Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Tour Report 2016
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This multi-coloured Ocellated Turkey was the bird of the tour (Mark Van Beirs) THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO 24 FEBRUARY – 6 MARCH 2016 LEADER: MARK VAN BEIRS A totally crazy, thoroughly unafraid male Ocellated Turkey, brimming with testosterone, was the undisputed bird of the tour. This spectacular species is easily seen along the entrance road to the magnificent archaeological site of Calakmul, but this year’s performance was really out of this world. The agressive male attacked us repeatedly and hit your leader on several occasions with his strong wings, luckily not with his dangerous looking spurs! He also demonstrated his extravagant display and stunning plumage at point blank range and made us flee a few times into the minibus. Other highlights included Thicket Tinamou (for some), Great Curassow, Yucatan Bobwhite, American Flamingo, Boat-billed Heron, American White Pelican, dainty Ruddy Crakes, Clapper Rail, Kelp Gull, a tame Parasitic Jaeger (Arctic Skua), White-crowned Pigeon, a very well-behaved Middle American Screech Owl, Northern Potoo, a dazzlingly displaying male Mexican Sheartail, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Yucatan Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Mayan Antthrush, Black Catbird, Western Spindalis, Rose-throated Tanager, Grey-throated Chat and Blue Bunting. We found a couple of raiding ant swarms with beautifully showing Tawny-winged, Ruddy and Northern Barred Woodcreepers, Yucatan Jays, Yellow-billed Cacique, Green-backed Sparrows, Red-throated Ant Tanagers 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO www.birdquest-tours.com and Grey-headed Tanagers. A good selection of wintering North American birds included crackers like Worm-eating, Blue-winged, Hooded, Black-throated Blue and Yellow-throated Warblers and Indigo and Painted Buntings. Mammals usually don’t feature too highly on Mexico tours, but we did manage to collect a nice selection, including Tayra, White-nosed Coati, Cozumel Raccoon, Central American Spider Monkey and Yucatan Black Howler Monkey. The spectacle of hundreds of thousands of bats darkening the sky near our Calakmul hotel was a sight to behold. Sadly, the weather didn’t cooperate at all as we experienced a cold front and rain during a good part of the tour resulting in less responsive birds, fewer birds of prey and no concentrations of waterbirds or waders. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and Black Catbird showed well in the Cozumel woodlands (Mark Van Beirs) Cancun is situated on the northeastern side of the Yucatan peninsula. It is a well-known, major holiday destination and the adjoining coast harbours dozens and dozens of beach resorts, condominiums, mega hotels and holiday and amusement parks. But we didn’t come to Cancun for the sun or the beaches, so we soon left the hussle and bussle and drove to the nearby carferry terminal to catch the ferry to the island of Cozumel, where several endemic birds were waiting for us. As a pretty bad storm had come through overnight the scheduled trips of the past 18 hours had been cancelled, so scores of trucks were waiting to get across. We were told we had very little chance to get to Cozumel before the end of the day, so we changed our plans, left our minibus on the mainland and took the passenger ferry from famous Playa del Carmen to the ‘Island of the Swallows’ (the meaning of its Mayan name Cuzamil). While waiting for the ferry we admired several Brown Pelicans, some Ruddy Turnstones, a Sanderling, Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, Ruddy Ground Doves, lots of Great-tailed Grackles and a smart Yellow-throated Warbler. After checking in at our waterfront hotel, we picked up a new vehicle, enjoyed an early lunch and explored a wide track through the dense, low stature woodland that is so typical of the Yucatan. Activity was quite low in the heat 2 BirdQuest Tour Report: THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO www.birdquest-tours.com of the day, but we did pick up our first specialities in the forms of Cozumel Emerald (male and female), Black Catbird and Cozumel Vireo next to more widespread species like White-winged Dove, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Tropical Mockingbird, American Yellow Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, an uncommon female Black- throated Blue Warbler and Bananaquit (the near-endemic race caboti). Another track which skirted a cattail marsh gave us a lovely Least Grebe, a heard only Ruddy Crake, Belted Kingfisher, Mangrove Warbler and a cracking Cozumel Raccoon. In late afternoon we positioned ourselves at an open area where we added a smart White-crowned Pigeon, Vaux’s Swift, Yucatan Amazon, Yucatan Woodpecker (brilliant views), Grey Catbird, Grey-crowned Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting to the list. White-crowned Pigeon and Yucatan Woodpecker allowed excellent views (Mark Van Beirs) Next morning we birded the thorny woodland on the leeward side of the island, as a pretty strong wind was blowing. We heard Caribbean Dove cooing away in the understorey and a white morph Reddish Egret flew past, but little else was moving. We retreated further inland where the wind was less of a problem, but activity was still low. We scoped a singing Rufous-browed Peppershrike (endemic Cozumel race insularis) and had nice looks at Yucatan Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, Magnolia Warbler and a pair of Hooded Orioles of the bright orange race igneus. We heard the distinctive call of Cozumel Wren, but we couldn’t elicit any reaction. After a short break in the middle of the day we visited a wide track in the middle of the island where we finally found a pair of attractive Western Spindalis together with a very tame male Black-throated Green Warbler. On our drive around the island we stopped at a marshy lagoon which gave us Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Little Blue Heron, Northern Jacana and singles of Tree, Barn and Cave Swallows. In late afternoon we observed the comings and goings at an open area where we heard Limpkin and observed Common Ground Dove, Green-breasted Mango (male and female), Summer Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting (a young male and several females) and two cracking male Painted Buntings. A cattail marsh produced excellent views of no fewer than four adorable Ruddy Crakes, a rare Philadelphia Vireo and a flyby Least Bittern. At dusk a Pauraque started calling and soon flew 3 BirdQuest Tour Report: THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO www.birdquest-tours.com about and not much later we had nice looks at a Northern Potoo and heard Yucatan Nightjar in the far distance. Grey-crowned Yellowthroat and Grey Catbird were skulking in undergrowth (Mark Van Beirs) Early next morning found us along our favourite track waiting for things to happen and finally we connected with the sneaky Caribbean Dove. The Cozumel Wren sadly remained strangely elusive. A Collared Peccary showed all too briefly and then it was time to pack up and return to the mainland. We drove west and north to the little seaside town of Rio Lagartos where we enjoyed a very birdy end of the day. The waterfront just at our hotel produced a splendid selection of waterbirds. A lovely group of American Flamingos were feeding in the shallows and a sandbank held scores of Brown and American White Pelicans. Laughing Gulls were dominating the scene and Black Skimmers, Caspian and Royal Terns foraged over the estuary. Other interesting species included American White Ibis, Tricoloured Heron, Little Blue Heron (including some confusing immature birds), Snowy Egret, Magnificent Frigatebird, Double-crested Cormorant, Lesser Yellow- headed Vulture, Western Osprey, Willet and Peregrine (race tundrius). A short visit to a marshy area nearby gave us a different set of species. We could discern quite a few Boat-billed Herons roosting or breeding in an isolated copse, so we obtained brilliant scope views of these intriguing birds. A cracking Sora behaved impeccably, as did a pair of Orange Orioles. Other birds noted here included Killdeer, Wilson’s Snipe, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Groove-billed Ani, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Northern Crested Caracara, Laughing Falcon, Olive-throated Parakeet, Vermilion Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Orchard Oriole and Red-winged Blackbird. A male Magnificent Frigatebird and Royal Tern frequented the Rio Lagartos waterfront (Mark Van Beirs) Just when the sun was wrestling with the horizon, we had positioned ourselves in a nice open area amongst scrubby bushes near the village of Rio Lagartos. A male Yucatan Bobwhite sat up uttering its distinctive call 4 BirdQuest Tour Report: THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO www.birdquest-tours.com and allowed itself to be scoped for brilliant looks. A pair of dazzling Vermilion Flycatchers kept us company and a Yucatan Wren showed all too briefly on top of a bush. Another scrubby area gave us a pair of fabulous Mexican Sheartails, the male of which performed some remarkable aerobatics by shooting very high up into the air, while showing off his glittering rose-pink gorget. A pair of Northern Cardinals vied for attention, a Couch’s Kingbird allowed detailed scrutiny and we also noted Green and Great Blue Herons, Lesser Yellow- headed Vulture, Least and Spotted Sandpipers, Canivet’s Emerald, Cinnamon Hummingbird, White-fronted Amazon, Least Flycatcher, Mangrove Vireo, Sand and Purple Martins, Grey-crowned Yellowthroat, Bronzed Cowbird, Blue-black Grassquit and a White-nosed Coati. Wood Stork, Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Cabot’s Tern showed along the waterfront. After lunch we explored the famous salinas (saltpans), but found them quite disappointing compared to previous visits, possibly due to the abundant rainfall Yucatan had experienced recently. Only a few waders and waterbirds were about. Best of all was a Lesser Black-backed Gull (a visitor from the Old World) and we also found small numbers of Grey and Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, Common and Forster’s Terns and several Mangrove Swallows.