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MEXICO -- QUINTANA ROO
&
YUCATAN
25 May - 04 June 2002
by Chris Spagnoli
I took a trip to Quintana Roo and the province of Yucatan from May 25
through June 4, 2002, with a group of my insane friends. Although
they are not
birders, they take a real interest in my hobby and helped in spotting
birds
when we did joint side trips to attractions such as the Mayan
ruins. However, because we have a tradition of various nocturnal
activities, I did not try for the nightjars and potoos.
A few words about preparation and expectations. I relied
primarily on Howell and Webb's Guide to the Birds of Mexico and
Northern Central America. Reports I'd read on the Internet
suggested this was the best available guide for non-North American
migrants, and having looked at several of the alternatives, I'm
strongly inclined to agree. I also downloaded a checklist of
Yucatan birds which had been compiled by Kurt and Cindy Radamaker in
1999. Studying
just the birds that occur in the Yucatan, rather than attempting to
become
familiar with all the birds listed in Howell and Webb, proved a good
working
strategy. Finally, I reviewed Howell's chapter on the Yucatan in
his
guide to birding locations in Mexico; references to bird lists for
specific
sites in the following material pertain to the lists in Howell's book.
This was my first birding trip to the tropics. My goal was to get
one hundred life birds. The season was such that the North
American
migrants had long departed, so my total species count was not
particularly
high. The positive side of that was that virtually all of the
birds
I saw were life birds and I was not distracted by the movements of
familiar
species. Life birds are listed below in capitals.
MAY 25
My first birds seen after landing at the Cancun airport were a distant
gull at the airport (probably Ring-billed) and the omnipresent
Great-tailed grackles. It had been seventeen years since I had
visited Cancun and I had no wish to
see how it had changed. I immediately rented a car and headed
down the
307 to South Akumal and the villa rented with my friends. On the
way
I saw vultures, a mystery swallow that may have been a juvenile Cliff
swallow,
Great egret, and a Tropical/Couch's type kingbird which did not call
and
therefore could not be specifically identified. I was a little
disappointed
to reach the villa without a new life bird to my name.
The villa was right on the beach, and was one of the strip of tourist
developments which have extended an hour's drive south of Cancun (it
wasn't my choice). Very little of the coastal scrub is left
undisturbed in this strip and the impact on species diversity was
evident. However, I quickly picked up
several life birds while enjoying the beach with my friends: a
GREAT KISKADEE that was to be our constant companion, HOODED ORIOLE
nesting in a
tree in the villa's parking lot (number 400 on my overall life list!),
TROPICAL
MOCKINGBIRD, BOAT-BILLED FLYCATCHER, MELODIOUS BLACKBIRD, and
WHITE-WINGED DOVE. Also seen were several standard swallows,
Brown pelicans, Cattle egrets, Magnificent frigatebirds, an Osprey, and
the ubiquitous Laughing gulls.
MAY 26
In the morning I picked up SOCIAL FLYCATCHER and ALTAMIRA ORIOLE in the
scrub between the villa and Route 307. I then took a trip to
Akumal,
missing the turn and heading too far north. This proved
fortuitous
as I found a pair of tityras sitting atop a billboard on the roadside;
one
was obviously a male MASKED TITYRA, but the other appeared to have a
black
cap and chestnut face patch, which would indicate a female BLACK-CAPPED
TITYRA.
I found this puzzling until I checked the species accounts and found
that
the tityras often associate in mixed-species flocks. A
two-for-one
deal sounded pretty good to me so I took it. I also had a
vocalizing
COUCH'S KINGBIRD and a less talkative SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.
That day my friends and I visited the Mayan ruins at Tulum. These
are very scenic ruins on the edge of a cliff overlooking the
ocean.
Birds here included BLACK-COWLED ORIOLE, CAVE SWALLOW, and a nighthawk
that
I had only a brief look at and which might have been Common or
Lesser.
We also stopped to eat in the village of Tulum; while we sat at an
outdoor
cafe a troop of parakeets came screaming over. I got on them only
for
a moment, but it was enough to see that they had long tails.
Later
review of the books indicated that the only parakeet/parrot-type bird
in
the region with a long tail was the AZTEC PARAKEET.
Back at the villa we saw a GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER. We also had
a bird that both I and one of my bird-savvy friends immediately
dismissed
as a Brown-headed cowbird - specifically, it had all the seeming of a
juvenile male molting to adult plumage (with the pale hood where the
brown would come in). It was only later that I noted in the guide
that the species is not known in the Yucatan. I suppose it is
possible that the bird was in fact a female Bronzed cowbird seen in odd
lighting. I now wish that I had taken a closer look at the bird
as the sighting, if valid, would indicate an unprecedented expansion of
the Brown-headed cowbird's range. Under the circumstances I can't
really stand by my identification.
One of my friends mentioned having noticed a park not far down 307 from
the villa. It turned out that Aktun Chen, a large reserve with a
scenic cenote (cave with underground pool), was less than five
kilometers down the road. I visited the park that afternoon and
birded the entrance road. There I saw YELLOW-THROATED EUPHONIA,
YUCATAN JAY, WHITE-BELLIED WREN, BLACK-HEADED TROGON, CANIVET'S
EMERALD, and LESSER GREENLET. The latter two birds gave me fits -
I couldn't find a local hummingbird species that fit the
characteristics I observed (it was a female), and it was not until I
returned to the villa that I found the Canivet's picture at the back of
the plates, well-separated from the bulk of the hummingbirds.
Fortunately, I had carefully observed the tail pattern from below, and
it matched perfectly to the figure in the book. The Lesser
greenlet was difficult simply because it is such an active and
nondescript bird.
A guide at Aktun Chen stated that Great curassow occurs there, but I
never saw it (aside from caged birds kept there for the tourists).
MAY 27
The next morning I returned to Aktun Chen. Along the entrance
road I had WHITE-BROWED WREN, YUCATAN VIREO, SCRUB EUPHONIA, MANGROVE
VIREO, and SPOT-BREASTED WREN. Also, to my delight, a LINEATED
WOODPECKER repeatedly made itself visible in the trees along the
road. This was one of the birds I particularly wanted to see -
it's spectacular, reminiscent of our Pileated woodpecker.
One of the guides at Aktun Chen said a red-breasted trogon species that
was supposed to be found only in Chiapas had been regularly seen near
the
park's maintenance shed. The species he was referring to would be
Mountain trogon, and if he was right, this would be an extraordinary
find for eastern Quintana Roo. I did not see the bird myself and
cannot vouch for the identification. Although he seemed at least
somewhat knowledgeable about
the local birds, I would think it more likely that this was a
misidentification of a Collared trogon.
Pulling up to the villa, I found BRONZED COWBIRD on the lawn.
That afternoon my friends and I headed to Coba and the Mayan ruins
there. These ruins are in the jungle and include a spectacular
pyramid which is taller
than the one at Chichen Itza. You can climb to the top and the
birding
there is wonderful. With the able and eager assistance of my
friends,
I found CLAY-COLORED ROBIN, SQUIRREL CUCKOO (in trees near the top of
the
first, smaller pyramid near the ball court), WHITE-COLLARED SEEDEATER,
and
LESSER GOLDFINCH. On the way to the largest pyramid I found a
male YELLOW-GREEN
VIREO with a female at first nearby, then (ahem) underneath, it.
As the afternoon wore on the trail suddenly became extremely
birdy. It got to the point where I was fairly overwhelmed.
BLACK-HEADED SALTATOR and TROPICAL PEWEE showed up, as did more Aztec
parakeets. Hoping for the endemic, I followed a woodpecker only
to find another Golden-fronted woodpecker;
however, as I got my binoculars on it, I picked up a distinctive raptor
shape
flying through my field. It was a dark-morph HOOK-BILLED
KITE!
This was one of my "wish list" birds and I was very lucky to get it, as
it
was only visible above the canopy for a few minutes. Raptors in
general
were scarce on the trip, aside from the vultures, of course.
Back at the entrance to the ruins I took a moment to scrutinize the
nearby small lake. The wires had a vocalizing TROPICAL KINGBIRD,
and the lake itself featured my first OLIVACEOUS ("NEOTROPIC")
CORMORANT, as well as Little blue heron and a distant (and for a while
puzzling) pied juvenile White ibis.
MAY 28
I lured several of friends to a tour of the cenote at Aktun Chen.
This is a spectacular cave system, very extensive, and I heartily
recommend
the experience. The cave housed numerous TURQUOISE-BROWED MOTMOTS
as
well as Cave swallows. On the way out I had brief looks at a
hummingbird that I agonized over until finally concluding it was simply
a female Ruby-throated hummingbird.
That afternoon I returned alone to the great birding at Coba. I
stopped first at the small lake and picked up LEAST TERN perched on a
post in the water - this bird wasn't on the Coba list and was an
unexpected bonus. A NORTHERN JACANA flushed from the margin of
the lake, and also present were LEAST GREBE, RUDDY GROUND-DOVE, and
Limpkin.
The ruins and a trail leading into undisturbed jungle turned somewhat
productive later in the afternoon, although not as worthwhile as the
day before. New birds were PIRATIC FLYCATCHER, ROSE-THROATED
TANAGER, several RED-THROATED ANT-TANAGERS bitching loudly at me while
associating with a female RED-CROWNED ANT-TANAGER, VIOLACEOUS TROGON,
BROWN JAY, and at last the YUCATAN WOODPECKER.
My friends and I spent the entire next day in a group activity that
lasted well into the night and did not admit of birding. I begged
off at 12:30 to salvage some sleep before an early start the next day.
MAY 30
Chichen Itza.
We got started out at 6 a.m., reaching Chichen at opening time. I
highly recommend this approach. The first two hours (8 to 10)
were
good for birds and sightseeing. After that the tourist army
established
a beachhead, sent in scouting parties, and then came through en
masse.
Note: contrary to published accounts, you are indeed permitted to
climb
to the top of the central pyramid.
One of the first birds I saw on the grounds was a GIANT COWBIRD.
It was not until much later that I discovered this bird would be rather
far out
of range. I really don't know what the deal was with cowbirds on
this
trip. However, this identification I'm fairly sure of. I
saw
the red eye, the massive bill, the neck ruff, the long tail, and the
long
legs. There were Great-tailed grackles nearby for an easy size
comparison,
and the cowbird was at LEAST as large as they if not more.
Also present were Grey hawk, RIDGWAY'S ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW,
YELLOW-FACED GRASSQUIT, WHITE-TIPPED DOVE, and GREYISH SALTATOR.
Only two friends accompanied me on this trip - others had visited the
site on previous trips, or did it at different times that week.
As we were walking along the western edge of the cleared-out area
around the central ruins, moving toward the multi-columned Hall of
Warriors, I had arguably the
best sighting of the trip. A shape on the path ahead of us, which
I'd
assumed was just another iguana, suddenly spread its wings and showy
tail
and sailed off about ten yards. I knew right away it was one of
the
terrestrial cuckoos but couldn't remember the precise name. I
hurried to get it in view again and had excellent looks at the
black-and-white streaked pattern on the head. It disappeared into
the brush after a few moments and I hunted up the picture I remembered
from the book. It was a PHEASANT CUCKOO! I did not realize
at the time how unusual this sighting was. It was not until
Arturo Bayona (see below) expressed surprise at my account that I
thought to read over the species description more closely.
Apparently this is a famed skulker, often heard but almost never seen,
and certainly not found right out in the open without any effort.
I have no idea why
the bird was acting in such an uncharacteristic manner, but it was
clearly a wild bird and I'm not looking a gift horse in the
mouth. (Interestingly, the Pheasant cuckoo does not appear in the
Chichen Itza list.)
I hit the hay at about 10:30 but my friends chose to watch an incoming
storm from the palapa directly above my bedroom. It was like
living downstairs from a frat house. At about 11:30 I roared at
them to shut the hell up and was finally able to get a meager night's
sleep.
MAY 31
I got up at half past hell and drove an hour south of the villa to the
town of Felipe Carillo Puerto. The drive down 307 in the dark was
not the best time I've ever had. In the town I met Gruff Dodd, a
Welsh birder with whom I'd made contact over the Internet; we happened
to be visiting the
Yucatan at the same time and had arranged for a guided trip with the
by-now-well-known
Arturo Bayona. I cannot recommend Arturo highly enough; he is
exceptionally
skilled at spotting birds in the jungle understory, and knows most of
the
species and their calls intimately. His e-mail address is
lagarturo@yahoo.com.mx.
Arturo first took us on the trails into the jungle behind the Felipe
Carillo Puerto Instituto de Tecnologia. The first part of this
trip was disappointing, as we heard many birds but could see few due to
the thickness of the forest. I have a personal rule that a bird
does not go on my life list unless I can both see and identify it;
"heard-only" birds do not count for me, even night birds. (Thus,
I'm still waiting to add Whip-poor-will!) Among the bird calls
Arturo identified for us were Collared aracari, Thicket tinamou,
Caribbean dove, and Blue-crowned motmot. One good sighting was
PLAIN CHACHALACA.
On the back leg of the trail things picked up. Arturo and I found
a dull-colored bird with the tody-flycatcher physiology which I later
determined was a juvenile SLATE-HEADED TODY-FLYCATCHER. A parrot
flew in to give the three of us good looks: WHITE-FRONTED
PARROT. A pair of RUDDY WOODCREEPERS made an appearance, and then
I found a different-looking woodcreeper with an obvious pale throat
that turned out to be a TAWNY-WINGED WOODCREEPER. A perched
ROADSIDE HAWK seemed oblivious to our presence. After we exited
the jungle, we were enjoying a snack at Gruff's jeep when another
parrot
flew into the bushy tree by the parking lot. Gruff and I both saw
the
yellow lores and the dark earspot and identified it as the endemic
YUCATAN
PARROT! Once again, a supposedly reclusive bird afforded us
leisurely,
clear looks as it browsed on the outermost verge of the tree. It
was
still there when we moved on.
We then headed to the Vigia Chico road. It was not particularly
birdy, but we found WEDGE-TAILED SABREWING, a well-viewed BUFF-BELLIED
HUMMINGBIRD, an adult Slate-headed tody-flycatcher, and NORTHERN
BENTBILL with some work. I had requested that Arturo get me on a
toucan, and after hearing a few birds that were not visible above the
canopy, we found a KEEL-BILLED TOUCAN that perched for a short time in
a bare part of a treetop. Really the quintessential tropical
bird, and that bill is a marvel of nature. A little further on we
spotted a Myiarchus which, based in part on the call and the complete
absence of rufous in the undertail, I determined to be a DUSKY-CAPPED
FLYCATCHER. Arturo saw a couple of birds that he could not get
Gruff and I on before they
disappeared - Ivory-billed woodcreeper and Ochre-bellied flycatcher.
The last stop to which I accompanied Gruff and Arturo was Lake Ocum and
the road leading to it. (I'm not one hundred percent certain of
the
spelling.) This gave us three GREEN-BACKED SPARROWS, only the
last
of which was viewed to any extent by myself and Gruff; a GROOVE-BILLED
ANI;
and numerous MANGROVE SWALLOWS.
I returned to the villa absolutely exhausted and took a nap before
rejoining my friends for a relaxing last night together.
JUNE 1
Our time at the villa was up and my friends left for the States.
I headed northwest, stopping at the Coba lake again. A Snowy
egret waited there, the Northern jacana pulled an identical flyby
(during which I got better
views than the first time), and a BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER was on the
wires
in town - identifiable mostly by its bushy crest and extremely large
bill.
By late afternoon I was on Route 295 heading north to Rio
Lagartos. A flying bird glimpsed quickly to the right seemed to
have the characteristics of a caracara, so I turned around and
relocated the bird sitting in the one branch of a distant tree not
occluded by leaves. It was indeed the CRESTED
CARACARA which had eluded me in Florida. I continued into town
and
took the obligatory flamingo boat tour. My guide immediately took
us
up to a group of BOAT-BILLED HERONS in the trees, and a little further
on
we found a pair of GREATER (AMERICAN) FLAMINGOS. Other waders on
the
tour were Roseate spoonbill, Green heron, Wood stork, White ibis, Great
egret,
"Great white" heron, and a possible juvenile Tricolored heron. At
one
point I asked the guide to take us in to a likely spot, and I quickly
spished
up a "Mangrove" warbler which came right up to us for naked-eye looks.
A flying dove showed white edges to the secondaries, for a good ZENAIDA
DOVE appearance. On our way back in we swung by a sandbar to see
a
lone BLACK SKIMMER amongst the gulls and terns. From the dock I
spied
a flyby GULL-BILLED TERN.
As afternoon wore on to evening I took a rather unproductive drive down
the road from 295 toward Las Coloradas. Some Western sandpipers
were
foraging in shallow ponds off the road, and in the town itself I had
numerous
LESSER NIGHTHAWKS flying overhead. The presence of Northern
cardinals
among the cacti came as a surprise to me - I'd thought them fairly rare
and
exceptional in Mexico, but I really don't know where I got that
idea.
Heading back to my hotel to the south in Tizimin I saw a RED-BILLED
PIGEON
and tracked it into the scrub.
JUNE 2
In the morning I went north again, finding the first of several YUCATAN
BOBWHITES easily visible along the road. I checked Rio Lagartos
for
American oystercatcher again, but somehow it was once again high
tide.
On the road to Las Coloradas I picked up BLUE-BLACK GRASSQUIT,
BLACK-NECKED
STILT, MEXICAN SHEARTAIL, a compliant perched YUCATAN WREN, a surprise
pair
of MANGROVE CUCKOOS in the desert scrub at close range, and a perched
COMMON
BLACK-HAWK. Also, I had a quick look at a gnatcatcher on which I
discerned
a complete black cap, but when I approached closer could get a clear
look
only at another bird, a female, that was plainly a Blue-grey
gnatcatcher.
Puzzling, and I made a note to look into this later. Continuing
to
the salt evaporation flats near the town, I found several SNOWY PLOVERS
and
was able to examine a smallish-looking vulture that proved to be a
LESSER
YELLOW-HEADED VULTURE.
That afternoon I took the long drive to Cancun airport, dropped off the
rental car, took the bus to Playa del Carmen, and then the ferry to
Cozumel. In San Miguel on the island I had a couple of CARIBBEAN
DOVES perched on a
roof edge in the late afternoon. I rented a moped. I'm
really not a fan at all of the moped/motorcycle/ATV complex,
particularly when operated purely for recreation by people who enjoy
high speeds, loud noise, and habitat destruction. However,
renting a car simply wasn't practical. It
was my first time driving a moped and I had exactly one minute's
instruction, but I managed to get the hang of it after only one minor
fall. For much
of the time riding the moped I went shirtless, with binoculars around
my
neck and the helmet tipped low (I was the only moped rider who actually
wore
a helmet). My transformation to birdwatching Heck's Angel was
complete.
JUNE 3
My last full day in Mexico and still nine species short of my goal of
one hundred life birds. I started at the abandoned housing
development off
the road to Rancho Palmas, just north of the Hotel Presidente access
road.
Here I quickly found the Cozumel form of BANANAQUIT, BLACK CATBIRD, and
"Golden"
form of Yellow warbler. A few male COZUMEL EMERALDS flew
overhead,
but my best view was of a close perched female, with respect to which
my
earlier study of the Canivet's tail pattern stood me in good
stead. I found COZUMEL VIREO with some work and the Cozumel form
of Yellow-faced grassquit. I also heard Rufous-browed
peppershrike but was unable to get a visual.
The sun was up so I went south and then west to check out the sand spit
near the Punta Celarain lighthouse, where Roseate tern and Brown noddy
were
reputed nesters. After a long ride in the hot sun I was eager to
get
to my goal. Just stopping along the entrance road for a moment to
check
my directions, I had a guy pull up next to me and yell that there was
no
estacionamiento (no parking) there. I explained that I was not
parking,
merely pausing to look at my directions (I was still on my moped with
the
motor running), but he continued to harangue me. I got tired of
this
and eventually told him in no uncertain terms to get the hell
away
from me. Another kilometer or two down the road I found out what
was
going on. Unfortunately, I am sorry to report that access to the
road
is now blocked off for the lighthouse concession, with a required
admission
fee of $15, at a point less than half a kilometer short of the trail to
the
spit.
I thought $15 was outrageous and instead tried looking toward the spit
and the offshore nesting islet from the beach off the road, but saw
only two flyby
terns - one a Sandwich tern, the other a possible Roseate but
inconclusive. (I can't recommend Howell and Webb for the
difficult terns; they don't bother to picture them.) By now it
was quite hot, and well short of my goal, I retired to the public
beaches on the west side of the island.
Some hours later I returned to the abandoned development south of San
Miguel. The mosquitos were ferocious but I applied a product
called "Bite Blocker." Two words about this product: it
completely protected me from mosquitoes wherever it was applied; and it
burned like hell on my sunburn. I think it's fairly toxic and
would recommend it with those cautionary words.
It was quite warm and I was having little luck, still five birds short
of my goal. As I was walking along a back road I came across an
American couple around my age (that is, youngish) who were pouring
concrete for the roof of a house on one of the abandoned plots.
We exchanged pleasantries and they proved familiar with the local
birds. Both the man (Shane) and the woman (Renee) indicated they
had seen the thrasher, although only once perhaps in the two years that
they had been there. Renee offered to show me a spot where a
previous birder had reported good luck (with birds other than the
thrasher), so she hopped on the back of my moped and we went back down
the entrance road. Almost back at the ranch grounds we stopped
where there was a clearing and the foundation of a building (just the
lowest square of concrete blocks) on the right, or north, side of the
entrance road. Here there were trees with large green fruit
covered with thorns. (Botany? Not so much my strong
suit.) A few minutes' wait here were extremely productive, with
NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET and STRIPE-HEADED TANAGER (finally!)
making appearances. Renee was very helpful here as she continued
to
scan for new birds while I concentrated on getting the field marks of
the
birds we had seen. I then returned Renee to her husband and their
roofing
project.
Along the way we had heard, but not seen, the wren. I had
indicated my interest in seeing the wren and both Renee and I marvelled
that it had been so elusive. I was beginning to despair of it
when Renee mentioned the "little bird" that was "living in a hole in
their wall." I couldn't believe my ears. She had
demonstrated familiarity with woodpeckers, so it could hardly be
anything but the wren. I said as much to her, and we went around
the side of their house where she pointed out the hole. I spished
and immediately a COZUMEL WREN poked its face out, then flew into the
trees! Little rotter.
(I have since consulted with Renee and Shane and they have no objection
to my mentioning their names in this account. They love visitors
so
if you’re in the area of the abandoned development and see a young
American couple working on their house, go ahead and say hi; they might
be able to help you get on some birds! However, with respect to
the wren living in their wall, spishing should probably be avoided from
now on. Particularly in the busy tourist season that bird might
be spished up once or twice a day
now that its location is known, probably to the bird’s great detriment,
so
please do refrain. A patient wait should produce equally good
results.)
After I took my leave from Renee and Shane, a brief downpour caught me
on the way out. It passed quickly and I stopped once again at the
magic spot Renee had shown me. Short of the elaenias, the
White-crowned pigeon, and the Yucatan flycatcher, I couldn't think of
any species I was likely to
see in Cozumel that would be new – laying aside the unlikelihood of
seeing the thrasher – so I had little hope. As soon as I arrived,
however, I realized I had a hummingbird perched in a tree right in
front of me. Although mostly backlit, I could see it was of a
pretty uniform color and had a long, strongly arched bill. It was
the GREEN-BREASTED MANGO that I had not seen on the mainland. I
was sunburnt, tired, and facing a day of travel the next day, so I
decided to call it quits with ninety-nine birds.
A block and a half short of my hotel, and thus only minutes from
returning the moped, I had a minivan stop suddenly in front of me and I
had to go into a power-braking move that left me and the moped on the
pavement. I had
only a minor cut on the hand (not even requiring a band-aid), but the
moped's
left rearview mirror was broken and a fiberglass panel was
cracked. It cost me an additional $175 and I would have been much
better off just renting
a car on the island.
Back at the hotel I went over my notes and rediscovered the issue of
the gnatcatcher from the previous day. Studying the species
descriptions, I noted the comment that Blue-gray gnatcatchers often
associate with other species - something which I really should have
known from seeing them with warbler flocks. The details of my
brief sighting, the location, and the habitat were all ideal for
WHITE-LORED GNATCATCHER. I'd made my goal of a hundred life birds
and was ready to head back to the USA.
Chris Spagnoli
Charles.Spagnoli@thompsonhine.com