Our Last Mexican Birding Adventure - December 2016 (1 Viewer)

Last December I talked the love of my life into going to Mexico with me for her first time. Mid month we packed lightly and made our way to Yelapa, Jalisco from Seattle by plane, taxi and water taxi, barely making our boat. When we arrived in the village the sun was setting and we made our way to the very farthest house on the trail to the point in the near dark with the help of our host. Too late for birds, we made our dinner and settled in for the night with views of the lights of Yelapa from our deck and those of Puerto Vallarta in the far distance over the water.
Next morning I was up bright and early with my binoculars, peering from our balcony into the nearby flowering tops of coconut palms. I saw some Tanagers which I was never able to get a good look at, an Ivory Billed Woodcreeper and a Gray Gnatcatcher. Later that morning we saw some Humpbacked Whales breaching and realized we had heard them in the night. Under the canopy of the forest we realized it was a little difficult to see the birds that flitted in the treetops so we made a foray into town. My memory is a little hazy on the details of what happened each day but I'll try to catalogue at least locations of our various sightings. We saw a Common Black Hawk sitting on the rocks on the shore below our casa which was probably the "eagle" our host was referring to. There were several kinds of ground doves along the trail to the town, especially in the horse pastures. Also along the trail we saw rufous backed robin, elegant trogon, and orange fronted parakeets. Making our way through town we saw Black Fronted Magpie Jays eating fruit from trees and the ever present grackles. There are too many birds to list on the waterfront: elegant frigatebird, brown pelican, Great Egrets, avocet, cormorants, gulls. Heading up the river we began to see Great Kiskadee, more un-id'd tanagers, Streak Backed Oriole, Chachalaca, Cacique, and high overhead, the huge and colorful Military Macaws which for me are the great bird attraction of Yelapa. Macaws are raucous communicators, constantly calling each other from their ridge top flyways and high elevation treetops. They sound a bit like ravens.

I realize my run-on paragraphs may become tedious but mainly I am listing some of the birds on our journey with a little text to string them together. I have posted more of my stories elsewhere for anyone who is interested.

On our walk up the river to the waterfalls there were a few more notable birds: The Golden Cheeked Woodpecker sometimes fluffs up its head feathers giving it a whacky tousled look, I called it the Phyllis Diller bird. Lineated woodpecker is a quite large woodpecker similar to our pileated woodpecker at home. I should note the many varieties of chickens strutting about the little yards and ranchos along the way. They come in many colors and sizes. There are some gorgeous multicolored roosters and the cutest tiny hens! Further along, near the falls, we came to an area with many of the fruiting trees the Macaws love. We had some fairly good views, albeit distant, of Military Macaws feeding and squawking. There were also large flocks of orange fronted parakeets which chatter en-masse as they fly. Having learned the favorite tree of the Macaws I have taught myself how to sneak up on the wary birds and even lay in wait for them under the trees. I got pretty close this time but was unable to get a clear photo shot. It is still a thrill to be right amongst them where there calls are loud and clear. I'll be back later to write about some of the birds I saw in the mountains above Yelapa.