December 10 (continued)
One of the more famous birding locations in the Yucatan Peninsula is a pot-holed dirt road that begins outside of the city of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and travels eastwards into Reserva de la Biósfera Sian Ka'an. Publicized by Steve Howell in his "A Bird-Finding Guide To Mexico", Camino Vigia Chico has the advantage of providing habitat for many of the Yucatan Peninsula's endemic species, is infrequently traveled, and is a relatively short distance from Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and other locations along the touristy Riviera Maya. Birders visiting one of these resorts will usually pick Camino Vigia Chico if they have a free day to go birding.
While there are many other excellent birding sites in the Yucatan that share a lot of the same species, in our experience, Camino Vigia Chico is a worthwhile site to visit. Laura and I overnighted in Felipe Carrillo Puerto and spent a magical evening and morning birding the road, finding almost every single one of our target birds.
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| Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
We arrived with just over an hour remaining until sunset, parked a few kilometres from town, and began walking. The only potential new species for me here were the Yucatan Nightjar and Northern Potoo, while Laura had a half dozen other possibilities.
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| Yucatan Jay - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
We quickly found a few of Laura's targets - Green-naped Sparrow and Stub-tailed Spadebill. A noisy flock of Yucatan Jays alighted in the trees above the road, giving us our best views yet of this beautiful species.
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| Yucatan Jay - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
As night fell, a different set of birds added their voices to the soundscape: whistles from Thicket Tinamous, quiet hoots from White-tipped Doves, the distinctive cries of Laughing Falcons and a Collared Forest-Falcon. Even a Crested Guan called from somewhere off in the distance. Once night fell we listened for Yucatan Nightjars and played tapes occasionally. We were not successful, once again. We heard at least seven Yucatan Poorwills, though we failed at finding one of them perched.
We tried one last overgrown pasture surrounded by forest, hoping for a Yucatan Nightjar, a species which prefers forest edge habitat. Again we failed but this time we heard a distant Northern Potoo, and then a second one! We walked closer until they were high in the treetops on either side of us and I captured a few audio recordings. Given the dense foliage it was impossible to obtain a visual, but it was an incredible experience.
December 11, 2021
Laura and I returned to Camino Vigia Chico for another kick at the can. I made sure that we were on site pre-dawn for one last Yucatan Nightjar search but that was in vain, once again. As dawn broke we parked the car and walked up the quiet road.
This was a morning to remember. The weather conditions were perfect, the road was devoid of other humans, and the birding was phenomenal. Early on, we found two lifers for Laura - Black-headed Trogon and White-bellied Wren.
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| White-bellied Wren - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
We hoped for an antswarm since they often produce interesting species including Northern Barred, Tawny-winged and Ruddy Woodcreepers. Early on we found a Northern Barred-Woodcreeper in a mixed flock, away from any ant swarm.
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| Northern Barred-Woodcreeper - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Hooded Warblers were one of the most common birds in these forests, here on their wintering grounds.
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| Hooded Warbler - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Several mixed flocks contained desirable birds like Gray-collared Becard, Yellow-billed Cacique, the white-browed subspecies of Carolina Wren, Mangrove Vireo, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing and White-bellied Emerald. We did quite well for Yucatan endemics as well, turning up Rose-throated Tanager, Gray-throated Chat, numerous Black Catbirds and an Orange Oriole.
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| Gray-collared Becard - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Black-headed Trogon - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
An interesting call from the undergrowth drew my attention; seconds later I was staring at a pair of Mayan Antthrushes walking quietly on the dry leaves! This is a bird that I had only seen once before, an individual at Tikal in northern Guatemala. Antthrushes can be quite shy so to observe one walking out in the open, only a few metres away, was memorable. This was another new species for Laura as well!
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| Mayan Antthrush - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
We took a mid-morning break at one of the open cenotes found alongside this road. A tranquil setting with no other people around.
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| Cenote along Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Blue-spotted Comet Darner (Anax concolor) - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Argia sp. - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Laura and I tried the pygmy-owl trick after hearing the beginnings of a mixed flock. Numerous species popped up after hearing the sound of the pygmy-owl, but the "best" bird was a real Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl that came in to check out the perceived intruder.
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| Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
We turned around to retrace our steps back to the vehicle, remarking on how successful the morning had been. The only thing that could make it better would be an ant swarm attended by our final remaining targets - Ruddy and Tawny-winged Woodcreepers. As if on cue, an ant swarm appeared! And both of our target species were accounted for too. The Ruddy Woodcreepers provided some entertainment, as three or four individuals were in view for quite a while. The single Tawny-winged Woodcreeper was a little more sneaky but eventually we both managed satisfactory views, while I took my first ever photos of this species (just record shots, however).
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| Tawny-winged Woodcreeper - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
To cap off an excellent morning on the road, Laura spotted a Black-cowled Oriole with a small mixed flock as we were driving out. This was her eighth and final life bird along Camino Vigia Chico, and our 86th species for the morning.
That afternoon we rolled into the town of Cobá. We had done so well at Camino Vigia Chico and had no remaining target birds there, other than Yucatan Nightjar (which we had dipped on the previous evening, in perfect conditions), and so we moved on to Cobá. We visited one of the cenotes outside of town, having it pretty much to ourselves until the late afternoon rush of tour buses arrived, our cue to leave.
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| Cenote Tankach-Ha - Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
December 12, 2021
Laura and I visited the shores of Laguna Cobá at dawn. Spotted Rails are known from this lake, finding habitat in the marshy edges. But it is a species that can be very difficult to find, plus I assume that they are "taped out" at Laguna Cobá due to constant birder presence. Laura and I had heard a Spotted Rail a few days earlier in Campeche but observing one would obviously be so much better.
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| Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Flocks of Orchard Orioles streamed by, heading south through the cattails lining the lake, while Limpkins and the occasional Ruddy Crake called from various locations.
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| Limpkin - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Limpkin - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Several Ridgway's Swallows (a form of Northern Rough-winged Swallow endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula) were flying low over the lake. Compared to the migratory form of Northern Rough-winged Swallow, the Ridgway's Swallow is larger and lankier with black tips to the undertail coverts.
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| Ridgway's Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
We made our way over to the south edge of the lake and immediately heard and then saw a Ruddy Crake. This was the first time that either Laura or I had laid eyes on this elusive species, a bird which can be common in suitable wetlands but which stays out of sight. We watched it for some time as it balanced on lilypads and searched for things to eat.
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| Ruddy Crake - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
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| Ruddy Crake - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Then, we heard it. A few rhythmic beats that you almost feel in your chest - a bird call that we were very familiar with, after playing the tape so many times in Campeche. A Spotted Rail! Laura first sighted the bird but it was about 20 layers deep in the cattails and rushes. With time, it slowly emerged from the vegetation, eventually stepping out into the open!
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| Spotted Rail - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
For nearly ten minutes that rail remained out in the open, allowing us to take in its remarkable plumage.
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| Spotted Rail - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
This was not at all what we were expecting, and a huge highlight of the trip. What an incredible looking bird!
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| Spotted Rail - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
Eventually, the rail decided that it was time to head back and we watched it slip away into the vegetation, presumably into the labyrinth of tunnels and narrow pathways that only a rail knows about.
We drove to Playa del Carmen and returned the rental vehicle without issue. From there we walked over to the ferry docks, paid our tickets, and took the ferry over to the island of Cozumel. My final blog post from Mexico will cover our few days exploring Isla Cozumel.
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