MK90
Always learning
I have just returned from week in the Yucatan Peninsular. This was not strictly a birding trip as I was here with my girlfriend. That being said, I did manage to squeeze in an hour or so everyday, as well as a morning with a guide.
22nd April
We landed early in the evening and I soon gained my first two ticks of the trip in the form of Grey-breasted Martins and Great Tailed Grackles frequenting the airport car park. The sun was now setting meaning that I was only able to add Turkey Vulture on the trip to our accommodation in Tulum in the fading light.
23rd April
The joys of jet-lag meant that I was awake up 3am the next morning. This did mean that I was out with my bins a the first sign of light around 5:30am. Our hotel (Dreams Tulum) was situated on a long sandy beach lined with tropical forest. Walking south along this stretch of beach provided me with Tropical Mockingbird, Brown Pelican, Grey Plover, Osprey, Tropical Kingbird, Royal Tern, Spotted Sandpiper, White Ibis, Eastern Kingbird, Hooded Oriole, Magnificant Frigatebird and Turnstone.
I then explored the rest of the hotel grounds; quite a large site with plenty of forested areas. This added Scarlet Tanager, Melodious Blackbird, Black-headed Trogon, Bronzed Cowbird and Yellow Warbler to my trip list.
24th April
This was the morning of my guided tour. I had originally planned to book a morning with Miguel of Mexico Kan Tours having seen many positive reviews of him on here. However, he was away for the dates I was in the country. He did, however, recommend another company, Community Tours, that could provide a guide. Community Tours is a company based on the outskirts of the Sian Ka'an Reserve that employs their guides from the, mainly indigenous, town of Muyil and reinvest heavily in the local community to engage locals with the wildlife on their doorstep.
I met my guide at 7am in the town of Muyil. We then spent the next three hours exploring the area of forest around the town; an area my guide said he birded every day, so I knew I was in safe hands. My guide was extremely knowledgeable and was good at pointing out distinguishing features of species that helped to tell it from other confusingly similar species. This helped me greatly throughout the rest of my trip, especially with flycatchers.
In total we saw 51 species on this trip with the highlights being: Keel-billed Toucan (four sightings in total), Turquoise-browed Motmot, both Gartered and Black Headed Trogon, Orange Oriole, Yucatan Jay, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Squirrel Cuckoo, Summer Tanager and Smoky-brown Woodpecker.
25th April
A lazy day spent around the pool gave me the opportunity to repeat the beach walk I did on the first morning. Along the shoreline was a large flock of waders. This provided me with three new species: Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover.
Later that evening, while eating out at a restaurant in the forest around Tulum, a Common Black Hawk landed in a nearby tree, giving great views of itself before taking flight again. If only birding was always this easy!
26th April
Today was another early start in order to get to Coba Ruins before the tourist busses arrived. Coba is a fantastic place and well worth the visit for birders and non-birders alike. As the ruins are spread over a large area you can hire bikes for 50 pesos (about £2, or $2.60). As we had arrived so early we were often the only people in sight. This was a fantastic experience; cycling to ruins, surrounded by jungle, with not another soul around!
The birding here was also very good. The lake provided Great Egret and Snail Kite and I added Rose-throated Becard and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper to my list in the forest around the ruins. As I was with my girlfriend and this was a 'non-birding' activity I didn't put too much effort into finding new species but I'm sure with a little more effort this could be a very productive area.
Another walk along the beach front when we got back provided Great Blue Heron and a flock of around 50 Sanderling.
27th April
A morning spent at Tulum Ruins provided good views of Plain Chachalaca, but other than this it was a quiet day bird-wise.
28th April
Our final day of the trip was spent lazing around on the beach. My last walk around the beach and hotel grounds added Snowy Egret, Black Catbird and Yellow-backed Oriole to my trip list.
This was a very, very enjoyable trip and even though it wasn't a birding holiday I was still able to rack up a trip list of 78 species (73 of which were lifers). With a bit more effort this total could've been much higher.
The Yucatan has a brilliant combination of activities and beaches making it a great destination for a trip with non-birders while giving you a great chance to sneak in some quality birding time for yourself.
For those interested, here is my complete list of species seen:
Grey-breasted Martin
Great-tailed Grackle
Turkey Vulture
Tropical Mockingbird
Brown Pelican
Osprey
Tropical Kingbird
Royal Tern
Barn Swallow
Magnificent Frigatebird
Sanderling
Grey Plover
Great Egret
Turnstone
Spotted Sandpiper
White Ibis
Vaux's Swift
Eastern Kingbird
White-winged Dove
Hooded Oriole
Black Vulture
Scarlet Tanager
Melodious Blackbird
Black-headed Trogon
Bronzed Cowbird
Yellow Warbler
Yucatan Jay
Ruddy Ground-dove
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Greyish Saltator
Black-headed Saltator
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
Grey Catbird
Mangrove Swallow
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Keel-billed Toucan
Plain Chachalaca
Green Jay
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Gartered Trogon
White-fronted Parrot
Altamira Oriole
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Brown Jay
Clay-coloured Thrush
Yellow-green Vireo
Tropical Pewee
Orange Oriole
Red-throated Ant-tanager
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Blue Grosbeak
Turquoise-browed Motmot
Aztec Parakeet
Northern Cardinal
Yellow-throated Euponia
Roadside Hawk
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
Socail Flycatcher
Blue Bunting
Summer Tanager
Yellow-olive Flycatcher
Orchard Oriole
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Squirrel Cuckoo
White-collared Seedeater
Great Kiskadee
Laughing Gull
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover
Common Black Hawk
Rose-throated Becard
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Snail Kite
Great Blue Heron
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Snowy Egret
Black Catbird
Yellow-backed Oriole
22nd April
We landed early in the evening and I soon gained my first two ticks of the trip in the form of Grey-breasted Martins and Great Tailed Grackles frequenting the airport car park. The sun was now setting meaning that I was only able to add Turkey Vulture on the trip to our accommodation in Tulum in the fading light.
23rd April
The joys of jet-lag meant that I was awake up 3am the next morning. This did mean that I was out with my bins a the first sign of light around 5:30am. Our hotel (Dreams Tulum) was situated on a long sandy beach lined with tropical forest. Walking south along this stretch of beach provided me with Tropical Mockingbird, Brown Pelican, Grey Plover, Osprey, Tropical Kingbird, Royal Tern, Spotted Sandpiper, White Ibis, Eastern Kingbird, Hooded Oriole, Magnificant Frigatebird and Turnstone.
I then explored the rest of the hotel grounds; quite a large site with plenty of forested areas. This added Scarlet Tanager, Melodious Blackbird, Black-headed Trogon, Bronzed Cowbird and Yellow Warbler to my trip list.
24th April
This was the morning of my guided tour. I had originally planned to book a morning with Miguel of Mexico Kan Tours having seen many positive reviews of him on here. However, he was away for the dates I was in the country. He did, however, recommend another company, Community Tours, that could provide a guide. Community Tours is a company based on the outskirts of the Sian Ka'an Reserve that employs their guides from the, mainly indigenous, town of Muyil and reinvest heavily in the local community to engage locals with the wildlife on their doorstep.
I met my guide at 7am in the town of Muyil. We then spent the next three hours exploring the area of forest around the town; an area my guide said he birded every day, so I knew I was in safe hands. My guide was extremely knowledgeable and was good at pointing out distinguishing features of species that helped to tell it from other confusingly similar species. This helped me greatly throughout the rest of my trip, especially with flycatchers.
In total we saw 51 species on this trip with the highlights being: Keel-billed Toucan (four sightings in total), Turquoise-browed Motmot, both Gartered and Black Headed Trogon, Orange Oriole, Yucatan Jay, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Squirrel Cuckoo, Summer Tanager and Smoky-brown Woodpecker.
25th April
A lazy day spent around the pool gave me the opportunity to repeat the beach walk I did on the first morning. Along the shoreline was a large flock of waders. This provided me with three new species: Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover.
Later that evening, while eating out at a restaurant in the forest around Tulum, a Common Black Hawk landed in a nearby tree, giving great views of itself before taking flight again. If only birding was always this easy!
26th April
Today was another early start in order to get to Coba Ruins before the tourist busses arrived. Coba is a fantastic place and well worth the visit for birders and non-birders alike. As the ruins are spread over a large area you can hire bikes for 50 pesos (about £2, or $2.60). As we had arrived so early we were often the only people in sight. This was a fantastic experience; cycling to ruins, surrounded by jungle, with not another soul around!
The birding here was also very good. The lake provided Great Egret and Snail Kite and I added Rose-throated Becard and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper to my list in the forest around the ruins. As I was with my girlfriend and this was a 'non-birding' activity I didn't put too much effort into finding new species but I'm sure with a little more effort this could be a very productive area.
Another walk along the beach front when we got back provided Great Blue Heron and a flock of around 50 Sanderling.
27th April
A morning spent at Tulum Ruins provided good views of Plain Chachalaca, but other than this it was a quiet day bird-wise.
28th April
Our final day of the trip was spent lazing around on the beach. My last walk around the beach and hotel grounds added Snowy Egret, Black Catbird and Yellow-backed Oriole to my trip list.
This was a very, very enjoyable trip and even though it wasn't a birding holiday I was still able to rack up a trip list of 78 species (73 of which were lifers). With a bit more effort this total could've been much higher.
The Yucatan has a brilliant combination of activities and beaches making it a great destination for a trip with non-birders while giving you a great chance to sneak in some quality birding time for yourself.
For those interested, here is my complete list of species seen:
Grey-breasted Martin
Great-tailed Grackle
Turkey Vulture
Tropical Mockingbird
Brown Pelican
Osprey
Tropical Kingbird
Royal Tern
Barn Swallow
Magnificent Frigatebird
Sanderling
Grey Plover
Great Egret
Turnstone
Spotted Sandpiper
White Ibis
Vaux's Swift
Eastern Kingbird
White-winged Dove
Hooded Oriole
Black Vulture
Scarlet Tanager
Melodious Blackbird
Black-headed Trogon
Bronzed Cowbird
Yellow Warbler
Yucatan Jay
Ruddy Ground-dove
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Greyish Saltator
Black-headed Saltator
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
Grey Catbird
Mangrove Swallow
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Keel-billed Toucan
Plain Chachalaca
Green Jay
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Gartered Trogon
White-fronted Parrot
Altamira Oriole
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Brown Jay
Clay-coloured Thrush
Yellow-green Vireo
Tropical Pewee
Orange Oriole
Red-throated Ant-tanager
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Blue Grosbeak
Turquoise-browed Motmot
Aztec Parakeet
Northern Cardinal
Yellow-throated Euponia
Roadside Hawk
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
Socail Flycatcher
Blue Bunting
Summer Tanager
Yellow-olive Flycatcher
Orchard Oriole
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Squirrel Cuckoo
White-collared Seedeater
Great Kiskadee
Laughing Gull
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover
Common Black Hawk
Rose-throated Becard
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Snail Kite
Great Blue Heron
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Snowy Egret
Black Catbird
Yellow-backed Oriole
