Photo Gallery
Rich Hoyer and Jim Brock
A little more than halfway to our first night’s hotel, and only a few hours from the U.S. border is the Cañon de Novillo, now famous among butterfliers for its swallowtails. Here we see Giant, Ornythion, Broad-banded, Three-tailed, and Polydamas Swallowtails, as well as Sickle-winged and Hermit Skippers.
On the first two days of the tour we’ll visit the tropical lowlands of the Rio Sabinas valley. Green and Ringed Kingfishers are sometimes joined by Amazon Kingfisher along the riverbanks.
In the thornscrub area one year we discovered this mating pair of Theona Checkerspots, one of them a highly unusual red morph.
Always a crowd-pleaser is the Red-bordered Pixie, not an uncommon metalmark on our tours.
The metalmarks are such a diverse lot: compare the previous two to this almost porcelain-like Black-and-white Mottlemark.
If we take a longer hike one day, we’ll bring a picnic lunch.
Birding and butterflying in the morning at El Nacimiento, where Blue-crowned Motmot and Black-crowned Tityra are among the possibilities.
Not quite as flashy but nonetheless attractive is this Mottled Bolla…
…as is this Litana Skipper, subtle but striking if viewed up close.
One of the most common birds of prey in Mexico’s tropics is the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, and we seldom fail to see it on this tour.
The last three days of the tour will find us at the enchanting retreat of Rancho del Cielo. This is Harrison Hall, where we’ll meet for margaritas and the checklist before dinner…
… and this is the Keep, where the feeder attracts Amethyst-throated Hummingbirds, among others.
From our lodgings in the Cielo Biosphere Reserve we hike to various habitats, including an outcropping with host plants for the gorgeous Xami Hairstreak.
There is usually a territory of Tamaulipas Pygmy-Owl on the grounds of our lodge, one of the local endemics of the region.
Rich Hoyer’s tours are always a complete natural history experience, and we always stop to look at other interesting critters, such as this Mexican Hook-nosed Snake…
…and this waiting lynx spider.