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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ovenbird43" data-source="post: 3519450" data-attributes="member: 64478">Jan 9Our last full day in the Yucatan - a week is just too short!  I left Tom asleep in the hotel and drove out at first light to the dirt road that leads to Rancho San Salvador, described in Howell and Webb.  As soon as I got out of the car I could hear several Black-throated Bobwhites calling, a Yucatan near-endemic and one of the targets for the morning.  Also calling was a distant Laughing Falcon.  As it got light enough to see, I started walking down the entrance road toward the ranch (rather than on the main highway, as described in the bird-finding guide).  Northern Cardinals were singing half-heartedly, more common than they had been further south, and Least Flycatchers were quite common.  Not far down the road was a trail leading off to the left, back toward the main highway, and I decided to check it out.  It was fairly birdy, with Common Yellowthroat, Hooded and Altamira Orioles, and a Northern Waterthrush. Several Greater Yellowlegs flew overhead, and I could hear some strange grunting/honking noises somewhere off to my right; exploring a network of smaller trails leading that way, I discovered a pool of water that held several noisy immature American Flamingos, along with other waterbirds including Little Blue Heron, Black-necked Stilt, Blue-winged Teal, and several species of shorebird.  Also present were the only Red-winged Blackbirds of the trip.  Flowers and a hummingbird feeder nearby attracted Cinnamon Hummingbird, Mexican Sheartail, and one Ruby-throated Hummingbird.I retraced my steps back to the entrance road and continued toward the ranch, spooking a covey of Black-throated Bobwhites from beneath the shrubs right by the road.  A handful of parrots flew over, one pair finally turning out to be the endemic Yucatan Parrot (aka Yellow-lored Parrot as per ebird).  There were a seemingly large number of Tropical Kingbirds about, with 8 or so that flew by heading south in groups of 2-3 in addition to others hanging around.  An unusual-looking wren popped out of the undergrowth, brownish with a strong white supercilium, clearly not House or Yucatan and I couldn't think of what else it could be in this area - turns out it was Carolina Wren (White-browed race, considered a separate species by some), the race of which I hadn't actually seen before and had only heard.  Neat!  I saw several of the endemic Yucatan Wrens as I headed back to the car - all but one had been quiet, so I found them just by stumbling into them.  The best encounter was right where I had parked, as a quiet group of four materialized out of a bush and hopped around right in front of me.  In the area was also a big group of granivores, including a smart male Painted Bunting, Indigo Buntings, White-collared Seedeaters, and Blue-black Grassquits, the last in an interesting, speckled transitional plumage.  Here, another large covey of Black-throated Bobwhites milled about before taking off.Afternoon activities in the next post!</blockquote>

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