Dave B Smith
Well-known member
Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and Coba, Mexico
We went for a quick birding trip to the Yucatan Peninsula last weekend. We drove from Campeche and arrived in Playa del Carmen Thursday evening. Friday morning we got started at 7:30 AM on the some of the back roads between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morelos. We birded our way to P. Morelos where the Botanical Garden, which was our destination, opens at 9 AM. At the entry, while waiting for the gates to open, we met a local bird guide, Luis Ku Quinones, who didn’t have any trip scheduled. We hired him for the morning and what a great help he was. He has been guiding visits to the gardens for the last 10 years. He knew almost every bird we heard in the gardens (60 hectares) and we found most of those we heard. Right in the Parking lot we picked up our first endemic bird, the Yucatan Vireo, as well as a half dozen other birds. We found both the Black-headed and the Violaceous Trogons but not the Collared Trogon that we were wanting. Later, off the trail near an ant swarm, we found 4 different Woodcreeper species in one area. Three were lifers for us! And right at the end of our morning we came up with my favorite bird of the day and a lifer, the Long-billed Gnatwren! By 12:30 it was getting quite hot for birding as well as pretty slow so off to lunch and then the afternoon on the beach!
Saturday was dedicated to a trip to Cozumel Island. We started early, leaving the hotel at 5:15 AM to catch the 6 AM ferry to Cozumel. We arrived on the Island just before 7 and well before any car-hires were open. We checked out the birds in the main square and then had a leisurely breakfast. At 8 AM when the first car rental opened we were standing in their doorway. By 8:15 we were on our way. The first stop was just outside of town on the middle island road. We saw a nursery bordered by some good woods and pulled in there. We were quickly rewarded with our first Cozumel endemic, the Cozumel Emerald hummingbird. What a beautiful bird, bright emerald green with a long forked tail (male). We also picked up two endemic subspecies there, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and the Black Catbird. Then we headed down the road and came to the entrance to a Mayan ruin (San Gervasio) site. We birded the long entrance road picking up two more endem ssps, the Yellow-faced Grassquit and Red-vented Woodpecker. We paid our entrance fee into the ruins but then they wouldn’t let me enter with my tripod. This was the first time I’ve failed to talk my way into a ruin with it, but this guy wasn’t budging. We got our money back and birded the parking area and came up with the Golden Warbler, another striking little bird. Then on to the far side of the Island and down to the South-east corner where the Punta Celerain Lighthouse is. There is a small (maybe 70 feet long) rocky island off the coast here and my guide book said that there were several pairs of Bridled Terns that nest here (at least in 99). Well, this area is a protected area and you can only enter with a tour. I tried with my scope from the observation platform at the entrance and could make out several Bridled Terns but it certainly wasn’t a satisfying view. We talked with the attendants and they were very helpful and one agreed to accompany us on one of their vehicles to a beach area close to the island (a mini-tour fee was negotiated). This gave us great views and we got Bridled, Sandwich and Common Terns, as well as Brown Noddy and Brown Booby. From there, we continued around the Island perimeter road until the President Hotel area. It was now 3:30 PM so we stopped for lunch and then I had to keep to my deal and go shopping in town with my wife. We finished up at 5:30 and caught the 6 PM ferry back to Playa del Carmen.
The next morning included a stop to see the ruins at Tulum (got Cave Swallow, my 500th lifer there), and then off to Coba for some forest birding. We arrived in Coba late morning and first checked out the adjacent lake picking up a few waders and then entered the ruins. The forest was alive with bird calls! There were Clay-colored Robins everywhere as well as Tropical Kingbirds. We started down the long path, stopping at every offshoot of the main path (if anyone actually wants to get all the way to the ruins and see them, I recommend hiring one of the bicycles or three wheeled “taxi” tricycles for the entrance). In one spot we pished up a Northern Bentbill and an Eye-ringed Flatbill. Fantastic little birds, both. Further on we found a Yellow-olive Flycatcher feeding hatchlings. Her nest was a hanging bulbous nest with a bottom entry. While trying to ID her, I set my scope on the nest and just waited for her to return. Well, it returned and flew straight up and in like a flash! No way to ID from that view. Next I found a branch it was using as a “staging area” prior to entering the nest and we got a good look at it here. As it was getting late and we had a long drive in front of us we had to leave prior to ever getting to the actual ruin site. On the way out we picked up some Black-headed Trogons calling.
All in all it was a good little trip. Plenty of birding and enough sight-seeing time to keep my wife happy too! We saw 65 species of which 17 were lifers so it was also very productive. All three sites are highly recommended. Following is the trip list with lifers identified with an asterisk*.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Brown Booby
Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Magnificent Frigatebird
Little Blue Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Limpkin
Northern Jacana
Sandwich Tern
Roseate Tern
Bridled Tern *
Brown Noddy *
White-winged Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Lesser Nighthawk
Green-breasted Mango
Cozumel Emerald *
Black-headed Trogon
Violaceous Trogon
Blue-crowned Motmot
Red-vented Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper *
Ruddy Woodcreeper *
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper *
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Yellow-bellied Elaenia *
Northern Bentbill *
Eye-ringed Flatbill *
Yellow-olive Flycatcher *
Tropical Pewee
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Yucatan Vireo *
Yellow-green Vireo *
Tawny-crowned Greenlet *
Lesser Greenlet *
Green Jay
Brown Jay
Yucatan Jay
Cave Swallow * (#500)
Long-billed Gnatwren *
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Robin
Black Catbird *
Tropical Mockingbird
Golden (Yellow) Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Bananaquit
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Melodious Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Orange Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Yellow-throated Euphonia
We went for a quick birding trip to the Yucatan Peninsula last weekend. We drove from Campeche and arrived in Playa del Carmen Thursday evening. Friday morning we got started at 7:30 AM on the some of the back roads between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morelos. We birded our way to P. Morelos where the Botanical Garden, which was our destination, opens at 9 AM. At the entry, while waiting for the gates to open, we met a local bird guide, Luis Ku Quinones, who didn’t have any trip scheduled. We hired him for the morning and what a great help he was. He has been guiding visits to the gardens for the last 10 years. He knew almost every bird we heard in the gardens (60 hectares) and we found most of those we heard. Right in the Parking lot we picked up our first endemic bird, the Yucatan Vireo, as well as a half dozen other birds. We found both the Black-headed and the Violaceous Trogons but not the Collared Trogon that we were wanting. Later, off the trail near an ant swarm, we found 4 different Woodcreeper species in one area. Three were lifers for us! And right at the end of our morning we came up with my favorite bird of the day and a lifer, the Long-billed Gnatwren! By 12:30 it was getting quite hot for birding as well as pretty slow so off to lunch and then the afternoon on the beach!
Saturday was dedicated to a trip to Cozumel Island. We started early, leaving the hotel at 5:15 AM to catch the 6 AM ferry to Cozumel. We arrived on the Island just before 7 and well before any car-hires were open. We checked out the birds in the main square and then had a leisurely breakfast. At 8 AM when the first car rental opened we were standing in their doorway. By 8:15 we were on our way. The first stop was just outside of town on the middle island road. We saw a nursery bordered by some good woods and pulled in there. We were quickly rewarded with our first Cozumel endemic, the Cozumel Emerald hummingbird. What a beautiful bird, bright emerald green with a long forked tail (male). We also picked up two endemic subspecies there, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and the Black Catbird. Then we headed down the road and came to the entrance to a Mayan ruin (San Gervasio) site. We birded the long entrance road picking up two more endem ssps, the Yellow-faced Grassquit and Red-vented Woodpecker. We paid our entrance fee into the ruins but then they wouldn’t let me enter with my tripod. This was the first time I’ve failed to talk my way into a ruin with it, but this guy wasn’t budging. We got our money back and birded the parking area and came up with the Golden Warbler, another striking little bird. Then on to the far side of the Island and down to the South-east corner where the Punta Celerain Lighthouse is. There is a small (maybe 70 feet long) rocky island off the coast here and my guide book said that there were several pairs of Bridled Terns that nest here (at least in 99). Well, this area is a protected area and you can only enter with a tour. I tried with my scope from the observation platform at the entrance and could make out several Bridled Terns but it certainly wasn’t a satisfying view. We talked with the attendants and they were very helpful and one agreed to accompany us on one of their vehicles to a beach area close to the island (a mini-tour fee was negotiated). This gave us great views and we got Bridled, Sandwich and Common Terns, as well as Brown Noddy and Brown Booby. From there, we continued around the Island perimeter road until the President Hotel area. It was now 3:30 PM so we stopped for lunch and then I had to keep to my deal and go shopping in town with my wife. We finished up at 5:30 and caught the 6 PM ferry back to Playa del Carmen.
The next morning included a stop to see the ruins at Tulum (got Cave Swallow, my 500th lifer there), and then off to Coba for some forest birding. We arrived in Coba late morning and first checked out the adjacent lake picking up a few waders and then entered the ruins. The forest was alive with bird calls! There were Clay-colored Robins everywhere as well as Tropical Kingbirds. We started down the long path, stopping at every offshoot of the main path (if anyone actually wants to get all the way to the ruins and see them, I recommend hiring one of the bicycles or three wheeled “taxi” tricycles for the entrance). In one spot we pished up a Northern Bentbill and an Eye-ringed Flatbill. Fantastic little birds, both. Further on we found a Yellow-olive Flycatcher feeding hatchlings. Her nest was a hanging bulbous nest with a bottom entry. While trying to ID her, I set my scope on the nest and just waited for her to return. Well, it returned and flew straight up and in like a flash! No way to ID from that view. Next I found a branch it was using as a “staging area” prior to entering the nest and we got a good look at it here. As it was getting late and we had a long drive in front of us we had to leave prior to ever getting to the actual ruin site. On the way out we picked up some Black-headed Trogons calling.
All in all it was a good little trip. Plenty of birding and enough sight-seeing time to keep my wife happy too! We saw 65 species of which 17 were lifers so it was also very productive. All three sites are highly recommended. Following is the trip list with lifers identified with an asterisk*.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Brown Booby
Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Magnificent Frigatebird
Little Blue Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Limpkin
Northern Jacana
Sandwich Tern
Roseate Tern
Bridled Tern *
Brown Noddy *
White-winged Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Lesser Nighthawk
Green-breasted Mango
Cozumel Emerald *
Black-headed Trogon
Violaceous Trogon
Blue-crowned Motmot
Red-vented Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Tawny-winged Woodcreeper *
Ruddy Woodcreeper *
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper *
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Yellow-bellied Elaenia *
Northern Bentbill *
Eye-ringed Flatbill *
Yellow-olive Flycatcher *
Tropical Pewee
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Yucatan Vireo *
Yellow-green Vireo *
Tawny-crowned Greenlet *
Lesser Greenlet *
Green Jay
Brown Jay
Yucatan Jay
Cave Swallow * (#500)
Long-billed Gnatwren *
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Robin
Black Catbird *
Tropical Mockingbird
Golden (Yellow) Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Bananaquit
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Melodious Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Orange Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Yellow-throated Euphonia
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