Colima and Jalisco Feb 04—12, 2006
Posted by Héctor Gómez de Silva
Héctor Gómez de Silva
Héctor Gómez de Silva began birding at age eight in New York City. He published his first article about birds at age 15 while in Kenya, where he lived for six...Related Trips
“Stop! Stop!” I yelled to the driver, and he immediately stopped the van as we drove up the cobblestone road to Micro-ondas La Cumbre at night. “There?s a Buff-collared Nightjar on the road…left side, 12 feet in front of the van,” I added. Once all of the tour participants had had a good view from the van, we quietly got out, and I set up the scope for a super-close-up at the near limit of the scope’s focus capabilities. Wow, what a view! If you look closely, you can see how nightjars are so beautifully patterned. This nightjar we bumped into. However, there were also birds on our 2006 Colima and Jalisco tour that we had to work harder for, such as the Rosy Thrush-Tanager on Playa de Oro Road. We spent 40 minutes playing a tape back at a singing bird, only to have to give up; but on our way back we drove past the same spot, and the super-skulker gave us rare glimpses time and time again until we had all had a view.
Most birds were somewhere in between the Buff-collared Nightjar and Rosy Thrush-Tanager in terms of ease of observation. We managed to see over 250 species on this nine-day tour covering a small, but varied and bird-rich part of western Mexico. Many of these birds were Mexican endemics or specialties that are hard to find in other areas.
The views of the active Volcán de Fuego, especially from the road to Laguna La María, as well as the enormous crocodiles at La Manzanilla, were breathtaking bonuses. Instead of voting for a “best bird of the trip,” some of the participants chose a favorite bird for each day.
Other most memorable moments of our tour included an ant swarm at Puerto Los Mazos that attracted a large variety of birds; a male Red-breasted Chat foraging unconcernedly on Playa de Oro Road; the stunning jewel-like Orange-breasted Bunting on the road to Piscila; a fast-and-furious mixed flock on Volcán de Fuego that included Gray-barred Wrens, a White-striped Woodcreeper, and a Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo, and another mixed flock that included both Rose-throated Becard and the rare Gray-collared Becard; an excellent view of the cute Balsas Screech-Owl; very close views of the beautiful Red-faced Warbler, Painted Redstart, and Russet-crowned Motmot; and a flock of tens of thousands of Yellow-headed Blackbirds at Laguna Zapotlán, including a single dead tree with a thousand individuals.
On our first and last birding days we bumped into a Least Bittern, a rarely seen bird, at least in Mexico. On our last day, it was interesting to see the bittern’s reaction when the wind blew. Although it was not among reeds but fully out in the open, there were reeds some distance away in the background. As soon as there was a breeze, the reeds in the background shivered and, by instinct, the Least Bittern wiggled in a similar way.
With interesting birds, behaviors, and scenery, this tour provides an excellent introduction to the birder visiting the Neotropics for the first time, as well as a good number of species that are on the most-wanted list of longtime Neotropical travelers.