Time To Pull Out All The Stops – Mexico

For as much birding as Ross and I have done, we’ve gone on very few pelagics together, all of which have been self-coordinated with locals who have rarely, if ever, gone out to sea on a quest solely for birds. Prior to coming to Mexico, Ross coordinated with two biology students, Francesco and Pricilla, to take us out on a pelagic in search of Mexico’s rarest seabird, Townsend’s Shearwater. Ross coordinated for Francesco to bring frozen fish guts in an attempt to lure in birds for a feast, and we brought with us fish oil, although I’m not sure I can recommend travelling with fish oil as it definitely is prone to making a huge mess. We all knew that seeing the critically endangered Townsend’s Shearwater was a shot in the dark, as there are only about 1,000 birds left in the world. Sadly the birds have been extirpated from all of the other neighboring islands by feral cats who find them easy targets. The last remaining breeding ground is the island of Socorro, 600km off of Mexico’s Western coast, and south of the baja California peninsula. Needless to say, we didn’t see one.

A lovely Galapagos Shearwater and Pomarine Jeager came in almost immediately after dropping a few drops of fish oil into the water to give us false hope. Plenty of boobies were spotted as well, with a Red-footed perching on our overhead canopy, and several Brown flying nearby. Wedge-tailed Shearwater was easily the most numerous bird of the day and showed nicely, as they would fly down the oil slick right next to our small boat in search of fish. But other than that, the pelagic was a bust, except for the fact that being on the open ocean is always exhilarating. Soon the seas became rough, the ride extremely bumpy, and few birds hung around for long. Thankfully Francesco is an expert captain and kept our boat upright despite a few challenging scenarios! We ended our “morning” with a mother and calf Humpback Whale acrobatic performance. A great end our nearly 7 hour boat ride!

We ended our evening with tacos for dinner and stunning views of several dry forest targets which we had missed the day prior. The highlight of the evening was easily the dozens of the absolutely marvelous Orange-breasted Buntings feeding almost right in front of us, with several males showing off their bright blue and green heads and yellow bodies. Red-breasted Chat, another stunning bird, was a much harder and bigger target, and in the end put on a show! It was our second night at this location, where on the first we walked a trail that was absolutely dead, save for a perched Collared Forest-falcon, a few Citroline Trogans, and one conspicuous Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, and then tonight, where we walked along the road, it was chalk full of birds. See full checklist here.

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Down along the coast it is hot. By 8 o’clock in the morning it starts to become uncomfortable. By 8:30, sunscreen, a hat, and sun glasses become a necessity. By 9 it’s downright a scorcher, with temperatures above 85°F (29°C) and lasting until evening. The birds don’t seem to mind though. They are used to this dry, lowland heat. Mornings are still best, when birds are most active, but surprisingly even mid afternoon can be productive, so long as you don’t mind risking a heat stroke and can manage to find a decent waterhole.
The following day after our pelagic, we walked a dirt road of scrubby habitat with a few targets in mind. Lesser Ground Cuckoo was a highlight for sure as it was mine and Ross’s very first ground cuckoo, albeit the easiest of these skulky, nearly impossible ground birds, although technically being a different genus altogether. Matt saw a few Lessers on his recent trip to Costa Rica (aka just the week prior) and Jason has had this bird in multiple countries from years past, but the bright blue eyes, as if painted with a layer of iridescent mascara, never get old. We spent the rest of the morning tracking down the absolutely stunning Rose-bellied Bunting and eventually found ourselves staking out a small watering hole where Banded Wren, Inca Dove, and Northern Waterthrush were also coming in to drink.

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Nearby an absolutely marvelous natural wonder stood, a crystal clear spring of water adjacent to a small cave. The clear, blue water provided a beautiful and welcome contrast to the subtle browns and greens of the dry scrub forest that surrounded it. This landscape was not exactly a well-kept secret, however, as it was frequented by people, evidenced by the abundance of trash items around the perimeter of the natural spring. Sadly man had found this watering hole and polluted it with trash. It was hard to appreciate the natural beauty when layers of casually discarded plastic bottles and styrofoam containers sat adjacent to it. The popularity of this spot is what likely prompted the construction of a modest stone restroom building, which Matt and I made the mistake of entering under the impression that it offered bathrooms that were still functional. To our horror, we turned the corner into the bathroom to observe what Matt aptly described as a “Jackson Pollock-esque art exhibit” where the artists were ill-intentioned ne’er-do-wells, the canvas a collection of porcelain toilets, stall dividers and ceilings, and the medium was not brown paint but a much smellier, bacterial one, which had been strewn about the entirety of the facility. How someone can completely miss a toilet and smear brown up and down the walls is beyond me. I should know better than to walk into a bathroom such as this. Best to just pee next to a tree.

We saw two brightly colored buntings in just a short amount of time. The male Rose-bellied Bunting nearly imitates a sunset, as the pink blends to purple and the purple blends into the blue. The equally resplendent Orange-breasted Bunting sports vibrant blues and greens culminating in a yellow wash. It’s nearly impossible to decide which is better, Orange-breasted or Rose-bellied Bunting, yet we found ourselves asking anyway — Orange-breasted or Rose-bellied?

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