Sumidero Canyon

We woke up the next day.  No tour bus.  No guide.  Just us. And it felt good.  We could go and explore on our own and at our own pace. The 5 days of tours were brutally intense.  Now it was time to slow down. Or at least that's what my body was telling me. 

We kept it local and returned back to Sumidero Canyon.  Once again, we strapped on our water packs and began the hike into the clouds and canyon. 

Lesser Roadrunner

 One of the target birds that we missed from our treks was the Lesser Roadrunner.  Here in Arizona, we have the Greater Roadrunner.  We couldn't leave Chiapas without spotting one of the "Lessers".  As we walked further up the road, the mist let up some.  It was enough to allow us a brief glance at a "hazy-what-looked-like-a-roadrunner on the road" creature.  Gordon became excited and said, "That's a roadrunner!  I know it is!"  

I'm like, "Yeah right Gordon. And monkeys fly out of my butt.":)  Note to self.  I need a shave badly!"

And me?  I was skeptical.  I had heard that this bird was real but I didn't believe it.  When I saw the bird, I thought, "It can't be. Therefore, it isn't:)" We hurriedly moved forward.  The heavy mist took over and the bird disappeared. WHAT IS IT WITH THIS WEATHER AND NEW BIRDS!!!???? There are no such things as Unicorns.  And there are no such things as Lesser Roadrunners. Then the cloud lifted and all was revealed.  

In true Mexican fashion, it was like witnessing the Virgin of Guadalupe opening her cape with hundreds of roses falling about her.  But in our case, this was real! I do believe in Roadrunners!  I do believe in Roadrunners!  Beep beep!

juvenile Rusty Sparrow

 Then we had a visit from a Rusty Sparrow!  This made us scratch our heads because it wasn't like the ones we had observed on our trips.  Come to find out.  This was a juvenile.  Awesome!

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat

 And the clouds got thicker and thicker making the birding a real challenge!

This Ent almost pulled Gordon under:)  But in reality, it's a beautiful Amate Fig tree with a nice looking root system

I never miss home while I'm traveling, but I guess if I did miss something it would have to be the lighting conditions.  Everyday is practically a nice day in Arizona.  And the birds seem much more cooperative than these neotropical ones. 

Streak-backed Oriole

Take for example this Streak-backed Oriole.  Why in the world does it only pop out for pics in cloudy conditions?  Don't they know we are only there for a short amount of time?  Apparently they didn't get the memo:) 

This pic above is really great.*cough*cough* Some of my best work.  Ever.  We finally have the Oriole sitting on a branch in full cloud "lighting" and I know the pictures will not turn out very well.  In my mind just like my father does during those trying moments, I begin humming that tune by Colbie Caillat, "All you have to do is try try try....."  

As we continued our walk, Plain Chachalacas flew or hopped from branch to branch.  The jays were active.  And so was the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl calling. 

White-throated Magpie Jay

As we ended our trek, I noticed something positive happening near the roadside of Sumidero Canyon. 

Along the way, we noticed how many homes were built close to the road of this "protected" area. It was definitely a poor neighborhood. And it got me thinking a random thought.  In the US, most people with money want their places along the edges of parks etc.  But here in Mexico, it's usually the opposite. Why?  Poverty.  Cut wood for fuel.  Poach animals for food. Raise crops on the areas you just cut down, etc etc.  Most of the hill was bare thanks to obvious clear cutting. 

It is unclear to me whether this happened before the park was put into a protective status or after, but we did witness something positive.  I will end here on this note.  As a teacher, I am happy to report that there was a program teaching kids about planting trees. Good for them! And great for the park! Hopefully in 10 years, the hillside will have a new forest instead of grass. If we don't teach our young about protecting our planet now, we will be in very bad shape down the road. 

So while I was writing this post, I thought about what people might be asking as they read it.  And I think I have it figured out.  The question that came to me was....."What is the difference between a Greater and Lesser Roadrunner?"  Here's a pic comparing the two species. 

Top: Greater Roadrunner Bottom: Lesser Roadrunner

And finally.  This month you can find my work in the latest August edition of Watching Backyard Birds. This is from the publishers of Bird Watcher's Digest.  It was a fun experience putting everything together.  So a big THANK YOU to Dawn Hewitt and team.  If you are paperless, you will find that they have a free online preview of this edition to check out. 

Until next time friends.....

GIANT Expectations

White-nose Coati at Zoomat

After a long stressful week of intense birding, we ended it all with the Wonder Team, Matt Hale and Francesca Albini.  They worked so well together that I had thought they were married! Their amazing teamwork made the last day very special.  

Matt sets up the scope to begin the search for buntings

Out of the 10 participants scheduled, 4 of us remained.  It was by far the easiest and best day for birding and photography.  I had been looking forward to this day since we arrived.  Why?  Well, I have never birded the Pacific Lowlands before.  And even though there were birds I had already observed, I wanted to see them again!  It was a magical day out for our group.  The heat was oppressive but the birding and crew were some of the finest!

We spot our first White-nosed Coati in the wild.  There are several in the background. 

We headed into the protected Sepultura Reserve which is southwest of Tuxtla Gutierrez.  And then, the show began. White-nosed Coati walked out on the limbs of trees.

White-throated Magpie Jay

At sunrise, we stopped at a great overlook area with a beautiful view of protected rain forest that went as far as the eyes could see.  A gentle breeze blew through the canyon. I also saw dinosaurs, but I'm keeping their gps location secret.  However, I will report some very special bird sightings.....:)

La Sepultura at dawn

Even in the darkness, I could make out something blue and pink flitting around the leafy canopy. Francesca silently moved towards the bird and pointed.  Matt directed the scope towards her aim.  And then.....

The majestic male Rose-bellied Bunting(formerly named Rosita's bunting) made an appearance!  People just dropped their jaws and uttered things like "WHOA!", "That is one beautiful bird.", "#%^!", or "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like..." Just kidding on that last part. It was a real make out session with this bunting. 

Rose-bellied Bunting(formerly called the Rosita's Bunting)

I wished this moment would last forever.  Gorgeous weather.  Beautiful views.  Fascinating wildlife. And wonderful people. Yeah, I'd like to write, "Perfect moment."  There.  I just did it:)

But it wasn't just enough to find one group of gorgeous buntings.  We had to find ANOTHER!  Both were in the same area.  As a birder, I can tell you that I've never had a "Bunting Day" like this one.  We went down the slope further and there, from within the forest, a gorgeous Orange-breasted Bunting appeared. 

Orange-breasted Bunting

As a child growing up, these bunting's colors were my personal favorites.  And if I had to choose between the two, I think I like the color scheme better on this one.  But it's a hard call.  Both were very beautiful birds. 

Great Egret

I knew water was near when the group had an unexpected flyover by a Great Egret. It just came out of nowhere.  But it was hanging out somewhere, I imagine, near a hidden stream. 

Bare-throated tiger heron

As we moved further down into the lowlands, I could feel the steamy oppressive heat that made many locals shed their clothes.  My skin had a beautiful shine to it from all the sweat.  I engaged my "water pack". As an Arizonan, I am familiar with this nasty type of heat.  Me and the Gordon filled up our packs with ice in the morning and were refreshed the entire trip.  I'm glad we brought our camel packs with us on this trek.  It felt good observing awesome birds without feeling heat exhaustion. Ice and a water pack. They are the answer to all of your hot travel woes my friends. 

We stopped at a local pond and had the most amazing show of birds and reptiles. 

Ruddy-breasted Seedeater

There were so many awesome birds in one spot that it made it difficult to focus. It was a bird bonanza and we stayed here for a long time soaking up all the incredible that was this pond.  Rose-throated Becards, Ruddy-breasted seedeaters, Groove-billed Ani's, Crested Caracaras, and Northern Jaçanas.  Finally, I got my answer to how one pronounces this last bird's name.  I always pronounced the word in Spanish as Ha-Ka-Na.  But Mr. Matt said it was a Portuguese word and that would mean it was pronounced Ja-Sa-Nah. 

Of course, life would not be complete without a gnatcatcher sighting.  They are another favorite of mine. 

White-lored Gnatcatcher

No such thing as Mallards down there.  I put one into ebird just for fun to see if the bird was rare.  And indeed it was!  So who was the duck-of-the-day?  Well, the Black-bellied whistling duck took their place:) Not a bad duck to see over and over again:)

Black-bellied whistling ducks with Bare-throated tiger heron

We had a couple of friendly local people warn us not to get into the water because there was a family of caiman swimming around the pond.  I would never enter any water near mangrove areas because I learned the hard way in Panama, thanks to Tito, a Saltwater Croc, who decided to interrupt my birding session on the beach.  That's when I learned that there were bigger reptiles out there who wouldn't mind the taste of "gringo". 

Gordon could've taken this caiman on:) 

In time, I knew I would eventually see the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.  They barely make it into Southern Arizona and the ones that do are kept secret.  This owl is considered rare in our state and is protected by law.  I know a couple sites but they are located in several sketchy areas that are several hours away from Tucson.  For now, our sightings of this bird in Chiapas will suffice. 

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Finally today, I'd like to introduce the bird that brought us here on this trek, the Giant Wren.  It is a large and spectacular wren that is endemic(there's that word again) to this region. 

Giant Wrens

Eventually it was time to turn around and go back home.  I didn't want to return.  I wanted to stay in Puerto Arista and see the estuary that had Roseate Spoonbills, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Tricolored Herons, Wood Storks, etc flying over the waterways.  It. Was. Incredible. 

Wood Stork

While not the greatest collage I've put together, here's a Magnificent Frigatebird going after a Great Egret for dinner.  The bird is trying to get the Egret to spit out or vomit whatever it has in its' gullet. They are known as the pirates of the sea. Sorry about writing the word "vomit".  It sounds vile, but the Magnificent Frigatebird loves it:)

Unfortunately, this day had to come to a close, but there were still many adventures ahead for us that we would take on our own.  As the group tours ended, we took to the trails ourselves and came up with some great birds on our last two days.  Stay tuned for more. 

Birding Chiapas

Keel-billed Toucan NOT taken in the wild but at the zoo.  It's captive and does not count.  But gods it's a gorgeous bird! To find this bird, go to Palenque, Chiapas. 

Where do I begin?  I suppose from the start, but it will be difficult to incorporate all my thoughts into one post. Over the next several weeks, I'll be covering a lot of different topics from bird photography to group dynamics while birding. In the past, I've always planned and organized my own trips, but for this trek, I let others do it for me.  The allure?  We had great guides lined up for the tours which included some very rare birds on the endemic list.  There were two birds specifically on this trip that were important for me to observe. And one I needed help finding.  

As we flew out into the night skies above Mexico City, I felt homesick for all my friends who live in the surrounding states.  As a younger man, I rented an apartment during a summer in Mexico City, partied in amazing locales, studied at the university in Guadalajara, spent many vacations in Puebla and Tlaxcala, ate at great restaurants and discovered the wonders and beauty of Mexican culture. 

Our destination was Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. This is a state I have never visited before so it was on the top of my list of places to explore. Instead of cultural study, as I usually do, I focused solely on the wildlife and natural parks found around the area. 

Tiger Longwing

Rain forest birding is some of the MOST difficult birding out there.  On our first day in Tuxtla Gutierrez, we were all anxious to get out into the field again and find birds!  On this trip, my friend Gordon got a taste of birding in the tropics for the first time and it was fun to be there with him as he experienced a bit of international birding.  We had many birds to find and so we headed out to the local zoo in Chiapas.  As I've previously mentioned about zoos, they are great places to find local birds within an artificially created safe zone. The birds I present to you all today are wild birds that hung around the zoo(minus the Keel-billed Toucan).  Don't ask me what critters they had in their cages because I won't remember:)  I was more interested in the wild bird population living on the property. 

Plain Chachalaca

Many of our new birds were ground birds like the Plain Chachalaca above.  Around southern Mexico and Guatemala, grouse make for a tasty treat. This is why the Ocellated Turkey is listed as Near Threatened. When I first went to Mexico, I discovered that the country, when compared to other Spanish speaking countries, had been terrible maintaining their wildlife populations. Some states, like San Luis Potosí, had wiped out montane forests. Similar experiences/observations in other Mexican states had me concerned. While hunting may have subsided a bit, it appears habitat loss has become the number one issue for this country. It's also an issue in many parts of the world including the U.S. (but more on that in a few weeks.) With that said, Chiapas has set aside large tracts of rain forest habitat and they currently are working on mangrove restoration along their beaches. The trash issue also seems to be a lot less than I remember!  These are all great things and I hope it continues. 

Plain Chachalaca chick

How about the birds?  Featured above are pics of a Plain Chachalaca.  I was so excited to see these "new" birds. I remember having one perch on my shoulder in Panama, but it was not wild. 

These birds were common and observed on many of our treks around Chiapas. 

Zoomat entrance

Our stop at Zoomat was productive and exciting. Our visit perhaps made us a bit cocky with our cameras.  Birds seemed easy and cooperative to document.  This would NOT be the case for the rest of our trip:) Difficulty level for birding this area: Easy. 

Crested Guan

The next bird featured is the Crested Guan.  I had seen this bird before in Guatemala and this was the ONLY time we saw this bird in Chiapas.  But in the zoo, the birds casually hung in silence above picnic tables or near restaurant stands making me think that they enjoy scraps:)

I think the iguana above was part of the zoo display, but I really don't know.  These large reptiles hang out in many different locations.  On another trek we spotted two of these large lizards in the wild at a local park.  

Green Jay

Also at the zoo?  Green Jays!!!!!!  WOW!  In Chiapas, the Green Jay has yellow eyes.  And on this trip, I learned that the Green Jays in Texas have dark eyes.  Something new I didn't know!

 Fatima Peacock (Anartia fatima)

Wrens in the Neotropical world are awesome.  They have beautiful songs and wonderful coloring. This Banded Wren was a thrill!

Banded Wren

Also very common to the Chiapas landscape?  Russet-crowned Motmots. We had plenty of opportunities to see these birds on many of our outings. 

Russet-crowned Motmot

How about a crazy bird?  This was another bird that was only seen at the zoo.  The Great Curassow is listed as vulnerable due to habitat loss and overhunting.  Here at the zoo, it casually walked the grounds without the fear of either.  Look closely at the pic below to see a young bird walking with the mother. 

Female Great Curassow with chick

It was comical watching people eat at the picnic tables with these large birds walking around them. 

Male Great Curassow versus human butt

I noticed that two of the birds at this zoo had bands on them.^  

Finally today folks, I want to share MY bird of the day along with the endemic black Agouti from the photo below.  I was SO excited to finally see the skittish White-tipped Dove out in the open.  These birds are often heard but rarely seen. It was a bird I already had on my life list but one without photo documentation. It appears that several zoo scraps were enticing enough to lure a couple of these secretive birds from the dark forest. 

White-tipped Dove and Agouti

I could have smacked the birder who said that he wasn't really interested in "doves". "They're drab and boring." I mean...I get where he's coming from here, but still, this is no ordinary dove! It's not often you see these birds so I observed for as long as I could.  Pretty epic moment!  I'm not sure I need to go to Texas anymore after this visit;)

My journeys will continue over the next several weeks.  I'll be sharing thoughts on the pros and cons of guided tours, listers, photography, and of course focusing on some of the most amazing places we stopped to bird. I'll also be featuring beautiful butterflies in several of my posts from Chiapas. So let's get this party started. Until next time friends.......