The genus Camylorhynchus contains 13 species of rather interesting wrens. They all seem to have an abundance of character, being rather large and boldly patterned, with unusual vocalizations and exhibiting a fair amount of curiosity. The Giant Wren is, you guessed it, the largest of the bunch. It also happens to be quite range restricted, occurring only along the coastal strip of Chiapas State in southern Mexico as well as a very small area in adjacent Guatemala. This was a bird we had to see!
November 22, 2021 (continued)
We left the isthmus and its gale-force winds behind, making good time on the straight roads. Mexico has a series of toll highways crisscrossing the country and while they are not cheap, they are well-built and well-maintained. We have saved countless hours of travel time by using these highways during our trip. The benefit of them on this day was that our early arrival in Tonalá permitted a brief mid-afternoon nap before we headed out to look for birds.
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| Great Egret - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
Laura and I cruised south towards the coast, keeping an eye out for decent looking birding roads. One road in particular seemed to fit the bill, heading west from 15.977991,-93.775216. An earlier perusal of eBird had also shown a smattering of Giant Wren sightings along this road, and so we turned down it and parked.
The heat of the day had slowly subsided and the birds came out of the woodwork. In just a few minutes we tallied around 30 species including a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron in a ditch, a Rose-throated Becard along a fence line (weird spot for one), and a female Painted Bunting in some shrubbery.
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| Painted Bunting - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
Our search for the Giant Wren was short lived since we quickly picked up on their unique vocalizations. A trio skulked around some roadside vegetation, playing hide and seek. Eventually, they popped up into the open canopy of a large tree.
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| Giant Wren - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
The wrens were all that I had hoped for and more, such a cool bird!
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| Giant Wren - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
Around this time, Laura glanced up the road, yelled "turtle!" and took off running. Luckily, she caught up with the surprisingly fleet-footed testudine before it could disappear into the ditch. She certainly drew the attention of several people driving past on their motorcycles. Not a lot of foreigners visit this area, and fewer still are seen running alongside a road after a turtle!
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| Laura with a Red-cheeked Mud Turtle - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
It was a Red-cheeked Mud Turtle, a subspecies of the Scorpion Mud Turtle. This species occurs through much of the Neotropics in all kinds of waterbodies but it was a new one for both of us. The colours were just outstanding.
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| Red-cheeked Mud Turtle - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
It was a little shy at first but soon took off, heading towards its preferred ditch.
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| Red-cheeked Mud Turtle - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| Red-cheeked Mud Turtle - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
A flock of Orange-fronted Parakeets went blazing by, lit up by the low angle of the sun.
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| Orange-fronted Parakeets - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
We continued south and then east to check out the road past Cabeza de Toro. We drove for quite a while hoping to come across decent habitat, but it was just towns, pedestrians and vehicles for miles. Even the areas of countryside were rather slow for birds and we cut our losses before reaching the town of Doctor Belisario Dominguez.
November 23, 2021
Since our main target was already in the bag, we took it easy on November 23. I had done some eBird research the night before and had settled on a good looking gravel track to explore. As it turned out, we never reached this place since a large flock of wading birds just off of the main road grabbed our attention. We turned down a dirt track leading to the waterbody and ended up birding this area for several hours, it was so good!
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| Waterbirds - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
Wood Storks, Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets made up the majority of the flock, though nearly every expected wading bird was present.
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| Snowy Egret, Wood Stork and Great Egret - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| Wading birds - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
Shorebirds were represented by numerous Least Sandpipers, a handful of both yellowlegs, a single Willet, and some Spotted Sandpipers and Killdeers. Not a lot of diversity but we enjoyed sifting through shorebirds for a change. Ducks included a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, quite a lot of Blue-winged Teals and a Northern Shoveler. This lagoon's potential seemed high and I am sure that it acts as a rarity magnet of sorts.
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| White Ibis (bottom centre) - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
We quickly realized that the dirt road opened up to a former airstrip running parallel to the wetland.
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| Former airstrip - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
We heard a Lesser Ground-Cuckoo from the thick vegetation. A trio of Pacific Parakeets blasted by overhead, while raptor-types included Snail Kite and Laughing Falcon. Even a couple of Limpkins flew past.
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| Limpkin - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
Something flushed a portion of the birds, providing an opportunity for flight shots.
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| Roseate Spoonbill - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| Roseate Spoonbill - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| White Ibis - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| American White Pelican - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
We even found another Red-cheeked Mud Turtle! This one was quickly crossing the runway.
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| Red-cheeked Mud Turtle - Puerto Arista area, Chiapas, Mexico |
We left the area behind and continued to the northeast, deeper into the state of Chiapas. To break up the drive , we visited a canyon complete with a stunning set of waterfalls known as El Aguacero. Full credit to Laura for researching this spot since it was not on my radar at all.
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| Cañón Río La Venta, Chiapas, Mexico |
The entrance road was a little rough and we were thankful for our high clearance SUV, though it can be done with a small car if one drives very carefully. The entrance fee was reasonable (50 pesos per person) and we were some of the only people there. To reach the bottom of the canyon, one has to walk down ~700 stairs that descend around 150 m in elevation. We even noted a few birds during the walk: Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Yellow-throated and Blue-headed Vireos, Orange-fronted Parakeets, three species of orioles, etc.
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| Yellow-throated Vireo - Cañón Río La Venta, Chiapas, Mexico |
We reached the bottom of the canyon and removed our boots before wading upriver towards the falls. The course sand felt great, exfoliating our feet. And the falls were pretty impressive.
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| El Aguacero - Cañón Río La Venta, Chiapas, Mexico |
We climbed up and under them, peering into dark caves and enjoying the view through the coursing torrents of water. I spent some time cooling off under some of the smaller cascades; it was glorious.
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| El Aguacero - Cañón Río La Venta, Chiapas, Mexico |
On these trips it is easy to get so caught up in searching for different bird species, that I lose sight of the forest for the trees, so to speak. This particular site is not on the birding radar and I would not have known about it if Laura hadn't brought it to my attention. Sometimes, it is good to take off the binoculars for a few minutes and enjoy the splendour of a beautiful natural area through different means.
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