Leap Year Day and we were heading north to the coast at Rio Lagartos for a couple of nights. The chance to add a few more species to the list!
Our drive took us east towards Valadollid and then due north to Rio Lagartos. In the last 30km or so the landscape changed with cattle ranches, meadows and marshy areas. And the birds started to appear too including a lovely
White-tailed Hawk, my first tick for a while. We arrived in the sleepy fishing village of Rio Lagartos and headed to the east end of the village and to the shore front Restaurant Chilquila. This relaxed place has 2 hummingbird feeders, although it took me some while to figure out they are actually under the cover of the main dining area and not outside! We sat overdosing on coffees while we waited but the hummingbirds never came! We decided to walk a boardwalk through the mangroves on the far side of the carpark and were rewarded with a couple of
Common Yellowthroats, Northern Waterthrush, a point blank
Morelet's Crocodile. Along the water front were loads of
Laughing Gulls, Neotropic Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, a small group of
American White Pelicans circled in the distance and a mixed flock of
Snowy Egrets and
Little Blue Herons passed by. Further along, on one of the fishing jettys
c5 American Black Skimmers were loafing with numerous
Royal Terns amongst the commoner suspects.
Mangrove Swallows were numerous.
Laughing Gulls
American White Pelicans
Yellow-throated Warbler
Royal Terns
American Black Skimmer
Belinda was keen to visit Los Colorados, along the coast to the east so we headed there next. Stopping on the way at the entrance to the San Salvador Ranch track for our traditional 'cheese single' sandwich a short stroll revealed
2 Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, Olive-throated Parakeets and
2 White-fronted Parrots and at the pool by the road there were
4 Stilt Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs and
Black-necked Stilts.
As we continued towards Los Colorados I scooped with roadside
2 Orange Orioles but several brief flight views of hummingbird sp were rather frustrating! I let Belinda do the tourist thing beside the pink lagoon with a guide (paid of course!) while I went on a short walk to photograph the American Flamingoes. In the ditch there I found singles of
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and
Lesser Yellowlegs and a
Peregrine hawked high over a communications tower.
American Flamingoes
Lesser Yellowlegs
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Then it was back to Restaurant Chilquila for an afternoon beer and another stare at those feeders. This time we were rewarded with a couple of brief visits from a female
Mexican Sheartail. With what was to come we really needn't have worried but it felt like a bit of the pressure was off! Checking in at the Hotel Punta Ponto we saw both male and female
Mexican Sheartails at their feeders within seconds and even a female sat on a nest buikt on a hanging basked bracket under their car port! A
Cinnamon Hummingbird was also visiting.
Mexican Sheartails
We decided to re-visit the first few hundreds yards of the San Salvador Ranch track at dusk approached so I could have one attempt at some night birds. In the end I got nothing except loads of insect bites but while wandering about I flushed a group of
4 Yucatan Bobwhites (tick!) and also scored with
c20 Blue-winged Teal, 5 White Ibis, Least Grebe and
Northern Jacana.
During that first day at Rio Lagartos we also saw
Common Black Hawk, Osprey, Norther Caracara, Wood Stork, Magnificent Frigatebirds, 2 Roseate Spoonbills, Green Heron, c5 Tricoloured Herons and
Merlin.
