Mexico, The Yucatan, Day 19 - Rio Lagartos area and journey to Valadollid, 2 March 2020

We waved goodbye to Rio Lagartos today - but not before I made one last early morning visit to Restaurant Chiquila. And boy was it worth it! I walked around a small mangrove-filled inlet next to the restaurant and a Rufous-naped Wood Rail hopped up on to a low wall and walked almost up to me - amazing! Shortly afterwards I realised there were 2 but the other wasn't quite so bold. Also there was a Northern Waterthrush, a White-winged Dove that posed for a pic. A walk down a track  yielded a calling Yucatan Wren, 2 fly-over Roseate Spoonbills, 2 American White Pelicans, 2 Common Black Hawks, Melodious Blackbird, Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat.

Rufous-naped Wood Rail

 White-winged Dove

We checked out of the Hotel Punta Ponto (with one last look at our Mexican Sheartails!) and headed south towards Valadollid. On the way out we scored with Northern Caracara and a little further on the only Red-tailed Hawk of the whole trip, a roadside Merlin plus a male Vermillion Flycatcher on a fence. We had intended on visiting one last mayan ruin north of Valadollid but arriving there we found the entry price was the same as Chichen Itza so turned around and left straight away. Instead we drove down a side road to the town of Espita which was a decidedly un-touristy town. Still, it killed a little time as this was a day of kicking our heels a bit. On the way out of toen we stopped for a picnic lunch by some dry woodland and scored with 4 Scrub Euphonia which was an excellent bonus. Other birds seen throughout the day on the journey were Blue-black Grassquit, Northern Parula, 2 Hooded Orioles, Clay-coloured Thrush, Yucatan Jay and Groove-billed Ani.

 Scrub Euphonia

Arriving at the Hacienda Kaan Ac for our final night we were delighted to find it was an amazing castle and we had the whole place to ourselves! We wanted to make the most of the place so dashed into Valadollid for a quick Burger King rather than spend too long out eating!