Mexico City, Jalisco, Nayarit & Colima

We decided to bird the Central Pacific Coast region of Mexico in January of 2007. We started in Mexico City where my in laws reside, visited friends in Guadalajara and then went to San Blas, Barra de Navidad, Manzanillo and Colima. Present on the trip were myself, my wife, our 3 and one-half year old daughter and our 1 and one-half year old daughter as well as my mother in law.

Lodging: In Mexico City we stayed with our in laws, while in Guadalajara we stayed with our friends. In San Blas we stayed two nights at the Garza Canela. Great hotel for our needs. Truly exceptional food, friendly staff, nice pool/lounging area and no car needed to bird some an exceptional birding area! In Barra de Navidad we stayed at Hotel Barra de Navidad. We got an ocean view room. Reasonable to good food in the hotel and again a nice pool/lounging area with the beach included!!! We had a room with a balcony and the ocean was a little louder than desired but no real problem. The waves tend to form just before shore and crash with a good bang. In Colima we stayed at the Hotel Candiles which was nice.We didn't sample the food.

Car Rental & Driving:

We rented from Alamo rent a car, getting a Volkswagon Jetta. We picked it up in downtown Mexico City and turned it in for no additional charge at the Mexico City Airport as this was a little more convenient. We had the car from January 11 to January 19 and paid $439.03. Our reservation led us to believe it would be $367.08, but we've learned that you should expect to have to pay more than what the reservation says.

Mexico City area

While in Mexico City at my in-laws some birding was done. My wife's family lives in Colonia Unidad Modelo, which is quite well within the city limits. They have a small garden.

On January 7 took a slow walk along a walking/jogging trail lined with trees just a block away from my in-laws. Here saw: mallard, pigeon, inca dove, white-eared hummingbird, berryline hummingbird, broad-billed hummingbird, bewick's wren, cedar waxwing, ruby-crowned kinglets, curve-billed thrasher, robin, rufous-backed robin, townsend's warbler, nashville warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, song sparrow, canyon towhee, great-tailed grackle, house finch, lesser gold finch, house sparrow. Also saw a sparrow which was singing in the distance and may have been a vesper sparrow. (1, 2 hr.)

On January 8 we went to a cemetary outside of Mexico City, south of Xochimilco. It is on a gently rising hill, surrounded by a good deal of farmland with scattered rows of trees It was actually fairly birdy and we saw: turkey vulture, say's phoebe, grey silky, robin, western bluebird, yellow-rumped warbler, pine siskin, house finch, lesser goldfinch. The siskins were present in large numbers, probably 150-200, in the scattered trees, moving together. (2, 1 hr.)

On January 9 my wife, the girls and I took the drive out to Almoloya del Rio from about Mexico City. We left southern Mexico City at 8:45 and got to the marshes at 11:15. The 1 hour driving time mentioned by Howell is not possible even if you were on the border of Mexico City closest to the marshes. Getting onto 55 in Toluca was difficult because of major road work going on. We wound up going through some of the city of Toluca to get to the highway. When we got to Almoloya del Rio (there are other cities named Almoloya etc. around so be careful), we had lunch and had to decide which way to continue. When you approach the little city, the road splits, one way to the right and one way straight. As the width is the same it wasn't clear, but the shop owners where we bought our tortas told us the laguna is to the right. The laguna actually has a name, but I don't recall it now. We birded from about 12:10 to 2:10 at the laguna. We met two men, one of whom claimed to be an authority figure in the area. They had an interesting story of how the laguna used to be much bigger, until a good deal of the water was drained away. Now they use some pumps to keep the level up. They were very interested in hearing about the black-polled yellowthroat and one claimed that he sees it right outside his home. Because of an accident in Mexico City on a main road, it took 3 hours and 10 minutes to get back home! We saw some small passerines walking around on matted grass near the first pond we encountered and I put off looking at them until the end of our visit at which point they were gone; either larks or pipits I believe. We also didn't look out for the mexican duck and aren't sure of the race of the red-winged black birds we saw. Some little shorebirds were seen and to far off to identify. The snipe was flushed when I mistakedly walked into some water right near the turn off from the paved road to the marshes. The bronzed cowbird was id'd at first by eye-color as they didn't stand out too clearly from the brown-headed cowbirds. The first stop was past a couple ponds and at the reedy/tall grassy area near a pump house and the first bird seen in the tall grass along the waters edge was the black-polled warbler. The most common ducks were the pintails, followed by the blue-winged teal. We saw 31 species: pied-billed grebe, snowy egret, cattle egret, great egret, great blue heron, white-faced ibis, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal, green-winged teal, northern shoveler, wigeon, northern pintail, ruddy duck, turkey vulture, northern harrier, sora, coot, moorhen, killdeer, common snipe, starling, black-polled yellowthroat, common yellowthroat, yellow-headed blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, bronzed cowbird, great-tailed grackle, red-winged blackbirds, vermillion flycatcher, black phoebe, cassin's kingbird, lesser goldfinch. (3, 2 hr.)

On January 10 went to Bosque del Tlalpan from about 10:30 to 12:30. I only visited the "left side" of the park; the part to your left when you stand looking at the park from the main enterance and which is dry and has some ruins in it. The bus I have taken before on Insurgentes Sur had been replaced by a MetroBus line and so I had to take first a combi, then the MetroBus and then another combi. This part of the park is usually less productive than the right hand side, but I felt like doing it. I saw: grey silky, bushtit, mexican chickadee, bewick's wren, ruby-crowned kinglet, broad-billed hummingbird, cedar waxwing, blue-grey gnatcatcher, robin, scrub jay, yellow-rumped warbler, townsend's warbler, wilson's warbler, rufous-capped warbler, nashville warbler, hermit warbler, black-headed grosbeak, western tanager, canyon towhee, house finch, house sparrow. There were loads of ruby-crowned kinglets and cedar waxwings. The hermit warbler was very cooperative, only the second time I've seen one so quite a pleasure. I also saw an oriole very quickly and what was almost surely a grey flycatcher. (4, 2 hr.)

Guadalajara

On January 11 we started to the pacific coast by going first to stay at our friends in Guadalajara. Picked up the rental car from Alamo at the Sheraton hotel on Reforma in downtown and we headed out to Guadalajara before lunch time. The trip is claimed to be doable in five hours, but again this is ridiculous. It took us about 8 hours, but I would believe it to be doable in 6 and a half; it was about 560 Km. The cuota was 500 pesos to use the fast highway. En route to Guadalajara we saw: cattle egret, great egret, american pelican, turkey vulture, kestrel, raven. There were over a half dozen kestrel and two ravens. The water birds were at a huge lake you pass by when in the state of Michoacan. There were 100s and most likely 1000s of the white pelicans in the lake. While in Guadalajara I walked around a bit doing errands, like going to the drug store. I saw: turkey vulture, rock dove, inca dove, kiskadee, cassin's kingbird, say's phoebe, cedar waxwing, yellow-rumped warbler, bullock's oriole, great tailed grackle, lesser goldfinch, house finch, house sparrow. (5)

San Blas

On January 13 we headed off to San Blas, with planned stops at Cerro de San Juan and El Mirador del Aguila. Tepic, where one turns off for the Cerro was about 260 Km. It is definitely easier to find the turn off for Cerro de San Juan coming from San Blas as compared to coming from Guadalajara. En route to the Cerro we saw: loggerhead shrike, northern mockingbird, meadowlark, turkey vulture, black vulture, red-tailed hawk and white-tailed hawk. We got to the Cerro at about 1pm and things seemed quite slow. While I saw a good deal of hummers, including the first "little one" I've ever seen, I wasn't able to id them except for one. We stopped at most of the sites listed in Howell and ran into a group, Borderland Tours, that had been on the hill since early morning. At Cerro we saw: kestrel, yellow-winged cacique, acorn woodpecker, wilson's warbler, black and white warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, macgillivray's warbler, white-eared hummingbird, thick-billed kingbird, dusky-capped flycatcher, tufted flycatcher, eastern bluebird and painted redstart, while a brown-backed solitaire thrush was clearly heard singing. Almost surely saw a greater peewee and some type of swallow was seen. We headed over to the Mirador del Aguila in order to arrive about 1 hour before the sun set and got wonderful looks at the military mccaw. The borderland tour group was there as well. This stretch of highway is dangerous: we saw two semis that had recently, apparently the same day, gone off the shoulder and flipped over and at the Mirador itself an armoured truck had gone over the side about a week before; you could see the door snagged on the cliff below. We followed the borderland tours folks to the hotel Garza Canela where we had a great dinner and checked into our rooms. (6)

On January 14 I birded, from 7am to 9:30, just 2 1/2 hours, the area near what Howell refers to as the sewage ponds. There is a time change from Guadalajara to San Blas of one hour so it was as if I were birding from 8 to 10:30. I first walked in the direction indicated in Howell and birded a athletic field area just outside of a stadium, with the bushes on the sides of the field proving birdy; particularly nice was the varied bunting. I then went down the road that goes along the stadium towards the ocean until you can go no further as there is a fence with some ponds, supposedly sewage, on the other side. I then walked back, just a little bit, to the first street and took a right and walked until there was a t-intersection, at which I took a right until I go go no further due to a fence. This last part runs alongside an area filled with trees on one side. I then slowly made my way back and turned left at the t-intersection to retrace my steps. I met a friendly birding couple from Canada who told me I could continue on this road, without going by the stadium, and would come to Los Cocos, a trailer camping area, and then the hotel was nearby. This was nice as there were some ponds on the way that provided some additional species. I was really amazed at how close I got to many of the birds. The trogon was on the trail with trees on one side and was, as far as I could tell, keeping me company! The motmot was about 10 yards away! I saw 48 species in the 2 1/2 hours: least grebe, neotropical cormorant, brown pelican, frigatebird, roseate spoonbill, great egret, cattle egret, white-faced ibis, blue-winged teal, kestrel, turkey vulture, inca dove, ruddy ground dove, rock dove, white-winged dove, black-necked stilt, long-billed dowitcher, killdeer, coot, rufous hummingbird, gila woodpecker, golden-cheeked woodpecker, russet-crowned motmot, citreoline trogon, tropical kingbird, social flycatcher, vermillion flycatcher, say's phoebe, great kiskadee, blue-grey gnatcatcher, ruby-crowned kinglet, rufous-backed thrush, wilson's warbler, black-throated gray warbler, yellow warbler, yellow-breasted chat, yellow-winged cacique, northern mockingbird, sinaloa crow, great-tailed grackle, smooth-billed ani, brown-headed cowbird, orchard oriole, streak-backed oriole, varied bunting, white-collared seedeater, stripe-headed sparrow, house sparrow. There was one roseate spoonbill in the sewage pond and about 1/2 dozen fly over towards the ocean. There were also some unid'd peeps at the sewage pond. (7)

We had a great late breakfast at the hotel and relaxed by the pool and then stopped at the beach to sip coconut juice from a freshly cut coconut. At the beach we saw: willet, ring-billed gulls, brown pelicans and frigatebirds. We then had a light lunch at McDonald's (this is not the fast food place but a private establishment in downtown San Blas one block of the center). Just after 3pm we arrived at the boat launch area for our afternoon/evening boat trip. We had asked at the hotel to reserve with Chencho as our guide but were told we reserve with the boat cooperative and they give us the best birding person available. We got Alfredo, who was very knowledgeable, had a great eye and was overall a nice guy; his boating skills were great. We paid our 600 pesos and birded first a little down the large river/estuary towards the ocean to a bird filled sandbar. We then headed back up the river a little and took a smaller side river. We took this latter river to la tovare and then on to the end, which is a spring, and I believe is called tovare springs. The trip was about 4 and a half hours and just simply great; the potoos are fantastic! We saw 39 species: brown pelican, great egret, snowy egret, tricolored heron, black-crowned night heron, yellow-crowned night heron, little blue heron, green heron, great blue heron, white ibis, boat-billed heron, bare-throated tiger heron, stork, limpkin, anhinga, neotropical cormorant, black vulture, common black hawk, osprey, northern potoo, pauraque, solitary sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs, black-necked stilt, willet, whimbrel, black skimmer, frigatebird, laughing gull, bonaparte's gull, ring-billed gull, mangrove swallow, belted kingfisher, green kingfisher, golden-cheeked woodpecker, black-throated magpie jay, thick-billed kingbird, american redstart, mangrove warbler, waterthrush. The bonaparte's gull were a certainty and it seems they were a little south of where Howell and Webb place their southern limit. We also saw a racoon on the way up the river; apparently these aren't so common in Mexico so guides usually make a good deal out of it. There were a couple of tern species at the sandbar we didn't id. Alfredo got to the springs at the end of the river just as it got real dark. He was shining a light in a tree and it seemed we were just looking at leaves. I thought he was looking for a potoo, but latter found out he was looking for a mottled owl. I still don't think it was there but can't help but wonder if I had known it was an owl he was looking for then I may have asked to stay parked there a little longer. He used the light to guide us back, which was by no means a short trip. It got quite cool, especially with the breeze generated by moving along in the boat. We saw over a half-dozen potoos on our way back as well as several crocodiles, including a quite large one, and the pauraque was seen hunting over the river. While we're sure about the two kingfisher species we saw, we may have seen more. (8)

On January 15 I had planned to bird one of the other areas around san blas listed in Howell but my wife and I decided we would bird the sewage ponds as I had had such a good time on the 14^th. We went during about the same hours, the only difference being that it was a little overcast. The painted bunting was spectacular and very approachable. There was a female and male citreoline trogon this time, the lineated woodpecker was obliging and the storks were flyovers. The black-throated magpie jays were seen at the very end of our walk and were in a group of four slowly working their away across the tops of some coconut trees not far from our standing position, providing excellent views of this beautiful bird. We saw 44 species: brown pelican, frigatebird, great egret, cattle egret, green heron, white-faced ibis, stork, northern jacana, blue-winged teal, coot, kestrel, white-tailed kite, rock dove, ruddy ground dove, white-winged dove, killdeer, solitary sandpiper, black-necked stilt, rufous hummingbird, social flycatcher, say's phoebe, vermillion flycatcher, tropical kingbird, blue-grey gnatcatcher, golden-cheeked woodpecker, gila woodpecker, lineated woodpecker, rufous-backed thrush, northern mockingbird, black-throated magpie jay, wilson's warbler, american redstart, yellow breasted chat, great-tailed grackle, groove-billed anni, brown-headed cowbird, orchard oriole, streak-backed oriole, yellow-winged cacique, varied bunting, painted bunting, white-collared seedeater, stripe-headed sparrow, house sparrow. The species of waterthrush and meadowlark are uncertain. (7)

On the way out of San Blas en route to Barra de Navidad we took a very quick, about 15-20 minutes, drive down the Shrimp Ponds road. It was obvious that this is a great place to spend time at but we were trying to get on the road and my wife was trying to placate the little ones. We saw: common black hawk, grey hawk, american avocet, roseate spoonbill, marbled godwit. (9)

The drive to Barra de Navidad was quite long. Just after passing through Puerto Vallarta, while driving through a canyon, two coati crossed the road in front of us. We pulled in about 8pm to the Hotel Barra de Navidad and went to bed with rooms that had balconies opening out to the bay. The crashing of waves was great, but sometimes a little loud.

Barra de Navidad

On January 16 we had a nice breakfast at the restaurant inside the hotel and spent some time walking around the streets of Barra de Navidad and then some more time on the beach, followed by some time at the pool. The ocean usually had about four brown boobies fishing, sometimes very close, and brown pelicans and frigatebirds were common, a willet and an active royal tern, who got quite close to me as I was swimming, rounded out the birds in front of the hotel. (10)

Manzanillo

We then headed towards colima, making a stop at the Manzanillo Airport. We arrived between 11:30 and noon and the sun was blazing so we spent little time birding the entrance road, though we did see a yellow-breasted chat and a nice grey hawk. I dropped everyone off at the terminal building and starting birding the trees around the lot. Facing the terminal building and standing outside, I started with the trees on the left and the san blas jays, species 150 for the trip, were there!!! I filmed them for a while and then went to the terminal to get my wife and she got a quick look at them. The taxi drivers were playing cards or some board game in the shade nearby and found us quite amusing. We also saw a waterthrush and the customary great-tailed grackles.

Colima

We continue driving towards colima and as we drove away from the coast, where there were a lot of coconuts for sale, we share an area with a large number of wading birds and there were dozens, possibly hundreds, of storks, and we saw two caracaras also. We didn't stop to bird. The drive to Colima was reasonable. We stayed in Colima at Hotel Candiles which was quite nice, but the restaurant seemed pricey so we went to the center of downtown Colima to eat. (11)

On January 17 we bought some regional treats and headed out to La Maria. We had a nice map from the hotel so had no real problem getting there. Unlike the description in Howell there is no dirt road, but the road is paved, albeit with some huge potholes as you get nearer, all the way. We got to La Maria about 11am and stayed for about 2 hours. They have a decent restaurant where we ate fish from the lagoon. Their cabins also seemed reasonable and they are adding more. As for the birds, quite quiet. We first looked around the playground, with the girls having a blast, including spinning on a nice 'spinning wheel'. We then went down to the lagoon proper. The white-throated robins were in the bushes near the playground and the two peckers were near the lagoon, towards the end of the road. We saw: kestrel, coot, ladder-backed woodpecker, grey-crowned woodpecker, tropical kingbird, vermillion flycatcher, 'western' flycatcher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, eastern bluebird, white-throated robin, black & white warbler, nashville warbler, wilson's warbler, yellow-rumped warbler.

We then took a reasonable drive to Guadalajara only that one point there was not gas for 91 Km. There was a sign and we just kept going and it was close! As we approached Guadalajara there were some giant lakes on the side of the road. There were some huge clouds of blackbirds and a lot of birds in general. One site had a sign listing it as a Ramsar site!, which is great. We only stopped for a second and saw: american avocet, black-necked stilt, coot, cara cara and white-tailed kite. (12)

Final List

The waterthrush were not determined to be northern or louisiana and the meadowlark was not determined to be either western or eastern. The mallard in Mexico City may have come from a farm, but there was a male and female together.

(1)	D.F.
(2)	Cemetary
(3)	Almoloya Del Rio
(4)	Bosque Del Tlalpan
(5)	Guadalajara
(6)	Guadalajara to San Blas
(7)	San Blas Trails
(8)	San Blas Boat Trip
(9)	San Blas Shrimp Ponds
(10)	Barra de Navidad
(11)	Barra de Navidad to Colima
(12)	La Maria and Drive to Guadalajara

155 species, 40 new birds for mexico, 12 lifers

least grebe	7
pied-billed grebe	3
brown booby	10
american pelican	5
brown pelican	7,8,10
neotropic cormorant	7,8
anhinga	8
frigatebird	7,8,10
bare-throated tiger heron	8
great blue heron	3,8
great egret	3,5,7,8
snowy egret	3,8
little blue heron	8
tricolored heron	8
cattle egret	3,5,7
green heron	7,8
black-crowned night heron	8
yellow-crowned night heron	8
boat-billed heron	8
white ibis	8
white-faced ibis	3,7
roseate spoonbill	7,9
stork	7,8,11
green-winged teal	3
mallard	1
northern pintail	3
blue-winged teal	3,7
cinammon teal	3
northern shoveler	3
wigeon	3
ruddy duck	3
black vulture	6,8
turkey vulture	2,3,5,6,7
osprey	8
white-tailed kite	7,12
northern harrier	3
common black hawk	8,9
grey hawk	9,11
white-tailed hawk (Buteo albicaudatus hypospodius)	6
red-tailed hawk	6
caracara	11,12
kestrel	5,6,7,12
sora	3
moorhen	3
coot	3,7,12
limpkin	8
killdeer	3,7
black-necked stilt	7,8,12
american avocet	9,12
northern jacana	7
lesser yellowlegs	8
solitary sandpiper	7,8
willet	8,10
whimbrel	8
marbled godwit	9
long-billed dowitcher	7
common snipe	3
laughing gull	8
bonaparte's gull	8
ring-billed gull	8
royal tern	10
black skimmer	8
inca dove	1,5,7
ruddy ground dove	7
rock dove	1,5,7
white-winged dove	7
military mccaw (Ara militaris)	6
groove-billed anni	7
pauraque	8
northern potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis)	8
broad-billed hummingbird	1,4
white-eared hummingbird	1,6
berryline hummingbird	1
rufous hummingbird	7
citreoline trogon	7
russet-crowned motmot	7
belted kingfisher	8
green kingfisher	8
acorn woodpecker	6
golden-cheeked woodpecker	7,8
gila woodpecker	7
ladder-backed woodpecker	12
grey-crowned woodpecker (Piculus auricularis)	12
lineated woodpecker	7
tufted flycatcher	6
black phoebe	3
say's phoebe	2,5,7
vermillion flycatcher	3,7,12
dusky-capped flycatcher (Myiarchus tuberculifer)	6
great kiskadee	5,7
social flycatcher	7
tropical kingbird	7,12
cassin's kingbird	3,5
thick-billed kingbird	6,8
mangrove swallow	8
black-throated magpie jay (Calocitta colliei)	7,8
san blas jay (Cyanocorax sanblasianus)	11
scrub jay	4
sinaloa crow (Corvus sinaloae)	7
northern raven	5
mexican chickadee	4
bushtit	4
bewick's wren	1,4
ruby-crowned kinglet	1,4,6,7
blue-gray gnatcatcher	4,7,12
eastern bluebird	6,12
brown-backed solitaire	6
white-throated robin	12
rufous-backed robin	1,7
robin	1,2,4
northern mockingbird	6,7
curve-billed thrasher	1
cedar waxwing	1,4,5
grey silky	2,4
loggerhead shrike	6
starling	3
nashville warbler	1,4,12
yellow warbler	7
mangrove warbler (Dendroica petechia - bryanti group)	8
yellow-rumped warbler	1,2,4,5,12
black-throated grey warbler	7
townsend's warbler	1,4
hermit warbler	4
black and white warbler	6,12
american redstart	7,8
waterthrush	8,11
macgillivray's warbler	6
common yellowthroat	3
black-polled yellowthroat (Geothlypis speciosa)	3
wilson's warbler	4,6,7,12
painted redstart	6
rufous-capped warbler	4
yellow-breasted chat	7,11
western tanager	4
black-headed grosbeak	4
varied bunting (Passerina versicolor)	7
painted bunting	7
canyon towhee	1,4
white-collared seedeater	7
stripe-headed sparrow	7
song sparrow	1
red-winged blackbird	3
yellow-headed blackbird	3
meadowlark e/w	6
great-tailed grackle	1,3,5,7,11
bronzed cowbird (Molothrus aeneus)	3
brown-headed cowbird	3,7
orchard oriole	7
streak-backed oriole	7
bullock's oriole	5
yellow-winged cacique	6,7
house finch	1,2,4,5
pine siskin	2
lesser goldfinch	1,2,3,5
house sparrow	1,4,5,7