Short West Mexico III
Posted by Brian Gibbons
Brian Gibbons
Brian Gibbons was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He took an interest in all things wild at a young age, but has specialized in birds since age 10. Brian graduated from S...First, compliments must go to Pat and Bonnie, our gracious hosts at Rancho Primavera. We are in exclusive company, as Rancho Primavera hosts only a few groups a year. Where do we start with our kudos? The homemade breads, tortilla soup, and spectacular herbed butter, also known as “funny butter,” were all great. All of us have returned a little bit happier and plumper both in the waist and birdlist. We learned why “trippy grass” is so named on the very birdy grounds of Rancho Primavera. We also enjoyed the array of hummers in the garden and at the feeders.
During our tour, 237 species of birds were seen, and the vote for “bird of the trip” came out tied. Interestingly both winners shared all their colors with the other. Green, red, blue, and yellow all figured prominently in the plumage of Military Macaw and Painted Bunting. The macaw makes its living year-round in Jalisco while the buntings are just spending a few months soaking up the sun like us. Honorable mentions for the other birds in the running went to Colima Pygmy-Owl, the very cooperative Barn Owl, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, Crane Hawk, Magpie-Jays, Squirrel Cuckoos, Bright-rumped Attila, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and the overlooked Orange-breasted Bunting.
I knew we were off to a good start the first afternoon when a couple of Military Macaws flew over low as we started our birding on the Cienega de Ojuelos road. Our first morning was another great start with Colima Pygmy-Owl finally giving itself up. Great Black-Hawk is a rare bird in the area and seeing a pair fly past was fortuitous. More macaws and many Lilac-crowned Parrots were flying around. We heard the denizen of dense forest, the Collared Forest-Falcon, which never cared to show. Along the Bioto road we added Russet-crowned Motmot, a perennial crowd-pleaser, as well as Citreoline Trogon, a Mexican endemic. The variety kept coming as we saw several species of woodpeckers and a great variety of passerines. We saw a diverse array of flycatchers while 14 species of warblers and five species of orioles added color to our first day. No one seemed to mind the later than expected lunch departure due to the threesome of Military Macaws that flew in to just hang out in the trees, providing amazing scope views.
Our second day started with a cooperative Mottled Owl. We worked hard to see a single young male Red-breasted Chat. Eight species of hummingbirds zipped some color into our day with a female Golden-crowned Emerald our best find. The color highlight of the day was provided by several Orange-breasted Buntings that were unusually cooperative.
Pine-oak forest was the home for our quarry on our fourth day. The Hermit was the hummingbird highlight of our day, showing at the red flowers at 11:40. Earlier, in the town of Provincia, we had some productive birding with Black-headed Siskin, and Canyon and Spotted wrens right along the main drag. Another motmot brightened our day, and Summer and Hepatic tanagers fed on a wasp nest and its tenants. Red-headed Tanager, another Mexican endemic, spiced up things at the highest elevation we birded. Tufted Flycatcher is always an active, exciting bird to find up the Bascula road.
Ducks, shorebirds, herons, and raptors were most obvious on our run to the lowland agricultural areas around Cruz de Loreto and Presa Cajon de Penas. Twelve species of raptors gave the local bugs, birds, lizards, and rodents something to fear. Best were the three Crane Hawks we saw along the road to the Presa. Not to be outdone, Harris’s, Roadside, Zone-tailed, Red-tailed, and Gray hawks also appeared for our viewing pleasure. A Merlin chasing some of the local blackbirds was tough to keep up with. We also added seedeater, grassquit, sparrows, and three species of buntings in the Cruz de Loreto area.
Rancho Primavera provided a relaxed day of birding, filling holes in our list and giving us ample time to pursue the Rosy Thrush-Tanager. This bird is always around, but is often hard for the group to see as it prefers the dense understory. We also had a chance to watch the pond (where some bird spectacle is always happening) from Bonnie’s front porch. This year the spectacle was an Osprey catching a pan-sized tilapia for dinner.
The next morning we left for our final outing, the Boat-billed Heron hunt, and the Puerto Vallarta departure. Thanks for choosing VENT, and I hope to bird with you again soon.