Weekend in Palenque, Mexico (1 Viewer)

This past weekend my wife and I went to the Mayan ruins of Palenque. We arrived Friday night and stayed in the Chan Kah hotel outside of the ruins. Sat morning we were up with the birds and headed up to the ruins. We birded the wooded areas outside of the ruins first and came up with a real good skulker, Orange-billed Sparrow. His name should probably be the Luminescent Orange-billed Sparrow! I've never seen such a bright bill! Anyway, we found a pair of them and got to watch them singing. Also saw Chestnut-headed Oropendola, an unidentified wren, and heard trogons calling (but didn't see one the entire weekend). Next we went up into the ruins and found a family of Bat Falcons. One adult was feeding two young birds that had just fledged. The adult was catching dragonflies and then taking them to the young birds. After 4 hours birding the ruins, we went back to the hotel to "cool off" (it was hotter'n all get out in the ruins) and have lunch.

After lunch we drove up to the Misol Ha waterfalls. It started raining pretty heavily before we arrived at the falls so we stayed in the car and waited out the storm. About 40 minutes later it was down to a drizzle and we started birding there. We found a flock of about 30 White-crowned Parrots feeding in a fruiting tree nearby. I normally try to keep my scope dry, but I took it out in the light rain to watch these guys! These were life birds and my scope is "supposed" to be water proof! Next birds were a pair of Keel-billed Toucans in a dead tree giving great views. After that we returned back to the hotel for the night.

Next day we birded around the hotel grounds and surrounding area. Had good close views of Roadside Hawk, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Azure-crowned Hummingbird (another lifer), Crimson-collared Tanager, Passerini's Tanager, and Red-crowned Ant-Tanager.

We left at noon for the drive back to Campeche and did some sightseeing on the way. All in all it was a pleasant trip. Bird totals were lower that normal for that trip at just 62 species, but I did manage 6 lifers. Following is the trip list:
Plain Chachalaca
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Roadside Hawk
Laughing Falcon
Bat Falcon
Northern Jacana
Red-billed Pigeon
Plain-breasted Ground-Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
White-crowned Parrot*
White-fronted Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
Squirrel Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
White-collared Swift
Azure-crowned Hummingbird*
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Keel-billed Toucan
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Ruddy Foliage-gleaner
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Social Flycatcher
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Masked Tityra
Brown Jay
Gray-breasted Martin*
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Spot-breasted Wren
House Wren*
Clay-colored Robin
Red-crowned Ant-Tanager
Crimson-collared Tanager
Passerini's Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Blue-black Grassquit
White-collared Seedeater
Thick-billed Seed-Finch*
Orange-billed Sparrow*
Grayish Saltator
Buff-throated Saltator
Black-headed Saltator
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Melodious Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
Yellow-billed Cacique
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
Scrub Euphonia
Yellow-throated Euphonia

Hi Dave , great birding, congratulations! I noticed a * next to House Wren! Is there a new split or something? Can't be a new bird...
Saludos
Eduardo

Presumably a Southern House Wren, which is often recognised as a seperate species.
Tom

Motmot and Tom,
Yes it was a Southern House Wren but the AOU still doesn't recognize it as a full species. And I told my wife no-one reading this post would believe that the House Wren would be a lifer, but I'm embarrassed to say it was (#472)! At least I got it now and it won't end up being my #500th lifer where I would have to tell the world.

Don't be embarrased! There's loads of "House Wren kind of things" still not on my list either. One day...