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Lesser Roadrunner is one of the specialties of the Yucatan Peninsula -- and this one spread-eagled in the road near Uxmal was certainly obliging! Photo by participant Johanne Charbonneau.

Our Yucatan and Cozumel tour offers a lovely short break "south of the border," ranging across the entire width of the Yucatan peninsula as we visit some of the region's most famous Mayan ruins -- which also contain some of the peninsula's most sought-after birds. The weather was (for the most part) delightful, with little rain and generally pleasant temperatures. And the birding was most enjoyable!

We started the tour on Cozumel, birding primarily along the island's protected western flank. The tangled forest here is short and dense, and the beaches edged with a thin strand of cream-colored sand. Among our targets were a pair of island endemics (the Cozumel Thrasher, sadly, has not been seen by anyone for more than a decade), and both cooperated wonderfully: a glittering male Cozumel Emerald patrolled around a big stand of orange flowers, and a pair of Cozumel Vireos peeped from leafy vegetation along a quiet back road while searching for insect prey. Other good sightings included several singing Yucatan Vireos along the road out to Alberto's (where swat teams of Black Catbirds swept along the roadsides and a tiny Yucatan Woodpecker hammered a tree trunk over our heads), some snazzy Western Spindalis flocks among the fruiting trees, a sleek and wary Mangrove Cuckoo that posed for long minutes in a roadside mangrove, a confiding Caribbean Elaenia, a couple of berry-gobbling White-crowned Pigeons, and a trio of rail species at the island's northernmost point (a pair of Ruddy Crakes that came within yards of us among the mangroves, a half-hidden Sora rummaging for goodies near the parking lot, and a pair of Clapper Rails that strode along the back edge of a puddle, occasionally bursting into song). And who will soon forget the point-blank overwintering warblers that danced through the trees right outside the doors of our rooms?!

A short ferry ride later, and we were on the mainland, starting our exploration of the Yucatan peninsula. First up was the area around Coba, where taller, richer forest and a series of interconnected lakes and cenotes surround the ancient Mayan city. Mixed flock madness was the order of the day here: Hooded, Worm-eating, and Blue-winged warblers consorted with Black-tailed Trogons and Greenish Elaenias among the ruins, a chance stop at an intersection near the lake brought us sparring Altamira Orioles, our first Yellow-winged Tanager, a Bronzed Cowbird, and more Melodious Blackbirds than you could shake a stick at (plus a Purple Gallinule picking through the reed beds below the trees), and a stroll along the entrance road to a remote cenote yielded a lovely male Rose-throated Tanager, a tail-swinging Turquoise-browed Motmot, foraging Canivet's and White-bellied emeralds, a Buff-bellied Hummingbird, an unexpected Red-legged Honeycreeper (normally gone during the winter), and a clown car's worth of noisy Yucatan Jays among the warblers and flycatchers. Olivaceous and Ivory-billed woodcreepers hitched up neighboring trees among the ruins, a Spotted Rail crept through the reeds nearly to our feet (under the boardwalk), and Limpkins paraded along the lake shore.

Then it was off to another ancient city: Chichen Itza this time, with an early morning visit to Punta Laguna, and a stop at Valladolid for a superb lunch at Meson de Marques. The area around the entrance to Punta Laguna was hopping, with a variety of orioles, vireos, warblers, and tanagers (including a pair of Yellow-tailed Orioles and our first gang of yellow-eyed Green ("Inca") Jays), and the trails there yielded more new sightings, including a little gang of Collared Aracaris raiding a fruit tree, a soggy, spread-tailed Squirrel Cuckoo, Green-backed Sparrows hopping along a path, a pair of Gartered Trogons, a confiding trio of Red-throated Ant-Tanagers near the cenote, a wild-eyed Bright-rumped Attila, and another nice mix of warblers. Our visit to the ruins at Chichen Itza was a tad on the soggy side (!!) but the next morning's outing was nicely birdy. A tiny but fierce Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl tooted from a dead snag (while his mate preened nearby), Yellow-winged Tanagers, Masked Tityras, and a Golden-olive Woodpecker gobbled fruits, a mob of "Ridgway's" Northern Rough-winged Swallows perched conveniently on a wire, a White-bellied Wren peeped from viny tangles, and mixed flocks of overwintering warblers and widespread tropical residents kept us entertained.

Another day, another ancient city! From Chichen, we moved on (via another superb lunch, this time at the gorgeous Hacienda Xixim) to Uxmal -- drier still than the previous locations. Though we struggled with nightbirds (darn those nightjars -- and that calling, but elusive screech-owl!), we had some great encounters with other species. A gorgeous male Gray-throated Chat gleamed among the vegetation on a foggy morning, a Lesser Roadrunner stood spread-eagled in the middle of the road, a mixed "juice" of four oriole species (Altamira, Hooded, Black-cowled, and the endemic Orange) flashed colorful semaphores from treetops near the highway, noisy mobs of White-fronted Parrots swirled overhead and gabbled in treetops, a pair of Lineated Woodpeckers checked out a conveniently leafless tree, Scrub and Yellow-throated euphonias investigated mistletoe clumps, a surprise Gray-headed Kite soared overhead, and flocks of overwintering warblers -- with a few unexpected Blue-gray Tanagers -- moved among ancient ruins.

We ended the tour on the peninsula's western edge, around the rich Celestun estuary, where waterbirds and landbirds vied for our attention. Among the chief highlights here were the hot pink American Flamingos that spend the winter in the area's rich waters; they'd just begun to arrive, so their numbers were small -- but they were certainly bright! Our boat trip also turned up a trio of endearing American Pygmy Kingfishers, a balletic group of fishing American White Pelicans and a handsome adult Common Black Hawk, and explorations of the nearby mangrove swamp netted us a fistful of visiting shorebirds, some close Boat-billed Herons, a pair of Rufous-necked Wood-Rails stepping carefully along branches, and an early morning chorus from a perched-up Collared Forest-Falcon. In the drier coastal scrub, a male Mexican Sheartail dazzled us (and presumably his perched lady love) with his towering display flight (and his glittering gorget, when he perched as well), a gang of Yucatan Wrens entertained us as they swarmed through a brushy roadside field, White-lored Gnatcatchers flicked through the thorn scrub, a surprise Jabiru (a rare vagrant recorded less than once a decade here) flew overhead, and a calling Yucatan Flycatcher led us on a walkabout on our last birding stop en route to Merida.

Throughout the tour, we enjoyed a touch of culture, with visits to the magnificent ruins of Coba, Chichen Itza and Uxmal -- expertly narrated by Alex and Rodio -- and some fine Yucatecan cuisine. All in all, it was a delightful early winter visit south of the border. Thank you for sharing the adventure with us; I hope to see you all in the field again soon!

--Megan

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Holly's poems:

Celestun dump, Cozumel sewage ponds,
Our leaders waved their magic wands,
Conjuring rails, owls, orioles through their scope,
Tempting us to begin hope,
That every species, dove to grassquit,
Would automatically and scientifically split.
Thus our trip list with no trouble
Would instantaneously double.

Coba, Chichen, their huge ball courts
Proved Mayans love of extreme sports.
Two captains and twelve players,
Two leaders and twelve birds.
A game of skill played to the death.
The concept made us pause for breath.
Should we win or lose instead,
Would we be without a head?

We know Chac, the god of rain.
Source of life, all powerful, a superbrain.
But to us, avian pilgrims, modern druids,
Megan and Alex are gods of fluids.

Cerveza, vino, poc chuc, pibil,
Sopa, pollo, meal after meal,
Guacamole, tortillas, flan and mangoes,
Alex and Megan = superheroes!

Jabiru.
Who knew?

Ann and Barb's poem:

To Villa Blanca on Cozumel,
Twelve birders came one day.
One half of them from Canada,
And half from the USA.

Off to Alberto’s we did drive
On our first morning fine,
Black Catbirds called from every bush,
And warblers from every vine.

At Lake Coba we did find
Many dark birds on a wire.
So many Melodious Blackbirds there …
You might as well call it a choir.

Now hummingbirds a favorite are.
Here shiny Emeralds did delight.
There was Cozumel and Canavet’s,
And those with bellies white.

(Aside: Not to mention that displaying Sheartail later!)

Coba brought us small white dots
On wren and also rail,
And greetings from a young doorman,
Politeness without fail.

For Punta Laguna we were told:
The wardrobe’s not clam-diggers,
And we obeyed implicitly,
Just to avoid those chiggers.

Chichen Itza brought us owls;
That morning pair was quite a score.
But then along our evening drive,
There popped up yet two more.

Friday morning brought the fog.
Along the trail we did not jog.
At the end of the road to our delight,
A juice of orioles came into sight.

Those Saturday grosbeaks in a tree
Did make us all just clap with glee.
Then Alan found us quite a stunner
When he spotted a Lesser Roadrunner.

Pink flamingos and anhinga necks
Were joys for all to see,
But surely the stars of the Celestun trip
Must be those kingfishers three.

We mustn’t forget out driver Juan
Who drove us safe each day
On highways, byways, and rough-hewn tracks,
Helping us enjoy our stay.

But now our trip is at an end,
And homeward we are bound.
Many a laugh we all have shared,
And many a bird we found.

And as we go our separate ways
And take leave from friends old and new,
We know we’ll all keep birding on.
This is au revoir but not adieu.

Totals for the tour: 202 bird taxa and 5 mammal taxa