West Mexico: Thorn Forest to the Sierra Madre January 16–26, 2020
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WEST MEXICO: THORN FOREST TO THE SIERRA MADRE JANUARY 16–26, 2020 The endemic Red-headed Tanager male © Brian Gibbons LEADERS: BRIAN GIBBONS & VICTOR EMANUEL LIST COMPILED BY: BRIAN GIBBONS VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM Western Mexico provided us with a feast of avian wonder and culinary delight. We started by logging a few Northwestern Mexican endemics in the bustling Nuevo Vallarta. Then we enjoyed home-cooked meals at the birdy Rancho Primavera. Our final installment was four nights in the charming San Sebastian del Oeste, where we logged several montane endemics and some wonderful meals along the cobbled streets. Female Elegant Quail was our first endemic targeted in Nuevo Vallarta © Brian Gibbons In Nuevo Vallarta the remaining fields and scrub are home to a surprising array of birds. We found three endemics that we would not encounter later in the trip. A covey of Elegant Quail sat cooperatively on fence posts as we admired them in the scope; the male’s rufous headdress fluttered as he surveilled the landscape. A very obliging trio of Rufous-bellied Chachalacas sat for scope views before they moved to the Royal Palms for their evening meal. Our third endemic in Nuevo Vallarta darted past in tight squeaky flocks, the Mexican Parrotlets, never settling for good views. Crossing from the state of Nayarit in Nuevo Vallarta to Jalisco took us to our next birding location, Boca de Tomates, where we saw huge loafing American Crocodiles and San Blas Jays before walking along the beach to the Rio Ameca mouth where we found shorebirds and waders. Tricolored Herons trotted along in the shallows while Sanderlings raced the surf on the beach. Offshore we spied distant Blue-footed Boobies and a single Brown Booby. With our search narrowed to plovers, we quickly found several Snowies but not the hoped-for Collared Plover. A little more searching and it was there, right amongst fishermen and beachgoers; fine scope studies ensued. Our next task was to navigate the congested, sinuous streets of Puerto Vallarta, which we did in fine fashion. Finally, we arrived at Le Kliff on the southern end of Vallarta sprawl. We enjoyed the superb views of the Bay of Banderas, some distant Humpback Whales, and a very fine meal. We wound into the foothills as we made our way through the lush forests and into the drier pines and oaks around El Tuito and Rancho Primavera, our base for the next five nights. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 West Mexico: Thorn Forest to the Sierra Madre, 2020 The birds at the ranch never disappoint. We quickly tallied Cinnamon Hummingbird, Plain-capped Starthroat, Yellow Grosbeak, and many other yard birds. On our first morning at the ranch the feeders were frenetic. Yellow- winged Caciques stormed in; Stripe- headed Sparrows and Grayish Saltators were a little more polite. Finally, the guests of honor arrived, the stunning endemic Black-throated Magpie-Jays. A dozen swooped in to feast on tortillas and fruit placed by our amazing host, Bonnie. The raucous calls and the long, flowing black tails are a lifer experience like no other. As the feeder show continued, I pulled the group away, as I knew there was a little white flower up in the hills that would be hosting hummingbirds. We bumped our way up to the tiny village of Provincia, home to 2–4 people, according to the Rancho Primavera gardens © Brian Gibbons sign. The first tree was full of flowers, but the only hummers we found were the brilliant Berylline Hummingbirds. The next set of trees were bursting with tiny flowers, and we immediately found hummers chasing each other as we exited the van. This was both good and bad news—good news because the flowers were full of nectar, bad news because the tiny Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird is easily driven off by all other hummers. The dominant bird was the Berylline Hummer. A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird had a tiny section of one tree that it stuck to. A fine male Rufous made a few appearances as well. The tiny wintering Calliope Hummingbirds kept a low profile, feeding wherever they could. The chattery Mexican Woodnymph never seemed to settle and was hard to get a good look at. Finally, the star Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 West Mexico: Thorn Forest to the Sierra Madre, 2020 appeared, a bumblebee-sized sprite floating high in a flowering tree. The tiny female Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird hovered among the tiny flowers sipping nectar. Soon a A pair of Military Macaws commuting over Rancho Primavera © Brian Gibbons second appeared, and to my chagrin they chased each other off and disappeared. We had a couple more sightings of females before Victor spotted a fine male feeding high in the same tree. He made multiple appearances as we enjoyed these tiny hummers. As the hummingbird activity waned, we headed down the mountain hoping for some flock activity which we failed to detect, but we did find a Barn Owl family lurking in a small cave in the top of a sandy bank. Our afternoon was spent on the ranch, and the evening by the ponds was always a show worth watching. We often had flyover Military Macaws and the endemic Lilac-crowned Parrots commuting. Each morning we were at Rancho Primavera the birds did their thing, visiting the feeders and giving us great views of many secretive birds, especially the Blue Mockingbird. The stunning Russet-crowned Motmots are always one of my favorites, with their jade-green breasts and blue and lavender facial highlights. Midmorning we made a visit to Bioto Road where we scored Citreoline Trogons and multiple flyover Lilac-crowned Parrots. Pale-billed Woodpeckers made regular appearances at the ranch with many other species. Our morning checklists often topped 70 species in Red-bordered Pixie on the chocolate cake batter daisy © Brian Gibbons a couple of hours birding. One of my favorite West Mexico birding days is the drive into the thorn forest, culminating with an excellent lunch in an idyllic cove hosting a tiny Mexican fishing village, Tehuamixtle. An early departure from the ranch put us along a stream at dawn Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 West Mexico: Thorn Forest to the Sierra Madre, 2020 surrounded by magnificent forest and a few huge fig trees. Soon I heard the Colima Pygmy-Owl tooting back to my imitation. Then three were tooting away, but they stayed away for a while. One tiny owl finally was too curious and flew in for brief scope views before disappearing to join its unseen fellows tooting in the forest. With another endemic in the bag we continued down through the drier oak forests and into the thorn forest, which was still green from recent rains. Along the way we spotted a large group of West Mexican Chachalacas that lingered in a huge leafless tree for scope views. A farmer herding his cows down the road threatened to flush our first stunning Orange-breasted Bunting. While we were soaking up the outrageous yellow, orange, green, and blue of this beautiful endemic, I heard the rich gurgling of the equally brilliant Rosy Thrush- Tanager. I played a little tape, and uncharacteristically this male popped up affording good views of this skulker. While we were watching the Thrush-Tanager, a Red-breasted Chat began singing nearby. So, after the Thrush-Tanager exited, I tried a little chat tape. I was disappointed when it made its appearance; it was a young male, not yet sporting the amazing plumage for which it is named. But he was Victor's Lifer Flammulated cooperative, as he came out and sang on bare branches Flycatcher © Brian Gibbons The spectacular Yellow-winged Cacique was a common feeder bird © Brian Gibbons Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 West Mexico: Thorn Forest to the Sierra Madre, 2020 for us to admire his future greatness. We worked our way down the road for a couple more stops in the thorn forest; again we heard a chat and our first Flammulated Flycatcher, a lifer Victor was keen on seeing. Frustrated by these individuals we headed down the road. There, we would lay our eyes on a fine adult male Red-breasted Chat, a cooperative Flammulated Flycatcher, and a flighty Golden-crowned Emerald. Along the trail into the thorn forest we called up the cute little White-bellied Wren. One of my favorite West Mexican butterflies also made a couple of appearances, the White Morpho with its floppy flight on giant opalescent wings. Our second Red-breasted Chat was this fine male © Brian Gibbons Our final exploration based out of the ranch was a trip to Vallarta Botanical Gardens for birding and lunch. The birds were a little slow, but the freshly stocked feeder lured in Yellow-winged Caciques and their antics, along with a noisy flock of San Blas Jays. After a delicious lunch we made our way back to the ranch for our final trail walks and pond watch. Our last morning near El Tuito saw us visit a Macaw Reserve where two dozen nest boxes were placed, monitored, and protected by a man and his son on the ejido community land. From the moment we arrived, after a rough dirt road into the beautiful pine oak forest, we heard the raucous squawks of pairs of Military Macaws coursing through the hills. We were able to see pairs allopreening and resting after their morning feeding bouts, as most of the nest boxes had chicks. We also added Boat-billed Flycatcher to the trip list.