Mexico, The Yucatan, Day 3 - Cozumel Island and Macario Gomez, 15 February 2020

Today was the day we moved from Cozumel back to the mainland.

Early morning saw me back at the abandoned housing grid for a quick look before we were on the move. Things were pretty quiet but the early morning seemed the best time to actually get some views of Caribbean Doves after hearing them for the last couple of days. Walking some slightly different areas I eventually found some birds and amongst Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white-Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler I found my only Worm-eating Warbler of the whole trip. Several Black Catbirds, 2 Yucatan Woodpeckers and one each of Cozumel Emerald and Green-breasted Mango were also seen.

 Green-breasted Mango



Dropping the crappy hire car off early we managed to catch a ferry back to the mainland an hour earlier than planned. We then picked up our new hire car, and what a difference! An almost new Nissan X-trail SUV that was to see us very nicely around the rest of the trip.

Apart from travelling south, being scammed at a petrol station (a bastard forecourt monkey claiming a note I'd given him was a 50 when it was a 500!) and a brief stop at the very busy and touristy hell of Yal-Ku lagoon the middle of the day was pretty boring.

So, arriving in the village of Macario Gomez between Tulum and Coba we checked into the lovely Casa Mango early. Immediately our moods started to lift as we were greeted by the very friendly and helpful Italian owner. Around the place and on a short walk down the lane into the village I found some nice birds too - Plain Chachalaca, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper and Olive-throated Parakeets were all new birds as was a very welcome White-bellied Emerald. 3 Melodious Blackbirds, a male Hooded Warbler, Magnolia Warbler and Summer Tanager we also noted. Then, as dusk approached our host said he could hear toicans and a sure enough, a dash out of the gate into the lane and 2 Keel-billed Toucans moved quickly through on their way to roost!

We finished the day with a lovely Italian meal and a welcome bottle of wine at the casa.

Plain Chachalaca

      White-bellied Emerald


 

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