Final Days In Veracruz

Laura and I had been moving around southern Mexico rather quickly, staying at each location for only one night, or rarely, two nights in a row. This is an acceptable pace when one is on a relatively short trip, but we are traveling for several months at a time. Therefore, the three nights in a row we booked in Xalapa seemed downright luxurious. The apartment we booked through AirBnB was perfectly equipped with everything we needed for a comfortable stay (including a washer and dryer!). 

The Bearded Wood-Partridge is a little-known species that only occurs in a small section of a mountain range - the Sierra Madre Oriental - in east-central Mexico. Less than 5400 individuals exist in the wild due to habitat fragmentation. There are some local guides who know of some excellent areas to search for the Bearded Wood-Partridge but I did not get around to contacting them to coordinate a search. Instead, we chose to visit a mountain road called Camino Cruz Blanca where the partridges are often heard, though seeing one here is very difficult. 

December 2, 2021

The temperatures were frigid upon our arrival just after dawn, but the lack of wind and bright sunshine soon warmed us up. We kicked off the morning with several skulking Hooded Yellowthroats in some roadside scrub habitat. A little while later we pished up a different yellowthroat, though this one was a wintering Common Yellowthroat. 

Common Yellowthroat - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Common Yellowthroat - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Compared to a Hooded Yellowthroat, a male Common Yellowthroat has a more contrasty whitish-gray border to the black mask, while overall it is a darker, duskier bird. The vocalizations are quite different and the Hooded Yellowthroat generally avoids wetland habitats. 

Common Yellowthroat - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Luckily, we did not have to wait long to encounter our first Bearded Wood-Partridges. A pair was duetting somewhere down the mountain; we heard them from 19.662945, -97.167960. The terrain here is steep and though we hoped for a miracle, we were unable to see any throughout the day. The two that we heard were all that we would get. 

Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

As the sun rose higher in the sky the raptors and swifts took to the air. We watched our first Sharp-shinned Hawk in Mexico in hot pursuit of something and a Red-tailed Hawk soar directly overhead. 

Red-tailed Hawk - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Swifts rode the thermals at eye-level along the mountainside, though capturing photos of these speeding bullets was no easy feat!

Vaux's Swift - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

White-throated Swift - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

The default spiny lizard of these high elevations is the Graphic Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus grammicus). 

Graphic Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus grammicus) - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Graphic Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus grammicus) - Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Laura and I sorted through a mixed flock or two, enjoying species like Red and Golden-browed Warblers, Rufous-capped Brushfinch, Gray-barred Wren, Hairy Woodpecker and Bushtit. We finished our morning by exploring a side trail leading to a beautiful montane creek. We hoped for a last minute lucky find of a Bearded Wood-Partridge but of course, that was not to be. 

Camino Cruz Blanca, Las Minas, Veracruz, Mexico

Laura and I left the mountains cloaked in pine and oak and returned to the city of Xalapa. The clear blue sky of the mountains was replaced by steely gray in the city. A threat of rain permeated the air as we made our way over to a large city park called Cerro de Macuiltépetl. 

This park is the site of a relatively recent introduction of Bearded Wood-Partridges. While they are still difficult here, they are much more tame and some phenomenal photos have been taken of these birds. Now that we had heard some "good" partridges in the mountains, we were hoping to at least see some here. But that was just not in the cards, even though the park was largely devoid of people due to the gloomy weather. 

We connected with our first Blue-capped Motmots. Two pairs were working different fruiting trees, sallying up to snag the delicious fruits. The light was absolutely terrible at both sites so all I could manage were some record shots. The Blue-capped Motmot is one of the species "created" by the split of the Blue-crowned Motmot. The other new species from this split were Lesson's, Whooping, Amazonian, Trinidad, and Andean Motmot. Now that Laura and I have observed the Blue-capped Motmot, we are one step closer to seeing all of the world's motmots. The only remaining species are the Rufous-capped Motmot of southeastern South America, and the Amazonian Motmot which we have heard but not seen. 

Blue-capped Motmot - Parque Ecológico Cerro de Macuiltépetl, Veracruz, Mexico

Laura picked up a second lifer at Cerro de Macuiltépetl, the Wedge-tailed Sabrewing. At least three were singing incessantly from prominent perches until dusk. 

Wedge-tailed Sabrewing - Parque Ecológico Cerro de Macuiltépetl, Veracruz, Mexico

December 3, 2021

We headed west from Xalapa once again, passing the turnoff for yesterday's destination (Las Minas). The landscape became noticeably more dry as the kilometres ticked by. Cactus scrub dominated any areas that hadn't been scourged for the establishment of agricultural fields.  We arrived at Camino Los Humeros nearly an hour after sunrise, but the air was quite cold at this high elevation. We parked to stretch our legs and explore some roadside scrub, thermoregulating in the warm rays of the sun that cut through the cold air.

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

When checking eBird, this road came up as a potential destination for several new species for our trip. I had previously seen Black-chinned Sparrow and Rufous-crowned Sparrow in the American southwest, though they would both be new for Laura. Lucifer Hummingbird and Scott's Oriole are also found here; they would be new for both of us. As a bonus, this interesting landscape seemed like a pretty neat place to explore for a morning.  

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

We cruised some roads through the agriculture before the morning warmed up, hoping to come across Burrowing Owls which are occasionally reported here. No luck with the owls, though numerous Say's Phoebes were teed up on fence posts and cacti, a new species for Laura. Loggerhead Shrikes were prominent in this landscape, mandating that the sparrows be alert at all times, lest they end up impaled by the shrike on a cactus spine.

Loggerhead Shrike - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

We quickly came across our first Rufous-crowned Sparrows for the day along with Lincoln's Sparrow, Curve-billed Thrasher, Mexican Horned Lark and Merlin.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Wishing to get off of the busy road, Laura and I found a dirt track that cut through the scrub and headed towards a small ravine. We parked and walked in, enjoying the landscape and nice diversity of cacti. 

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Not a nice plant: a Thistle Cholla (Cylindropuntia tunicata). Several spines from a cholla ended up through my boot which is never a fun experience. 

Thistle Cholla (Cylindropuntia tunicata) - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Agave salmiana ferox - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Birding was slow until we stumbled across a small mixed flock. Chipping and Rufous-crowned Sparrows dominated along with smaller numbers of Bewick's Wren, Canyon Towhee, and Black-chinned Sparrow. 

Chipping Sparrow - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Best of all was a female Scott's Oriole that teed up on a yucca. 

Scott's Oriole - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Scott's Oriole - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

With most of our targets acquired, our morning was freed up to explore without any particular species at the forefront of our minds. I still held out a glimmer of hope that we would get lucky with an Ocellated Thrasher (a species I had previously heard at Monte Albán just outside of Oaxaca). This was wishful thinking, of course. The only other possibility was Lucifer Hummingbird, but we could find zero flowering plants and, unsurprisingly, not a single hummingbird was noted. 

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

We tried another area a little further along and walked in the scrub for another hour. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds looked vibrant in the morning sun. Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers were common, while more Loggerhead Shrikes and Curve-billed Thrashers perched on yuccas and cacti. We found our first male Scott's Oriole and a Phainopepla flew past. 

Canyon Towhee - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Even at these relatively high elevations, reptiles abound. We could not find any snakes - a shame, since several rattlesnakes are found here - but lizards were quite common in the scrub. 

Sceloporus sp. - Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

We drove a little further along the road, climbing a few hundred meters in elevation as the landscape transitioned to pines and fewer cacti. We only added Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay up there, but the view of the valley was worth it. 

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Camino Los Humeros, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico

Before retreating to Xalapa, Laura and I had one more stop to make. I always joke that I have terrible luck with rare alpine jays, but that narrative has been unraveling quickly on this Mexico trip. Previously, I succeeded in a quest for the range-restricted Dwarf Jay east of Oaxaca, while Laura and I also found the rare White-throated Jay at our first stop in the Sierra Madre del Sur. 

We had missed the Transvolcanic Jay earlier in the trip but the pine forests west of Xalapa hold small numbers of them. Once again thanks to eBird, I queued up a location for a brief lunchtime stop. And again, luck was on our side. Immediately after exiting the vehicle we heard distant raspy calls. Transvolcanic Jays! Two individuals flew past, heading towards a pine stand. Laura and I took off on foot. 

Transvolcanic Jay search - Perote area, Veracruz, Mexico

Transvolcanic Jay search - Perote area, Veracruz, Mexico

For the next half hour we followed the sounds of the jays, catching glimpses here and there. But they were being surprisingly elusive. Finally, we both managed good looks through our binoculars, though the only photo I managed is quite poor. Still, we were thrilled to have finally caught up with our ninth species of jay on this trip. 

December 4, 2021

Our final day with the rental car in Veracruz. Laura and I had the full day allotted to birding since we did not need to return the vehicle until late in the afternoon. We began the morning by visiting the grasslands around Laguna de Miradores, an excellent location for sparrows, Northern Bobwhite, Black-crested Titmouse and more. 

Fields near Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

Both Tropical and Couch's Kingbirds are found in this part of Mexico during the winter. These species look virtually identical (though Couch's has a greener back and smaller bill, among a few other things). The best way to tell them apart is vocally. 

Couch's Kingbird - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

Most of the yellow-bellied kingbirds found this morning were Couch's. The morning's sun lit up this particular individual beautifully as it sang away.  

Couch's Kingbird - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

The morning warmed quickly since we were down below 1000 m in elevation and we had had a later start to the morning. We maximized the grassland birding during the first few hours and quickly tallied Grasshopper Sparrow, Grass Wren, Bronzed Cowbird and Eastern Phoebe; new trip birds.

Grasshopper Sparrow - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

Grass Wren - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

My main target fell just before we turned around to head back to the vehicle: Botteri's Sparrow. 

Botteri's Sparrow - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

This species isn't particularly rare or range-restricted, but it prefers specific grassland habitats and I had never found one before. I like studying sparrows; even the drab ones are more than just "streaky brown things" when you obtain a good look. 

Botteri's Sparrow - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

The Black-crested Titmice obliged as well; two of them sang away and provided good looks. Whenever they were close enough for photos, they decided to perch completely backlit! These distant record shots were all that I could manage. 

Black-crested Titmouse - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

Butterfly activity was increasing, signalling the imminent arrival of the late morning blast of heat. 

Pereute charops - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

Sickle-winged Skipper (Eantis tamenund) - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

Rayed Sister (Adelpha melanthe) - Laguna de Miradores, Veracruz, Mexico

We drove along a bumpy dirt road to the town of Chavarrillo for a late-morning birding stop. Blue-capped Motmots are often reported here, while there are a few records of the Crimson-collared Grosbeak as well (a potential new species for us). Unfortunately, we did not connect with either of those targets. But we enjoyed a nice walk through some forest along the edge of a railway line, seeing species like Audubon's Oriole, Gartered Trogon, Yellow-winged Tanager, Band-backed Wren and Azure-crowned Hummingbird. 

Gartered Trogon - Chavarrillo, Veracruz, Mexico

Azure-crowned Hummingbird - Chavarrillo, Veracruz, Mexico

We left the area behind and drove back to Veracruz to return the car. Just like that, 19 days with the rental had come and gone, but there were more adventures ahead. In the morning, we had an internal flight booked to Cancun. The Yucatan Peninsula would be our next destination.