Short West Mexico IV
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.
We started off quickly building our bird list at the Boca de Tomate beach where the Rio Ameca flows into the Pacific. There were piles of shorebirds, gulls, and terns. Overhead there was a constant swirl of frigatebirds eyeing the terns to see who might give up their meal. Herons, egrets, and ibis stalked the shallows.
From the sun, birds, and bustle of the Mexican beach, we headed for the hills south of Puerto Vallarta. After winding our way down the coast we started climbing into the mountains, through lush tropical canyons and finally into the pine-oak forest. We made a brief birding stop above the small town of Pedro Moreno. This paid off with some distant, but perched, views of Military Macaw. We also enjoyed scope views of a drumming Lineated Woodpecker. This was all great, but we had to move on towards Rancho Primavera. The Arrayan tree that I had found a couple of days earlier was full of fruit, and if the Crested Guans were going to appear, it would be in the late evening. We hustled through the cobbled streets of Tuito, past the church and its owls, to the tree. We were not disappointed. The tree still had fruit despite the best efforts of a dozen chachalacas that were dining. Then we realized there were bigger birds in the tree, huge birds. They were turkey-sized Crested Guans. They too were gorging themselves, albeit more discreetly than the raucous chachalacas. This was right at dusk, and as it grew darker the guans joined in the chorus. They started their yelping goose-like squawks as they departed down the valley for their nighttime roost.
Our first morning took us just a few kilometers from El Tuito, but the birding was great along the roads. Yellow Grosbeak, Orange-fronted Parakeet, San Blas Jays, and Yellow-winged Caciques were all easy to see. Walking along the Bioto road we had Citreoline and Elegant trogons in the scope, as well as a very cooperative Pale-billed Woodpecker couple. Russet-crowned Motmot and 15 species of warblers added color to our long bird list. The Carpinteros were out too. And we saw six species of woodpeckers.
Just before dawn on our second morning we had an amazing listening experience. A pair of Collared Forest-Falcons was sounding off right next to the road. We never spied them, but the haunting chants were amazing and point-blank. As we moved down the Tehua road, we lost elevation and were eventually in the thorn forest of western Mexico where many endemics reside. The Red-breasted Chat had to be the star of this show. We also saw a variety of hummingbirds including the huge Plain-capped Starthroat and the striking Violet-crowned Hummingbird. Down on the coast, at the charming Cande’s, we had lunch and watched the boobies plunge in after small fish. After crossing the soccer field we saw ducks and shorebirds on the ponds at Aquiles Serdan. At the estuary we had good scope views of Collared Plover. We nailed our Flammulated Flycatcher late afternoon as we were headed back.
On our day around Cruz de Loreto and the Presa Cajon de Penas we saw a staggering 13 species of raptors. This was the only day we saw harrier, Hook-billed Kite, Laughing Falcon, Merlin, and Roadside Hawk. This was also our best day for waterfowl, which was augmented by our discovery of a newly flooded field chock-full of birds. In the agricultural fields of the Cruz de Loreto area many North American birds find their winter home. Blue Grosbeak, Painted Bunting, and Dickcissel were just a few of the neighbors from the north. We also lucked into a stunning group of Rosy Thrush-Tanagers, as we had missed them on the ranch.
On our last full day we headed up to the pine-oak forests and the stunning waterfall above Provincia for a picnic lunch. We saw Red Crossbills in town and the Canyon Wren sang away while we looked at the Spotted Wren and other exciting birds. Black-headed Siskins seemed to be everywhere. We had good luck with most of the pine-oak birds, ticking off Gray-crowned Woodpecker, Calliope Hummingbird, Tufted Flycatcher, Rusty Sparrow, Slate-throated Redstart, and at least a glimpse of the Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow.
On our last morning we headed down to Puerto Vallarta for departure, but not before we had ample time for birding. Target number one was the Boat-billed Heron at Laguna Quelele. While there we also saw hundreds of whistling-ducks, shorebirds, and waders as well as the boat-bills. We also added Anhinga and spectacled caiman to our list. Next we headed to the Rio Ameca. We saw many of the same birds we had seen during our first afternoon and added a Bonaparte’s Gull. We looked around a little more, and then it was time to depart for parts north with our list of 251 birds.
Thanks for birding with VENT!