Notes from vacations in Mexico (1 Viewer)

Over the past couple of years I've been to Mexico 3 times on family vacations, twice to Yucatan and once to Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast. The emphasis has always been on the family, but I try and choose resorts where the is also some reasonable habitat within walking distance (google maps helps here) so I can do some birding in the early mornings. I also did a couple of mornings with guides. I thought it might be interesting for others to see what is possible with relatively little birding time, because I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation. I'll cover each trip in turn separately...

Sandos Caracol Eco Resort

This place is about 45mins south of Cancun, just north of Playa Del Carmen. I chose it because it had good facilities for kids, and it seemed to have some areas of scrub and woodland around it. The resort itself is quite spread out, and there are some trails leading through wooded areas to some small ruins. Within the resort itself I saw Turquoise-browed Motmot, White-eyed Vireos, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler and Buff-bellied Humingbirds at a flowering tree. By the ruins I had a pair of Plain Chachalaca and on one occation a pair of Olive-throated Parakeets flew past at head height as I was lying by the kids pool. Great-tailed Grackle were common. There was a pool by one of the restaurants which had pictures of Grey-necked Wood-rail displayed, but I never saw any.

There was some interesting birding around the perimeter of the resort. Just to the south was an area of scrub where, with a fair amount of effort, I found Mangrove Vireo and, on my last morning, Black Catbird. There are also Grey Catbird here and more Chachalaca. I found a Solitary Sandpiper in a small pool here one morning. I saw an Osprey and a juvenile Great-black Hawk.

Walking west, away from the beach, leads to the main enterance of the resort. There was a path to the right (heading north) which borders a golf course and has some nice trees. This was the best area for birding. New birds I saw here included a clean sweep of the Orioles; Orange, Yellow-backed, Black-Cowled, Yellow-tailed, Orchard, Hooded and Altamira. The Yucatan really must be one of the best places in the world for new world Orioles. Also here were Black-headed Saltator, White-bellied Wren, Yellow-billed Cacique, Rose-throated Becard, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Yucatan Vireo, Tropical Mockingbird, Couch's Kingbird, White-bellied Emerald, and both Boat-billed and Great Kiskadees./B] Two of the highlights for me were a female Violacous Trogon and a flock of Yucatan Jay. The jays were a target bird, and in the end they were quite common. But until you actually visit these places you just don't know how elusive your targets might prove to be.

Overall I'd say that the Sandos is a pretty good option for a family holiday you want to supplement with birding. I also did one morning of guided birding to Muyil which I'll cover next.

Before travelling to Mexico I had contacted Luis Ku, a fairly well-known bird guide in the Yucatan area. As others have mentioned, he is not cheap, but he does know the birds and their calls. Luis picked me up from the hotel at 5am - he was already waiting for me when I got to the hotel lobby. An hour and a half later we arrived in Muyil. Muyil is a basically a small village on the edge of the Sian-Ka'an reserve and on the other side of the main highway there are some little-know Mayan ruins, that also happens to incorporate a lot of mature trees, and hence good birding habitat.

We started birding around the village becuase the ruins did not open until around 8am and there was an amazing amount of activity. New birds for the trip included White-fronted Parrot, Yellow-lored Parrot, a pair of which Luis found pearched in a tree, a nice Barred Antshrike, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Yucatan Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Great-creasted Flycatcher, Spot-breasted Wren, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Red-throated Ant-tanager and Brown Jay. We did well for woodpeckers and hummingbirds here. We saw all of what I think are the 4 resident hummingbirds in the area - Buff-bellied Humminbird, White-bellied Emerald, Canivet's Emerald and Wedge-tailed Saberwing. In terms of woodpeckers we had my first Yucatan Woodpeckers of the trip here, as well as, Ladder-backed, Golden-fronted, Lineated and Golden-olive. We also found a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl being mobbed by other birds.

While we were wandering around the village we bumped into a couple of Japanese birders who were being guided by a two young guys who clearly were still learning the ropes. We heard them mis-id a Great-creasted Flycatcher as a Yucatan Flycatcher, and they kept referring to their guide book every time something new popped up. But still, I guess the good news is that it means more Mexicans getting invloved in birding, which can only be a positive thing.

At aound 8am we stopped to eat breakfast and then headed over the road to the ruins. It was already getting very hot, but the trees were taller hear so there was more shade. We first walked along a small road on the south side of the ruins that lead to a lagoon. The best birds here were an Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, and a Green-backed Sparrow, which I had not expected to find here, so that was a real bonus. We had a fleeting glimpse of a Grey-throated Chat, which would have been a lifer but, after much internal debate, I decided I couldn't count it. I hate it when that happens.

We next headed into the ruins proper. By this time the heat was becomming quite intense and activity was starting to slow, but in addition to more of the same birds from around the village, we also found a trio of Trogons - Violaceous, Black-headed and Collared. Always great to see these guys. We also found a pair of Scrub Euphonia which was a lifer for me. Up until recently one of my boggy birds was Olivaceous Woodcreeper (I finally saw lots of them in Brazil last year). And this was another case where there was one on the opposite side of a tree right in front of me that I could hear, but it flew off just as I moved around to try and see it. That was even more annoying than the Chat.

That was about it. All-in-all a very enjoyable and productive morning of quite easy birding.

Just caught up with this report, mcali. It brings back 10 year old memories. On a trip to the Yucatan in 2004, my wife and I met Luis Ku when he was working at the Puerto Morelos Botanical Gardens. He found us struggling to id a flycatcher and led us inexperienced birding tourists around the gardens without asking for a fee. Unfortunately, about halfway through our walk, it began to rain heavily and we all got drenched.
Later that trip, we went to Muyil twice, seeing little the first time but hitting birding gold on our return visit, including several ant swarms with a decent look at a Gray-throated Chat. Having Luis along would have certainly doubled our bird list.
Here's a few pictures from those visits. Thanks for posting-

Steve

I envy your Chat Steve! I have an almost identical photo of a trogon from Muyil - although in my case its a Violaceous rather than Black-headed.

Apparently Luis does a night trip to get Yucatan Poorwill and Nightjar as well as Vermiculated Screech Owl. I'd love to do that one day.

Grand Velas: Puerto Vallarta

Our next family holiday to Mexico was on the other side of the country, on the Pacific coast. The bird families here are similar to the Yucatan but the species are very different. I chose the Grand Velas becasue it looked good for the kids, and was also close to some scrubby, wooded areas on the northern edge of Puerto Vallarta where the amount of building begins to fade (technically this is Nuebo Vallarta).

The hotel itself was fairly compact and the grounds were manicured, so there was not much to see in the hotel itself. There were some flowers which attracted Broad-billed and Cinnamon Humming birds. I found a White-collared Seedeater on the grass one day, and there were Black-bellied Whistling Ducks roosting on the roof of the hotel. From the beach I regularly saw Heerman's Gulls, Brown Pelicans and Least Terns.

Just to the north of the hotel, across from a small roundabout, there was an open area being used as a carpark, adjacent to a river and surrounded by shrubs and trees. This became my local patch for the week. Birds I found here included Greyish Saltator, Yellow Grosbeak, Yellow-crowned Night-herron, Inca Dove, Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Happy Wren, Streak-backed Oriole, Rufous-bellied Chachalaca, Rufous-backed Thrush, Yellow-winged Cacique and the beautiful Golden-cheeked Woodpecker. The best bird for me though was one that I was not sure I would find at all on this trip, but which turned out to be fairly common in this little patch - Elegant Quail (see photo in first post).

As on my previous Mexico trip, I arranged one morning with a bird guide. I'll cover that next.

My guide for this excursion was Gerado Hernandez Vazquez. I was very happy with his services. He was cheaper than Luis Ku but I would say his skills were on a par. He drove himself, unlike Luis who had a driver, so that explains part of the cost difference.

Gerado met me as planned around 5am in the hotel lobby. We drove for an hour or so in the dark and gradually reached less populated areas. At one point we flushed a Pauraque. As dawn broke we arrived at our destination for the day, which I think Gerado called "El Ranchito". It was essentially a dry river bed surrounded by thorn forest and it looked very promising. In the distance we could hear Elegant Trogon and West Mexican Chachalaca calling, but we couldn't spot them. Gerado spotted a Blue Mockingbird but I missed it. Then I thought I had seen one but it was a Shiny Cowbird. All a bit frustrating. Things picked up when a couple of Golden Vireo popped briefly into the open. This was the only time we saw this scarce species. Several Yellow-green Vireo also made an appearence, and Masked Tityra seemed to be quite common. A Gray Hawk drifted slowly overhead, then a dozen little green bullets flew past and landed in a tree. These turned out to be Mexican Parrotlets. We also had small flocks of Lilac-crowned Parrots overhead.

One of my target species was Citreoline Trogon (I do like Trogons) and I eventually saw a flash of yellow in the distance which looked promising. As we got closer the yellow flash turned into a beautiful male Trogon, and a female also appeared. At this spot we could hear Colima Pygmy Owl and Russet-crowned Motmot but neither revealed themselves. But by way of compensation a flock of San Blas Jay was discovered. I've attached a photo of a San Blas Jay below so you can compare it to the photo of a Yucatan Jay in one of the earlier postings (note the difference in leg colour).

We could still hear Elegant Trogon calling and we eventually found a pair calling to each other in the same tree (did I mention that I like Trogons?). We could also still hear West Mexican Chachalaca and these guys took much longer to find. Its amazing how difficult it can be to spot such large, noisy birds. Gerado spotted another Blue Mockingbird which I again missed, although I did spot a Brown-creasted Flycatcher. We headed off in the general direction of the mockingbird when I saw something poke up off the ground in the distance. As we got closer I realized it was a tail. A very long tail. In fact one off the longest tails I've ever seen. It was of course a Black-throated Magpie Jay that was drinking from a pool of water. What a creature.

It was now around noon and getting very hot. Walking on the sandy river bed was also quite a slog after a while. As we headed back to the car a Sinaloa Wren hopped along the path in front of us. There were Happy Wren here too. I was back in time for lunch with the family no problem.

Next up, back to the Yucatan...

Thanks for these.
I will take some time to read them.
Is February or March a good time to go?
Which is the best for birds on your doorstep.
I like to establish a local patch for some early morning birdwatching straight out of the hotel.
Have you been to Cuba?
I have posted a recent report of my trip to Guardalavaca on this forum which may interest you.
It was wonderful but Cayo Guillermo was even better.I did a report on Vacation forum last year.
The Advantge of both is the restricted amount of development round either resort.
They don't do high rise and the hotels are so well landscaped they blend in




with the surroundings.
Straight out the hotel and you are right amongst teeming lagoons or dense forests full of birds.
If I was going to Guardalaca I would definitely prefer Playa Esmeralda.There are only two hotels here.The Luna Y Mares and the upmarket Paradius which is adult only.
The Cuban hotels apart from the Paradius are fine without having the wow factor apart from the magnificent beaches.Don't expect a gourmet experience in Cuba!
There cannot be many countries in the world quite so unspoilt as Cuba.A population of only 11 million in an island 700 miles long.
The countryside,mountains and coastline is something to behold.
Thanks again.These sort of reports are very useful in planning future holidays.

Yes Feb or March is a good time to go because you have a lot of migrants from the north at that time. Lots of wood-warblers and vireos.

i have in fact been to Cuba on a family holiday. We stayed at Paradisus Varadero, which was good because, although its a built up area, it has a nature reserve right next door. Lots of birds there including Great Lizard Cuckoo, Yellow-headed Warbler, Cuban Vireo and Cuban Green Woodpecker. Also found about half a dozen Key West Quail-Dove there. Zapata swamp is two hours drive to the south which i did as a half day trip.

Thanks
Off all the hotels in Mexico which is the most accessible to nearby natural areas within walking distance?
Thanks

The two i mention above plus the third i will cover later are all walking distance to at least some natural area. i would say that the hotel i will cover next - the Bahia Principe - has the most extensive natural area, but it's a longer walk to reach it, so there is a tradeoff.

Bahia Principe de Coba

The thrid resort I'll cover is the Bahia Principe de Coba, which we stayed in last March (along with my mother ("the babysitter")) who had joined us from England. This resort is sprawling, and is really three resorts in one. It's about 45 mins further south from Sandos Carocol, along the same highway. I chose the Coba section becuase it has a great kids pool, but the 2 other sections looked very similar. I had relatively low expectations for this trip in terms of lifers, but I was hoping to see at least one of the Tanager species I had so far misses - Grey Headed, Yellow-winged or Rose-throated.

Our room was on the southern edge of the resort facing an undeveloped area of tress, but becuase we were only on the second level (there were 3) I could not see much from my balcony. There was however a dirt track running along the southern edge of the resort and I birded this most mornings. Birds seen here included Yucatan Vireo, Yucatan Jay (lots of these) Summer Tanager, Hooded, Altamira and Yellow-tailed Orioles, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Warbler and Plain Chachalaca. I heard several Ferruginous Pygmy Owl calling each morning and found one sitting on a window ledge in the resort itself. I had a single, flyover White-fronted Parrot, and, on the last morning, found a beautiful, male, Black-headed Trogon. Overall, this area was not bad, but I would say the Sandos was better in terms of birding around the resort itself.

I did not hire a guide this time, but I did hire a car and explored two areas. The first was a archaeological site called Xel Ha, about ten minutes further south along the 307. This is a really nice, quiet site and there is a lot of nice habitat, especially as you walk west. I saw nobody else here the entire morning. In terms of birds, there were lots of migrant warblers and vireos here including Northern Waterthrush, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, White-eyed Vireo and Yellow-throated Vireo. In terms of Orioles there were Hooded, Altamira, Black-cowled and Orange. I saw two Trogons (but not quite well enough to id them), a White-breasted Wren and a Squirrel Cuckoo. Aparently this area is good for Rose-throated Tanager, but I did not see any.

The other area I explored in the car was across the highway from the resort, just south of the golf course. In retrospect I did not spend enough time here becase it turned out to be very birdy. You can cross over the highway on a birdge from the resort and there is a checkpoint there. I was always let past. South of the golf course they are building some houses but they are well spaced out and there is plenty of good habitat. I drove as far as I could to the west until I reached a dirt path, at which point I explored on foot. New birds for the trip here including Green and Brown Jays, Masked Tityra, Black Catbird, Tropical Gnatcatcher Red-billed Pigeon and Canivet's Emerald. I could hear lots of noisy Chachalaca in the distance, and saw a couple of White-crowned parrots perched. There were lots of mixed warbler flocks here. I had almost given up hope of seeing any of my target tanagers when a promising looking bird flew across the path and pearched on top of a tree to left. It sarted calling and I knew what is was straght away - Rose-throated Tanager. This is a Yucatan endemic, and the tanager I had most hoped to see, so I was pretty chuffed with that.

I also did a nature trip organised by the resort, which involved a cycle ride over the bridge to an area of forest to the west of the golf course. The habitat is very good here but the trip did not start until 10am so too late for good birding. The only bird I saw was an Ivory-billed Woodcreeper. They have a canopy tower here which might be good in the morning (there is one in the resort itself too, but I did not see much from that). I discovered later that there were organised birdwatching tours around the golf course starting at 7.30 on Thursday mornings, so you may want to try that if you stay at Bahia Principe.

That's it. I hope anyone travelling to Mexico on a regular family vacation might get a few ideas, or some inspiration, from this. Its possible to see quite a lot with limited time.