Malinche

One of the things I wanted to do more than anything else during my return to Tlaxcala was visit the remote areas of Malinche.

I didn't know if it would be possible.  My family asked what I'd like to do and I said, "Malinche."

My sister Elsa had connections and she set up an amazing afternoon with the director overseeing Malinche National Park.  My host mom cooked and cooked all morning for the trek into the remote area of the forest.  It was dark and it. was. amazing.

This is what birding is all about!  With an escort into the forest, we were able to do an amazing first time bird count for ebird in this sector of forest.  We hopped into the truck and began counting birds on a secret dirt trail with food and crew.

At first it was quiet, but then we had hummingbirds every where around large patches of salvia.

I was floored by the discovery of Evening Grosbeaks this far south on the North American continent.  I had never imagined it possible and yet, there they were in the shadows.

And at one point, it seemed to rain birds.  The director was shocked by the amount of vultures and hawks flying over our heads.  I explained that we were witnessing migration and that the birds were settling down for the evening.

Malinche has many specialty birds like the Strickland's Woodpecker, Transvolcanic Jay, and Red Warbler.  In fact, if something rare were to show up in Tlaxcala or Puebla, it would be here.

Red Warblers were everywhere!  And very high up in the dark canopy!

In the darkness, we found amazing birds.  I was able to share my data with the director and get a bird count going for the Huamantla sector.  It was an amazing way to end my trip to Mexico and I am so thankful for the experience. A special thanks to my family for getting it all set up and joining in on the grand adventure that is birding. Plus we enjoyed some delicious muéganos(a type of cookie) on our way back home.

We had an amazing time.  The guys were great and were really good finding birds. Their normal job is putting out fires on the volcano so it was a nice break for them. The young man to the far left was the true birder of the group.  And while he wasn't a birder exactly, he KNEW the birds in the area (and their calls). Here is our report for the Malinche area.