2012 Narrative
From a magnificent adult King Vulture perched overhead, staring right at us, to the little-known Blue Seedeater singing from bamboo thickets along a magical limestone jungle river; from a male Lovely Cotinga glowing atop a yellow-flowering canopy tree to a Scaly-throated Leaftosser lurking on giant buttress roots; from delightful pygmy kingfishers and skulking Rufous-breasted Spinetails to flashy Rufous-tailed Jacamars and toucans; from the snappiness of displaying manakins to the omnipresent roaring of howler monkeys; and all to the backdrop of spectacular and mystical Maya ruins shrouded in rainforest. Away from the forest and ruins, the birding was no less exciting: from the serendipity of a lunch-stop pygmy-owl to a swarm of Aplomado Falcons feeding over a burning field, and from hundreds of wintering migrant warblers (of some 22 species) to thousands upon thousands of waterbirds in nearby wetlands. As always, there are lots of birds in Mexico, plus friendly people and good food.
After arrival in Villahermosa and a good sleep we made the drive out into the heart of the Lacandon, and along the way got a sense of the area’s geography and of the great wealth of birds - such as Ovenbird and both Louisiana and Northern waterthrushes without having to leave our restaurant seats during lunch! Roadside birding featured Barred Antshrike and Northern Bentbill, while our stop for a beautiful Laughing Falcon also produced an Aplomado Falcon - and before we had driven far we had to stop again for a Black Hawk-Eagle soaring over the road! We reached Guacamayas Lodge in good time to settle in and enjoy dinner before falling asleep to the distant roaring of howler monkeys under starlit skies.
The Rio Tzendales boat ride – including a few travertine waterfalls – made for a wonderful morning, despite the overcast and at times misting conditions. Some highlights were truly wild Muscovy Ducks, confiding Sungrebes and Gray-necked Wood-Rails, Pygmy Kingfishers catching pygmy fish, and the little-known Blue Seedeater spotted singing in bamboo. Stops along the riverbank produced Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Rufous Mourner, and elusive Slate-headed Tody-Flycatchers and Dusky Antbirds. After lunch and a siesta we watched grass grow for 30 minutes as Gray-breasted and Ruddy crakes tantalized us with their calls from oh so close, yet oh so far. The highlight, however, was a spectacular Great Potoo calling and flying overhead, a species at the very northern edge of its range and very rarely seen in Mexico.
The next morning we birded roadside and rainforest. Highlights included great views of displaying male Red-capped Manakins, handsome Green-backed and Orange-billed sparrows, Plain Antvireo, Dot-winged Antwrens, LOUD Rufous Pihas, and a Scarlet Macaw at the nest. After lunch we headed to Frontera Corozal and the legendary Usumacinta (or Sacred Monkey) River- the interstate highway of the Mayas. Late afternoon birding near the rooms produced a good variety of wintering warblers and a Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, another species at the northern edge of its range.
A snazzy displaying male White-collared Manakin, a bee-like Black-crested Coquette, and a perched White Hawk were a good start to our visit to the Maya ruins at Bonampak, known for their spectacularly preserved painted figures. While enjoying the ruins we sat in the shade on a temple to watch a procession of orioles, tanagers, euphonias, tityras, becards, parakeets, and vireos passing through the many fruiting trees - and then a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle soared up from behind the temples! Among many other species we also found a “glowing” male Lovely Cotinga and a confiding Northern Royal Flycatcher before all too soon it was time to leave. Late afternoon birding reinforced the theme of abundant Neotropical migrants when we enjoyed a bare tree loaded with Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, and Baltimore and Orchard orioles.
As we headed down the Usumacinta River, Mexico on the left bank, Guatemala on the right, our morning visiting the spectacular Maya ruins at Yaxchilán began with a Great Curassow feeding in a massive riverside tree while the eerie songs of Great Tinamous floated from the misty rainforest. In the forest at the ruins a confiding Scaly-throated Leaftosser held us spellbound despite the attempts of a cute Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher to distract us. After exploring and marveling at the ruins we returned reluctantly to the launch and nearly tripped over a confiding White-whiskered Puffbird on the trail. Most spectacular, though, was a close-range perched adult King Vulture on the now sunny ride back upriver. After settling in to our Palenque hotel we birded the grounds and enjoyed great views of some notorious skulkers - Spot-breasted Wren, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, and a bathing male Kentucky Warbler.
Our last sojourn into the Maya world was at Palenque, where we finally experienced the heat and humidity we had expected for the whole trip - cloudless blue skies and heat made for relatively slow birding, although a pair of perched Bat Falcons and a pair of ethereal White Hawks soaring against the blue above ruins were most memorable, and other notables included Double-toothed Kites nest-building (in the noisy parking lot!) and great views of Keel-billed Toucans and Collared Aracaris. After visiting the museum we enjoyed lunch (with a serendipitous Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl) and a siesta. Highlights of our late afternoon birding included the bizarre Double-striped Thick-knee, a jewel-like male Canivet’s Emerald, a Lineated Woodpecker feeding in the road, and four Aplomado Falcons feeding at a burning field beside the road, sitting in the blackened grasses, and sweeping in and out of the smoke to snatch grasshoppers - wow!
After some amazingly successful forest birding we finished with a grand finale loop through the Centla Wetlands Biosphere Reserve. An early stop for Grassland Yellow-finches also produced a male Vermilion Flycatcher and a pair of Blue-gray Tanagers for a full suite of primary colors, and the sheer numbers of waterbirds - herons, egrets, ibises, storks, spoonbills, jacanas, Limpkins, ducks, coots, shorebirds, and terns - were overwhelming. Raptors included a pair of displaying Great Black Hawks, handsome Black-collared Hawks, and numerous Snail Kites, while the trees held the “expected” hordes of migrant warblers (including two each of Blue-winged, Prothonotary, and Worm-eating) and a roving band of Yucatan Jays. And then, all too soon our week in the land of the Maya was over - thanks to all for making it such a memorable, fun, and bird-filled trip!
-Steve Howell
Updated: March 2012