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My spouse and I are, in a technique, very uncommon Individuals. Whereas our compatriots appear solely to need to go to Mexico’s touristy seashore cities, we might moderately go anyplace else on this nation. Certainly, though I simply celebrated 40 years of dwelling in Mexico, we’ve got by no means been to Cabo San Lucas, and our solely expertise with Cancún was going although immigration in that metropolis’s airport.
However every week in the past, we drove downhill to the seashore metropolis of Ixtapa, 5 hours from Morelia, for a younger buddy’s marriage ceremony. Its twin city of Zihuatanejo (see-wa-ta-NAE-hoe) was a sleepy fishing village till the Seventies. (As such, it was immortalized within the remaining scene of the film “The Shawshank Redemption“.) Then the Mexican authorities developed Ixtapa from the bottom up as a vacationer vacation spot, concurrently they developed Cancún. The marriage befell in what apparently was the primary resort constructed within the new city.
If we have been extra enthusiastic beach-goers, I’d most likely have many extra tropical birds on my life listing by now. Because it was, I managed to squeeze about seven hours of birding out of our in any other case highly-social weekend. And even with solely seven complete hours, I managed to choose up 4 lifers.
I nonetheless can’t say that I’ve discovered Ixtapa’s finest spot for shore- and marsh-loving birds. However I’m fairly positive that I made a good selection with my first inland website: a “ciclovía” (paved bike path) on the west aspect of city. I’ll give attention to that website on this publish, and transfer on to the extra coastal spots within the subsequent. The bike path (listed as Ruta de Bicicleta a Playa Linda on eBird’s hotspot map) begins by a really synthetic water-storage pond, besides, I managed to see a number of hoped-for species there. A single Ringed Kingfisher, which appears to be like very very like the U.S.’s migratory Belted Kingfisher, however is about 40% bigger, neglected the water. Strictly coastal White Ibises flew overhead. Yellow-billed Caciques have been nesting. And a pair of White-throated Magpie-Jays made a much-anticipated look.
A really early-morning picture of the Ringed Kingfisher
Three White Ibises
Nest constructing, for Yellow-winged Caciques, apparently includes loads of squawking.
I do know this Cacique was a male, as a result of it was sporting a male’s courtship show head feathers.
The Magpie-Jays have been severely backlit, however that did give the pictures a bit of additional drama.
The uphill journey up on the bike path was fairly nice till about 10 am, when the coastal area’s warmth kicked in. But it surely was nicely price it; I noticed three lifers there, birds that I didn’t even know to hope for, beforehand.
Two Olive Sparrows, endemic to Mexico’s coasts, foraged within the shady brush.
A superb variety of White-bellied Wrens sang from the bushes, and one lastly allowed me a good view and {photograph}.
The Turquoise-crowned Hummingbirds have been a little bit of an armchair lifer for me. It was once thought-about a single species with the Broad-billed Hummingbirds that go to my backyard in Morelia day by day. However now it’s thought-about to be a separate species.
Though these three species have been my solely lifers for the day, I did see a lot of different thrilling birds. All in all, my journey up the ciclovía and again supplied 49 species in slightly below 4 hours. Listed below are a few of the higher species and pictures:
Tropical Kingbirds flutter as they trill. This one additionally gave me a uncommon view of its orange crown.
I solely just lately noticed my first rich-brown feminine Blue Bunting, and it wasn’t till this outing that I obtained to see the electrical blue colours of the male. I had anticipated one thing extra like an Indigo Bunting, however the two birds actually don’t look alike in any respect.
Additional inland, the West Mexican Chachalaca is usually heard, however not often seen.
Right here, nevertheless, you couldn’t miss them when you tried. These turkey-sized birds have been everwhere!
My finest and most quite a few sightings of the majestic Wooden Stork would come on the shore. However I began to see them in flight on the drive all the way down to the coast. A number of additionally flew over the bike path, as did a couple of surprising Magnificent Frigatebirds who had chosen to fly over land for a bit.
That’s a Stork on the left, and a Frigatebird on the correct.
Cinnamon Hummingbirds have been fairly widespread, which was a uncommon deal with for me. Such good-looking hummers!
I’ll be again subsequent week with a few of the birds I noticed nearer the shoreline.
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