2008 Tour Narrative
In Brief: From eye-burning Orange-breasted Buntings to a cryptic Balsas Screech-Owl; from bow-riding Spotted Dolphins in an ocean full of Brown Boobies to elusive Russet-crowned Motmots; from dawn in a hummingbird-filled mountain clearing to countless warblers, from Lucy’s and Colima to male Red-breasted Chat: diverse memories that typify the contrasts of this great tour. From a scope-filling Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo to five species of brilliantly colored orioles in an “oriole alley” of flowering trees; from a picnic breakfast beside a bird-filled farmyard “under the volcano” to a dawn chorus of chachalacas and forest-falcons echoing off the crater walls of a secluded volcanic lake; from handsome Black-capped Vireos and Black-chested Sparrows to the primary colors of Red Warbler and Mountain Trogon. This was another wonderful trip to the bird-filled region of Colima and adjacent Jalisco. And then, all too soon it seemed like it was over.
In Detail: The first two days were spent in the coastal lowlands near our hotel, where the Playa de Oro road produced the usual suite of thorn-forest birds, dominated by Myiarchus flycatchers, plus Citreoline Trogon, Lilac-crowned Parrot, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Russet-crowned Motmot, a superb male Red-breasted Chat, and Fan-tailed Warbler. Elsewhere there were hedges swarming with seedeaters and orioles, ponds covered with whistling-ducks, and Magnificent Frigatebirds patroling the beaches—birds were everywhere we looked. Our third birding day started slowly then warmed up with many birds, including great views of West Mexican Chachalacas, dueling Mexican Hermits, and tiny Golden-crowned Emeralds. After lunch it was time to largely kiss Myiarchus goodbye and head inland to Ciudad Guzmán, at the extreme southwest corner of the Mexican plateau, and our base for the next four nights.
Three-and-a-half days isn’t really time to explore the diversity of birds and habitats on the Volcanes de Colima, but we made a good effort and missed little. Our first volcano day started with Pine Flycatcher and Russet Nightingale-Thrush, and then an intense hour or more of activity as the sun brought to life warblers, orioles, flowerpiercers, siskins, and silkies, with hundreds of hummingbirds chipping all around. Then on to Aztec Thrushes, Red Warblers, and a handsome female Gray-collared Becard. The lake at Guzmán in late afternoon offered a contrast with a good variety of waterbirds and mind-blowing numbers of Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Day Two started at the “Superb (not OK) Corral” where there was lots of “stuff”—a farmyard full of brightly colored buntings and grosbeaks, flocks of sparrows, orioles, warblers (including Lucy’s!), a Happy Wren in the open set against the distant cone of the Volcan de Fuego, and some very obliging Banded Quail. Other highlights included some nice Hook-billed Kites and a stunning male Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo. The third day we breakfasted with a view of dawn over the plains of Guzmán and then walked from brushy fields into humid pine-oak forest. Birds varied accordingly and included fat Rusty Sparrows, a “cute” Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Mountain Trogon, an obliging Colima Warbler, and those elusive Green-striped Brushfinches…. The drive to Colima City featured a memorable stop to watch Swainson’s Hawks swooping into a cane fire.
The tropical heat of Colima came as a change from the cool of the volcanoes. Our first afternoon we found eye-burning Orange-breasted Buntings and Black-chested Sparrows with relative ease, then worked a little harder for cavorting Rufous-naped Wrens, and, finally, the elusive Balsas Screech-Owl. Other notables around Colima City in the next two days included Black-capped, Dwarf, and Golden Vireos, Gray-crowned and Smoky-brown Woodpeckers, Mottled Owl seen well (they do exist!), Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrows, and beautiful male Elegant and Godman’s Euphonias. Our drive back to the coast featured a stop for ice cream and a variety of birds (including a lagoon packed with waterbirds). A restful afternoon by the ocean set us up for a good seafood dinner and a sleep.
The pelagic trip, preceded by a mass of roosting martins, was hot and sunny, with gentle seas and lots of the expected Brown Boobies and spectacular Red-billed Tropicbirds, plus higher-than-usual numbers of turtles and Humpback Whales. Our last afternoon at the airport marshes, we enjoyed watching some now-familiar birds, including flashy Mexican (Yellow-winged) Caciques and San Blas Jays, and also found a number of “new” species, including White-throated Flycatcher, Roadside Hawk, and Spot-breasted Oriole. A glowing sunset sky filled with tens of thousands of Rough-winged Swallows cut through by a bat-hunting Peregrine Falcon was a fitting testimony to the abundance of birds and diversity that characterize this region. All in all a wonderful trip; was it only ten days of birding?
Steve Howell
Updated: February 2008