Bird List for Barra de Navidad, Mexico (1 Viewer)

[SueO]

Last March we sailed into the marina at Barra de Navidad, Mexico and decided it would be a good place for Peregrine to stay for the hurricane season. We stayed with her till May, then flew home to California for a visit. I arrived back about a week ago and have been out birding when weather permits. It's still a bit rainy. Here is a list I've gotten so far and it includes birds seen last spring. I have a few others that I haven't added because I'm unsure of what I saw. Hopefully I will get another glimpse. Barra is about 120 miles south of Puerto Vallarta.

Brown Pelican
Blue-footed Booby
Magnificent Frigatebird
Neotropical Cormorant
Black-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
Wood Stork
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Gray Hawk
Crested Caracara
West Mexican Chachalaca
American Oystercatcher
Laughing Gull
Heerman’s Gull
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Willet
Inca Dove
Ruddy Ground Dove
White-winged Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Pauraque
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker
Tropical Kingbird
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Vermillion Flycatcher
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet
Northern rough-winged swallow
Barn swallow
Mangrove Swallow
San Blas Jay
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Rufous-backed Thrush
Plumbeous Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Yellow Warbler
Mangrove Yellow Warbler
Scrub Euphonia
Sinaloa Wren
White-breasted Wren
Grayish Saltator
White-collared Seedeater
Orange-breasted Bunting
Painted Bunting
Varied Bunting
American Goldfinch
Stripe-headed sparrow
House Sparrow
Shiny Cowbird
Yellow-winged Cacique
Great-tailed Grackle
Orchard Oriole
Streak-backed Oriole

The marina is next to a very nice resort, Grand Isle Hotel, and life is good here; thoroughly enjoying it. I haven't really done too much birding so far so this list falls short of possibilities. Photo is a view of the Barra area from the hotel.

 

[SueO]

Update:

Black and White Warbler
MacGillivray"s Warbler
Royal Tern
Marbled Godwit
Black-capped Gnatcatcher

 

[SueO]

Common Black Hawk
Nashville Warbler

 

[SueO]

Masked Tityra
Lesser Ground Cuckoo--love these guys
Another mystery bird

 

[Peter C.]

Looks like absolute heaven, Sue. About five years ago, I spent a week (only) in a place called Troncones, just down the coast a bit in Guerrero - looked a bit "crispier" than what your photo of Barra shows, but had many of the same birds.

I, too, love the Lesser Ground-cuckoo (saw just one, in CR, but how lucky that was)! But that O-B Bunting is the plumage champ of all Mexico, as far as I'm concerned - a truly jaw-dropping bird.

No photos of the latest mystery?

 

[njlarsen]

I need to get to that part of Mexico. They keep sending us to Yucatan (but that is not exactly punishment either )

Niels

 

[Peter C.]

"They"?

I wish somebody could send me somewhere* in Mexico, even the Yucatan would do, I wouldn't complain. (Have you seen our weather lately? Another 5cm of snow due this afternoon.)

Peter

*I might balk at being sent to Cuidad Juarez, however.

 

[njlarsen]

My employers have twice arranged a conference in Yucatan - as I said, not exactly punishment

Niels

 

[SueO]

Looks like absolute heaven, Sue. About five years ago, I spent a week (only) in a place called Troncones, just down the coast a bit in Guerrero - looked a bit "crispier" than what your photo of Barra shows, but had many of the same birds.

I, too, love the Lesser Ground-cuckoo (saw just one, in CR, but how lucky that was)! But that O-B Bunting is the plumage champ of all Mexico, as far as I'm concerned - a truly jaw-dropping bird.

No photos of the latest mystery?

Hi Peter,
It is very nice here--but I could do without the bugs! I slather with poison and the mozzies will still get me through the back of my shirt or any spot that's left uncovered. I had to find a tree and do a bear type back scatching twice yesterday. When there is a little breeze, it's not too bad but we have had two very still days in a row. I heard somewhere that the mozzies that bite during the day are the dengue type so I really hate feeling the sting!

We are just finishing with the hurricane season and we got lots of rain. Unfortunately so did Peregrine. One of our sail tracks started leaking--what a mess. We left her for quite a few months and came back to mucho mold and mildew. The jungle is pretty lush right now, but it is drying a little every day. The small streams are becoming trickles. Earlier on BF, I referred to the area as a dry thorn forest and I'm not sure that's right. It's not like the coast of Nicaragua or even Hualtuco--it's just a tiny bit lusher. I will look into it, but I would suspect a simple 'dry forest' rather than a 'dry thorn forest' would suit it better.

Yes, the Orange-breasted Bunting is a great bird, but I think I am more taken with the Vermillion Flycatcher as far as color goes. When they are perched openly in the evening as the sun goes down, they are spectacular. The color is so intense. Gene and I go the beach every evening with a cocktail and watch the daylight disappear. We are usually joined by five friends--none of them human. Bob-a Spotted Sandpiper, Bill--a whimbrel, Will, a willet, and Snowy Joe, a Snowy Egret cruise the beach at the waters edge and Flame, a Vermillion Flycatcher, perches on a light post at the entrance to the bay. He is so beautiful. I finally saw my first female VF a week or so ago and I was thrown for a few minutes as she had her back to me. I thought wow, a tiny myarchisy thing. What in the world? Then she turned and I saw a scarlet hue on her belly and knew what I was looking at. They are neat little birds--kind of phoebe-y.

There are quite a few Canadians visiting here right now.

 

[SueO]

Summer Tanager

 

[halftwo]

Takes me back, Sue.

I spent two weeks at Puerta Vallarta. I went to the jungle about 20 km South - where they filmed Predator.
Excellent place.
Still need Lesser ground cuckoo.

 

[SueO]

Takes me back, Sue.

I spent two weeks at Puerta Vallarta. I went to the jungle about 20 km South - where they filmed Predator.
Excellent place.
Still need Lesser ground cuckoo.

Didn't realized Predator was filmed there. I wonder if that thing is in range here? And I thought the biting bugs were bad!

 

[SueO]

Western Tanager
Happy Wren
Golden-crowned Emerald
Blue Mockingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Empids

 

[SueO]

Crane Hawk

 

[SueO]

White-tipped Dove
Red-breasted Chat
Wilson's Warbler
Black-vented Oriole

A little story about the Black-vented Oriole sighting:
I had the pleasure of having a fellow birder at the resort for a short time and we went for a couple of walks. I'm afraid I wasn't much good to her (told her the grating chatter in the understory was Sinaloa Wren--turned out to be Streak-backed Oriole|:$|. I did benefit from her. She had a Barra de Navidad bird list. Of course, I had tried to find one, I get one everywhere I go if I can. The only one I found for Barra was very short and obviously not complete. Since I couldn't find one for Barra in particular, I went for Colima and Jalisco. She told me she had a Black-vented Oriole on the list. I was pretty sure I had looked on the range maps in my guide book and written possible suspects and BO wasn't on the list. I went back and took a look again. It appeared as if the range cut off just before where we are around sea level. It looked like just south of us it goes to sea level. At any rate, I saw a Black-vented yesterday eating a lizard in one of the palms around the pool. I went back to Peregrine and luckily for the second day in a row, I had internet aboard. I typed in Black-vented Oriole and went to the Cornell Neotropical bird site to look at the map. Damn if it didn't have a pale blue area outside the range my map showed indicating non-breeding birds in the area.

http://neotropical.birds.cornell.ed...e&sn=Icterus wagleri&sc=bkvori&species=673836

Think I'm going to email her and ask her to send me the list.:brains:

 

[SueO]

Zone-tailed Hawk
Blue Bunting
Townsend's Warbler
Citreoline Trogon

 

[halftwo]

Citreoline trogons are lovely birds, eh?!

 

[SueO]

Hi H,
Yes, very nice bird. I love trogons. It's funny, but just a few days ago I told a fellow birder that I kept hearing a soft "Cupp" call that reminded me of the trogons in Panama when they would just whisper rather than let out one of their 'jungle movie' calls. I miss those trogons; they were so beautiful. So, a few days after I mention the trogon, boom...I finally see it. I saw the Citreoline quite a few times in Hualtulco, but today was the first time I've seen it here. It was well into the forest, in the shadows. I didn't get a decent shot because I am having trouble with my new camera. I do have this one from Hualtulco though.

 

[SueO]

I was hoping to see a Pale-billed Woodpecker and today I saw one very well, several times. Very happy to get this lifer. What a great bird! I took a long, four hour walk today. The road goes up to a good height with views across Barra Lagoon then drops back down to sea level where you can go to the beach on the other side of the peninsula the marina/hotel is on. However, when I got to the bottom, and emptied at a golf course with a few small reed and waterplant filled ponds, I diverted my route. I saw some Northern Jacanas, a Green Heron and a Belted Kingfisher and thought I would like to walk along the marshy water to see what else I might find. Turns out--not too much. Tomorrow, I think I might do the beach route first, then go by the little golf course marshes again on the way back.
New for the Barra List:
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Green Heron
Northern Jacana
Yellow-breasted Chat
The first image in blue is where I wanted to go, second is what I ended up doing.

 

[SueO]

Saw and heard deer today. There were at least three, possibly seven. They barked and made a ruckus going through the forest. Not quiet like the Mule deer I am used to. I googled what was in the area and they were White-tailed deer. The first three went by and soon after I saw movement in the understory in three different areas. I don't know if the first three that went by turned around upslope and came back down. Wouldn't think so as they seemed to be very anxious to get my me. A full five minutes later another one went barking and crashing through. I also saw the Blue Mockingbird again. Saw it very well but couldn't get a shot. Saw a snake too, it's the second time I've seen this type of snake. The first time, it dropped out of a manicured Ficus Benjamina along the drive to the hotel. I think it was a garter snake. Slender with yellow stripes on a dark background. I'm also pretty sure I saw three White-throated Thrush. I saw them and thought, those aren't Rufous-backed. I saw no rufous on the underbady or 'saddle' on the the back. The throat was heavily streaked with dark. When I got back to Peregrine and looked at the thrushes, I decided it was White-throated; however it is out of range--but not by much. I doubt myself now and wonder if I didn't see what I thought because they were in shadow. I will not add it to the Barra list because there is room for doubt, but I think that is what I saw. If I weren't so hot and insect chewed I'd head back out now with hopes they are still there, but I just can't do it. Getting old is a pain sometimes.