1 South Mexico San Blas – Yucatan – Chiapas January 21 – February 10, 2017 2 Participants Roger Börjesson, Hovås Gunnar Engblom, Kolibri Expeditions, Lima, Peru. Ground arrangements/tour leading week 2 and 3. Stig Holmstedt, Gysinge. Ground arrangements, week 1. Birgitta Irestedt (Biggan), Lidingö. Lars Irestedt, Lidingö Jan Ohsson, Nynäshamn Karl-Fredrik Sjölund (Kaffe), Sollentuna (week 2 and 3) Karl-Gustav Sjölund (Kalle), Stockholm (week 2 and 3) Travel Log splash of color against the green forest below us. January 20-21. Flew via London to Mexico City, overnight there and early morning When we arrived at San Blas we checked into flights. From there we arrived at 08:00 to the our hotel next to the beach near the mouth of airport in the city of Tepic, near the Pacific a river. Northwest of Mexico City. San Blas is a famous place among bird watch- Here we were met by our guides Mark Stack- ers of which we were immediately reminded house and Gunnar Engblom, who had arrived the evening before. during a short visit down to the beach where the air was full of Magnificent Frigatebirds, Mark lost no time and took us straight to Brown Pelicans and Black Vultures, some Parque Ecologico de Tepic, a wetland on the Blue-footed Boobies, Laughing, Herring and outskirts of Tepic. Here the main target is the Ring billed Gulls, Royal and Caspian Terns. Aztec Rail, a relatively recent split from the King Rail. Unfortunately, the Rail proved a lit- tle hard to find and we only heard it a few times. A Sora was heard 3 times Other wetland-birds included Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Least Grebe, American Coot and Limpkin, and the first of many Gray Hawks in this part of Mexico. There were plenty of small birds in the trees, and we saw the only Cordilleran Flycatcher on the journey as well as a few Black-capped Gnatcatcher and Elegant Euphonia. During the journey between San Blas and the sea we saw, among other things, White-tailed Cinnamon Hummingbird Kite, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel and Rufous-bellied Chachalaca. We then ate lunch at a very nice restaurant in town. Here we met an elderly black lady from We stopped at Mirador del Aguila, as the New York, who had lived in Denmark for 30 name says, a lookout spot over a wonderfully years, spending the winters in San Blas. Even beautiful area. There was a cliff of nesting for a non-birder San Blas is a lovely quiet Military Macaws and we saw at least 15 of town. She started talking to us because she these beautiful birds, all flying, as a turquoise recognized Roger’s Gothemburg dialect. 3 Amazing! Mexican lady in a small fishing one of Mark's many personal hotspots; Tecui- village in Mexico recognizing “göteborska”! tata, at dawn. This is an area where planta- tions of coffee and bananas, for example, In the afternoon Mark drove us down to the gradually change into good secondary and Playa del Borrego. Here we began to look in primary forests. Having said that, the planta- the dunes and palm groves along the small tions were still good for birding. road that runs parallel to the beach. Birdlife is, as everywhere around San Blas, It was very birdy and after a short while we overwhelmingly rich. A particularly enjoyable had seen Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Ruby- photo-documented experience was the two throated, Black-chinned and Cinnamon Hum- displaying Collared Forest Falcons. mingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Vermilion Fly- catcher, Black-throated Magpie Jay, Stripe- Other forest species including the Mexican headed and Lark Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Squirrel Cuckoo (a split according to HBW), Bronzed and Brown-headed Cowbird, Streak- Colima Pygmy Owl, a Berylline Hummingbird, backed Oriole and Yellow-winged Cacique. Citreoline Trogon, Pale-billed and Lineated Woodpecker, Mexican Parrotlet, Orange- Down by the beach we saw fifteen Blue- Fronted Parakeet, Tufted Flycatcher, Thick- footed Boobies on a cliff, a giant flock of billed Kingbird, Boat-billed and Brown- about 125 Wilson's Plovers, two American crested Flycatcher, Masked Tityra, Brown- Oystercatchers and 12 Black Skimmers. Backed Solitaire, Orange-billed Nightingale- Unfortunately, at the beach area there are a Thrush, White-throated Thrush, Swainson's lot of mosquitos, apparently one of the rea- Thrush, Blue Mockingbird, Warbling Vireo, sons why San Blas with its amazing location Nashville, Black -throated Gray and Wilson's has never developed into a huge beach resort. Warbler, Scrub Euphonia, Rusty-crowned As birders, we should perhaps be grateful to Ground Sparrow, Western Tanager, Rose- the small buggers. breasted and Black-headed Grosbeak, Gray- ish Saltator and Hooded Oriole. Our long day of sightings was completed at a water treatment plant. As is normal, there In the afternoon we crossed to the large is- were a lot of birds there and in an hour we land opposite our hotel. The main targets counted 44 species. Among these were Blue- were above all Purplish-backed Jay and Ele- winged Teal, Least Grebe, Tricolored Heron, gant Tern, but we missed both - one of the White-faced Ibis, Snail Kite, Crane Hawk, Pur- few times that happened during the trip. ple Gallinule, Northern Jacana and Happy The most interesting species that were seen Wren. on the long sandy beach, Playa del Rey, were The peculiar thing is that neither the Limpkin American Oystercatcher, Arctic, Herring and (which we saw earlier in the day) nor Snail California Gulls 40 Royal Terns and 25 Black Kite ought to be found near San Blas, Skimmers. At a small pond in the woods according to the distribution maps in the Northern Waterthrush. Howell-Webb field guide. Both are snail spe- In the evening we ate an unforgettable dinner cialists and one wonders whether their at the same restaurant where we ate lunch favorite food has increased here in recent the first day. Two lobsters, two glasses of years? We later saw several of both species good white wine and a bottle of mineral wa- around San Blas. ter for about 160 SEK. The most expensive January 22. We started at 5am and drove in beer in San Blas - a Corona beer costs no more the dark towards the mountains to arrive at than about 10 SEK. 4 In a grove we spent a lot of time searching for Lesser Ground-Cuckoo but it was only Janne who got a brief glimpse. However, everyone saw a Paraque on the ground. Other new species this morning were An- hinga, Osprey, Cooper's Hawk, Short-tailed and Red-tailed Hawk, Common Gold-billed Tern, Lesser Nighthawk, Merlin, Common Ground-Dove, Vaux's Swift, Mangrove Swal- low, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet , Louisi- ana Waterthrush, Sinaloa and Northern Boat-billed Flycatcher House Wren, as well as Bullock's Oriole. January 23. We started in the morning north The evening was spent at Matachen Fields, a of San Blas in very varied environments north larger wetland not very far outside the city. of San Blas with a total of 127 species. There Here, White-throated and Nutting's Fly- were large mangrove areas, shrimp ponds, catcher, Common Yellowthroat, American lakes, agricultural landscapes and forests. Redstart, Blue-black Grassquit. Target species Ruddy-breasted Seedeater, Varied Bunting This is the southernmost part of an enormous and some flocks of about 50 Red-winged mangrove area that stretches twenty miles up Blackbirds. the coast, which is on average four kilometers wide. The shrimp ponds outside of San Blas In the wetland there were large numbers, at are quite small and form a birding mosaic with least 300, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, and the mangroves. new for the trip Fulvous Whistling Duck (four), Least Bittern (heard), Bare-throated In these areas, we saw our first American Tiger Heron (two) Black-crowned Night- White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Roseate Spoon- Heron, Spotted Rail (four heard) and Laugh- bills and Green-backed Herons along with ing Falcon (three). Here there were also two many other species including herons and ibis. Snail Kites and about ten Lesser Nighthawks. We also found a number of waders - New January 24. We started the day in a new for- were Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, est area a little up in the mountains. First, we Semipalmated Plover, Gray Plover, Stilt, visited the world's apparently only known Least and Western Sandpiper, Short and area for Hummingbird Mexican Hermit and Long-billed Dowitcher, and Greater and saw at least three individuals of this endemic. Lesser Yellowlegs. Long-billed Curlew were Another endemic we also saw this morning heard displaying - sounded just like the com- was Mexican Woodnymph (three). ing spring at home. Other new species for the trip were Crested In a smaller lake it was full with ducks, espe- Guan (four Heard), Black Hawk-Eagle (two), cially Ruddy Ducks as well as Common and Ruddy Quail-Dove (one heard), Coppery- Blue-winged Teals, but also Cinnamon Teals tailed Trogon (two), Russet-crowned Mot- and Northern Shovelers as well as a Gadwall. mot, Lilac-crowned Parrot (eight flying), In one area there were many colorful Rose-throated Becard (one female), Black- Buntings and we saw Lazuli, Varied and capped Vireo (one), Kentucky (two) and Painted Buntings! Hooded Warbler (one) and Red-throated Ant- Tanager (ten). 5 As well - finally - three San Blas Jays, which forest patch where Lesser Ground-Cuckoo are not in San Blas itself, but have the north- often hangs out. And believe it or not - this ern boundary of their widening area just time only Janne saw it. He had obviously south of the city! studied up particularly on that species ..