
Common Tody-flycatcher. Also Common Yellowthroat and a Yellow Throated
Warbler. At Yalku lagoon itself we saw a Great Blue Heron and
Magnificent Frigatebirds flew overhead. On a tiny island in the
lagoon we saw a Solitary Sandpiper and a Spotted Sandpiper.
4. Road to Punta Allen (the first 30
kms)
Low palm jungle on west side of road, as well as mangroves with little
or no open water to be seen. Beach dune vegetation and some jungle on
the east side of the road, intermittent views of the ocean. Finally
arrive at a bridge over an inlet from the ocean into large open (and
empty of birds) mangrove after many kms along bumpy road.
Birds seen: On utility wires
along the road there were Tropical Mockingbirds as well as Tropical
Kingbirds. At one spot we were surrounded by bird sounds, most of
which came from Hooded, Black-cowled, and Yellow-backed Orioles.
We also saw a Yellow-billed Cacique while Turkey and Black Vultures
flew overhead. We identified our first White Fronted Parrots—had good
looks at perched ones for a change. At a spot where the road nears the
ocean where there is low beach vegetation on both sides of the road we
saw a Cinnamon Hummingbird at close range, perched. A group of
Sanderling were on the beach. A couple of Yucatan Vireo, which is
common most places. Had a good view of a Black Catbird too. We
identified the Mangrove Swallows by getting a good look at their rumps
as they flew over the jungle and mangroves. Other birds included
Osprey, Vaux’s Swift, White-winged Doves in large flocks, Yucatan
Woodpecker and Magnificent Frigatebird.
5. Coba
The habitat in Coba is divided into the townsite and
lake/marshland areas nearby and then the forest along trails at the
archeological site. Be sure to get there as early as possible. It opens
at 8am. The drive to Coba along the highway that leads away from Tulum
is good for birds but hard to stop along for there are very few
pullouts.
Birds seen:
Enroute to Coba—Many of the common roadside birds plus our only
Keel-billed Toucan (only Jon saw it), Yucatan Jays, and Hooded Oriole.
At the townsite we saw our first Ruddy Ground Doves and a clutch of
Yellow-Rumped Warblers.
At the lake we saw a grebe—likely Little Grebe—but couldn’t ID it and
then it never emerged again. Nothing else on the lake or marsh.
On the start of the trail we saw a Hooded Warbler and a Black and White
Warbler. We also found a Wood Thrush and a Hermit Thrush (one of only a
few records for the Yucatan—see notes under Botanical Gardens below).
We stopped on the trail to listen and we eventually saw a Gray Catbird,
Black Throated Green Warbler, and a Magnolia Warbler. At one of the
groups of ruins we had a look at some Yucatan Jays and our first
Black-headed Trogon. Walking on the trails again we heard some birds
sounds to one side so we stopped and walked into the bush a bit.
We looked around and right away started seeing birds moving in the
lower half of the forest structure. First thing we identified was the
bird of the trip! A Royal Flycatcher at close range! Then an
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper was working on the trunk of a tree. A
Rose-throated Ant-tanager and a Yellow-billed Cacique rounded out the
group. We stayed with them for several minutes. This seems to be the
best way to bird forested areas in the Yucatan—walk listening for bird
sounds and then go to the side of the trail and watch and wait until
things emerge. Sometimes the sounds fade away and there is nothing to
see, but every so often it pays off.
Imitating a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl worked sometimes to draw them nearer
but not always. In between as you walk the trails there is little or no
sound or movement so I don’t think it pays to stop unless you have
noticed bird movement or sound. Then we walked on to the main
archeological site, the Nohuc Mul pyramid, which is the highest one by
far. At the base to the right as you face the pyramid we heard birds
and saw a lot of movement in the canopy, but crane our necks as we
might we couldn’t get a clear view of anything—too many leaves! So we
started walking up the pyramid stairs to see if we could improve our
vantage point and right away got views of the birds: it was a bunch of
Green and Brown Jays, as well as our first Squirrel Cuckoo, a Masked
Tityra, a Rose-throated Becard, American Redstart, Great Kiskadees, and
a Violaceous Trogon. We sat about 1/3 to ½ way up the steps and
watched birds for a while. Then, continuing to the top we had excellent
view of the forest for miles and saw a distant black hawk of some
kind—likely Great Black but we didn’t get good enough look to be
certain. On the return hike we had stunning view of another
Black-headed Trogon at trailside, too close for binocs. Then we drove
around the lake again and found a small crocodile in the weeds, a Great
Egret or two, a little Blue Heron, our only Anhinga of the trip.
6. Puerto Aventuras
An all-inclusive resort that allows visitors and has a lot of park
space and treed habitat. Could have spent much more time there but in
the hour of walking around with the family in the most developed areas
of the resort we still managed to see a few birds: Brown Pelican, Royal
tern, Tropical Mockingbird, Spotted Sandpiper, Orchard and Baltimore
Orioles.
7. Tulum
The road from parking lot to the actual site has some birding
opportunities if you arrive early in the day. It gets busy with a
shuttle and a lot of walking traffic later. Also at the outside of the
walled area, west side, there are some trees that had birds. Inside the
actual site (get there early, it opens at 8am) there are a few bushes
and shrubs, palms with orioles, a few trees along the edges that can
hold birds.
Birds seen: we saw our only
White-collared Seedeater, lots of Mangrove Swallows, and a flock of
Indigo Buntings. As well there were some of the common oriole species.
Not the greatest place for birds but worth going to of course for the
beauty and history of the place. But go early and get out of there
before 10am!
8. Roads accessed from Highway 307 and
leading south to various undeveloped beaches and resorts south of
Akumal and north of Tulum—
Along the main highway itself we saw a Roadside Hawk and a White-tailed
Hawk. There are a few roads that still lead west to public beaches or
to nowhere in particular. The one into Xcacel gets you to a lovely wild
beach with no development (yet!) and there we saw a Lineated
Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, White-crowned Pigeon (our only
one), and Yellow-throated warbler. There is a foot trail that leads
from the beach south of the Parking lot that ends up at a freshwater
lagoon that has some little freshwater fish in it. At the time of
year we went there some of the path was partly flooded but walkable.
That was where we had our view of a White Crowned Pigeon.
9. Botanical Gardens at Puerto Morelos
Trails through native deciduous forest, higher woodland and more
diverse than the palm jungle you find near resorts. Excellent walking
trails and a “tower” which is actually a ladder strapped to a tree with
a few boards thrown together in the canopy—it is more stable than it
looks but we didn’t see anything from the top anyway. Seems like it
should be a fantastic place for forest birding.
Birds seen: best bird we saw
there by far was a Collared Trogon. We were surprised to find a Hermit
Thrush there as well—not even on the checklist for the region. (Later
we got home and read on a Mexico Birding chat group that one had been
sighted at the botanical gardens in December at the exact location
where we saw it.) Had smashing looks at some North American warblers,
including Hooded and Kentucky, Ovenbird, and Northern Waterthrush. Also
a Wood Thrush. However, we seemed to have little luck getting the
resident birds to show their faces. By the time we arrived it was 9am
or so and everything was either quiet or well up in the canopy behind
leaves. Others have had much more luck at this site and I think I would
change my approach there by trying to arrange with the attendants to
let me in earlier in the morning. I’ve since heard too that a man named
“Luis” who works at the gardens enjoys taking visiting birders on walks
through the area. That might also help but when we were there, things
were very quiet. Might have just been a bad day.
