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In my final put up, I launched the Mexican vacationer middle of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, and talked about some birds seen alongside a bicycle path that heads uphill from Ixtapa’s resort zone. I used to be very pleased with this route, however needed to take my remaining time trying to find a marsh or seashore with water-loving birds. The bicycle path supposedly results in a seashore named Playa Linda (Pretty Seashore), however the route turned out to be too lengthy for me to stroll to, round-trip, within the tropical warmth, so I returned to my parked automobile and tried to search out someplace marshy by driving. Finally, I ended up at a river’s mouth referred to as Playa la Barra (Sandbar Seashore).
By then, it was virtually midday, so the very best birding hours had been nicely previous. Nonetheless, the seashore was pretty, with only some Mexican vacationers current, and the few birds round appeared unbothered by my presence. I didn’t see something too particular, nevertheless it was nonetheless time.
Noticed Sandpipers are winter migrants down right here, so I not often see them with their namesake spots. However this one definitely had a lot.
Laughing Gulls and Neotropic Cormorants are fairly widespread in Mexico’s highlands. However I’ve to journey to the coast to see a Brown Pelican or Elegant Tern.
I see a whole lot of Least Sandpipers in any given winter. However they’re not often so trusting as this little fellow.
I additionally see a handful of Semipalmated Plovers every winter. Whimbrels? Not a lot.
On my means again to the resort, I seen that Wooden Storks had been nesting, proper beside a busy parking zone. That place may very well be value a second go to… if solely I had one other morning accessible.
The chance arose when my spouse suggesting we keep in Ixtapa yet another day, to spend time with our daughter, son-in-law and, particularly, grandchildren who had additionally gone right down to the marriage. Realizing me nicely, she tempted me with a number of extra hours of birding on the additional morning. I crumbled.
On my option to my goal spot, I needed to go get gasoline for the journey house. Simply wanting the fuel station, I seen a concrete drainage ditch with sufficient water, grime, and vegetation to draw a lot of Blue-winged Teals and shorebirds. At a long way, I noticed what I believed to be a White-fronted Ibis, a typical species uphill. However, after I acquired house, my grainy pictures revealed a Limpkin — my fourth, and ultimate, lifer for the journey. And that’s the reason I not often fowl with out my digital camera.
At any price, I had chosen to go to a spot listed on the map as a “cocodrilario“, a spot for crocodiles. Crocodiles want a marsh, proper? And I needed to fowl marsh in Ixtapa.
However after I arrived on the web site, it turned out to be precisely the place I had already seen the Wooden Stork nests, two days earlier than. And the Wooden Storks had been nonetheless placing on fairly a present, posing, carrying nesting supplies, and constructing their nests.
Not solely that, however a number of Roseate Spoonbills flew shut overhead. One allowed me my first, and long-desired, first rate picture of this beautiful species.
Must you ever want to go to this spot, however have a wholesome concern of being eaten by a crocodile, you must know that the positioning’s namesakes keep behind a sturdy fence. I believe they’re really a captive inhabitants, as I noticed no obvious entry to the broader habitat.
This was additionally not the huge marsh I had hoped for. However the seashore birds did placed on a present.
It appeared odd to think about a Snowy Egret as a “seashore fowl”. However there it was.
A single Willet appeared to have come only for an extended picture session. I photographed it, and one other Noticed Sandpiper, till I uninterested in doing so.
Face the digital camera.
Now, in profile.
It was nonetheless there on my means again to the automobile.
A Nice-tailed Grackle confirmed that it is aware of simply what to eat a the seashore.
Whereas one other confirmed precisely what it considered me. Not a lot, apprently.
And several other birds diving into the ocean proved that the Boobies I had been seeing had been, actually, Blue-footed.
Whereas not precisely a shorebird, the Yellow Warbler does appear to love shore. And I like Yellow Warblers.
In abstract, I can’t say I like to recommend solely coming to Mexico for its seashores, as many overseas vacationers do. However birders who do go to our seashore locations can definitely see many great birds right here. Simply ensure you go away your resort and discover a bit.
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