2006 Tour Narrative
So many great birds and so little driving. Birds on the grounds of the wonderful Chan-Kah lodge comprised over a hundred species, including Hooded and Worm-eating warblers, stately Bare-throated Tiger-Herons, a glaring Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, the little-known Uniform Crake, and stunning Crimson-collared Tanagers, plus wonderful Howler Monkeys and even a Kinkajou. But this was simply scratching the surface. From ethereal White Hawks sailing over Maya ruins to a tiny Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet feeding its young; from a flight of Boat-billed Herons in the dusk light to Royal Flycatchers nest-building; from the “kid-in-a-candy-shop” roadside spectacle of thousands of waterbirds, including nine (!) majestic Jabirus, to an elusive Northern Potoo giving its other-worldly calls; from rainbow-colored Keel-billed Toucans to four species of primary-color trogons; this tour once again showed that Palenque and birds are a great mix for an introductory foray into the magic of the tropics.
All arrived on time and after dinner we retired for a good night’s sleep. Our first full day we drove to Palenque, our base for the next five nights, via stops at roadside marshes (Snail Kites hunting snails, Northern Jacanas) and an area of savanna, (Fork-tailed Flycatcher mobbing Aplomado Falcons!). We enjoyed the first of our meals at the lodge before a siesta (with Hooded Warblers and American Redstarts right outside our cabins), and then spent the late afternoon walking the grounds — lots of birds, including Aztec Parakeets, Golden-hooded and Crimson-collared tanagers, 12 species of migrant warblers, and even a calling Uniform Crake.
For our first “full day” of birding we headed to the ruins for the morning, where highlights included our first toucans, trogons, and motmot, a low-flying Black Hawk-Eagle, and nesting Bat Falcons. After our daily siesta we headed out the La Libertad road where a different array of birds included Double-striped Thick-knees, up-close Fork-tailed Flycatchers, roadside swarms of White-fronted Parrots, a surprise Palm Warbler, and spectacular dusk flights of White Pelicans and Boat-billed Herons. Walking to breakfast to the sounds of roaring Howler Monkeys and a Northern Potoo is always a fun experience, after which we made a short drive to some forest patches in the foothills, where birds came in pulses: one notable bare tree held Aztec Parakeets, Masked Tityras, Lineated Woodpecker, Boat-billed Flycatchers, and a Giant Cowbird, while another had male Painted and Indigo buntings beside a Yellow-breasted Chat, and then a male Red-legged Honeycreeper glowed right in front of us as a pair of Smoky-brown Woodpeckers fed in another tree… After lunch and siesta we birded the hotel grounds again, where many of the commoner species were falling into place, with a great three-way comparison of Kiskadee, Social, and Boat-billed flycatchers, plus Scrub and Yellow-throated euphonias, and “the usual” Hooded and Worm-eating warblers. Our after-dinner spot-lighting drive found Pauraques but no potoos.
“Five-thirty breakfast as usual” and then to the ruins for another great morning, where birds ranged from elusive White-breasted Wood-Wrens on the forest floor to incomparable White Hawks sailing over the forest canopy, plus Rufous-tailed Jacamars, Ivory-billed Woodcreepers, Scarlet-rumped Tanagers, and Squirrel Cuckoos among many others. Our afternoon out to the Usumacinta Marshes featured a “kid-in-a-candy-shop” bonanza — a flooded roadside field FULL of waterbirds including nine Jabirus, which dwarfed the Wood Storks and Great Blue Herons, hundreds of whistling-ducks and egrets, a Roseate Spoonbill, plus Crested Caracaras, Pinnated Bitterns, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, a hunting Peregrine Falcon — and even Red-winged Blackbirds. The next day saw us back in the foothills, with early-morning birds including Yellow-tailed and Baltimore orioles, a superb Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, and close-up White-crowned Parrot and Violaceous Trogon. The beautiful Misol-Ha falls provided a fine backdrop to some forest-edge birding with a memorable Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet family. Lunch and siesta were followed by late afternoon below the ruins, with Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, hunting Roadside Hawk, Lineated and Ladder-backed woodpeckers, and trees full of euphonias and warblers.
On our last morning at the ruins there were both new birds and a sense of knowing some of the commoner birds by sight and sound. After a slow start we enjoyed a flurry of birds, with a male Barred Antshrike leaf-bathing, superb Rufous-breasted Spinetails, Black-crowned Tityras nest-building, and tiger-herons in a tree. Forest walks produced Collared and Slaty-tailed trogons, and then, just as we were trying to leave, nest-building Royal Flycatchers and in-our-face Long-tailed Hermits! We dragged ourselves away and, after lunch at the hotel, retraced our route to Villahermosa (with a side-road stop that produced Black-collared Hawks, plus a very memorable 40 species in 20 minutes!) and arrived in good time to settle in before a fine last-night dinner.
Steve Howell
Updated: April 2006