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The idea for this tour was sparked at one of our Field Guides business meetings when Jesse and I were on the topic of Mexico. Both of us having been blown away by the Monarchs in Central Mexico and Jesse having just visited Baja, we figured, why not do a tour that combines the Monarchs, some of Mexico’s rich endemic birdlife, Gray Whales and Whale Sharks all into one incredible tour? So that’s what we did.

Day 1 began with some great birds. We escaped Mexico City early before the waves of heavy traffic to visit a site outside the city with Anuar, a research biologist at UNAM, the federal university in Mexico City. Within a few minutes of getting out of the vans we saw our first Sierra Madre Sparrows warming themselves on the tops of the bunch grass! Orale! These remarkable sparrows have a tiny and shrinking distribution around the Central Volcanic Belt. They look like a cross between a Song Sparrow and a Baird’s Sparrow, with a bunch of rufous in the wings. After soul-satisfying views we walked into a patch of woods where we had our first encounters with Red Warbler, a cooperative Green-striped Brushfinch (another endemic), Strickland’s Woodpecker, Gray Silky-flycatchers and more Elegant Euphonias than we could count. From there, we had lunch and went to bird the UNAM botanical gardens—perhaps the best birding site within Mexico City. The volcanic outcroppings with low xeric vegetation are home to the Hooded Yellowthroat, superficially similar to our Common Yellowthroat, but with a gray, rather than white, border to its dark mask.

The next day we packed up and left Mexico City for a site to look for another yellowthroat: the Black-polled Yellowthroat. This Central Mexico endemic lurks in the reedbeds outside Mexico City, its habitat ever threatened by the expanding metropolis. Males have a totally dark hood, and females look like any other female yellowthroat. Within a few minutes of walking a berm along the reedbeds, we saw several. From there, we continued east, stopping for lunch in the picturesque town of Valle de Bravo before arriving at our cabins in the woods near the butterfly reserve.

Our day with the Monarchs was more than we could have ever hoped for. It was quite the climb to reach their roosting site (some of us took horses), but it was worth every calorie we burned. After much panting and sweating, we arrived where the butterflies clung to the ancient Oyamel Firs, a ways down a rugged side trail cleared by our guides the day before. Every day the butterflies choose a slightly different location, seeking a particular microclimate that suits their needs. When we reached the trunks and branches draped in orange, silver and black, an overwhelming sense of peace settled over us. It was just us in a galaxy of sleeping monarchs swaying gently in the morning breeze. As they thawed in the soft morning light, clumps would break loose, shuffling off into the wind. Occasionally, entire branches of monarchs would erupt into flight, filling the forest with the sound of their wings and accompanying the omnipresent chirps of White-eared Hummingbird and the sporadic cackling of Gray-barred Wren. With hearts and minds brimming with lepidopteran joy, we descended to the vans. Along the way we crossed beneath highways of monarchs meandering their way down the mountain. Some clustered to drink at the puddles along the path, absorbing salts and other mountain minerals, while others paused to nectar on the tall yellow hedges of Senecio and Barkleyanthus that lined the trail.

We left our cozy cabins in the woods to drive across Mexico City to Tepoztlan where we spent the next few days working on some of West Mexico’s dry forest avifauna. We visited the ruins of Xochicalco, an impressive archaeological site, and we had the whole place to ourselves! The birding that day was great; we saw West Mexican Chachalacas, Black-chested Sparrows, lots of Myiarchus flycatchers, and heard Lesser Ground-Cuckoo. The next day we birded the oak zone above Tepoztlan and saw Chestnut-sided Shrike-vireo, one of my favorite of all Mexican birds. It posed nicely, allowing us to get it in the scope.

After a morning of travel from Tepoztlan through Mexico City, we flew to Baja, and the city of La Paz. When we touched down, it was like arriving in a completely different country. The plants were different (lots of columnar cacti everywhere), the culture, the food—all had a different flavor. After a much-needed night’s rest, we loaded into the vans and crossed the Baja Peninsula to Magdalena Bay, where the Gray Whales come to raise their calves. These magnificent cetaceans spend the summers gorging themselves on polychaete worms off the Alaska Coast, then migrate 6,000 miles to lagoons off the coast of Baja. On our first outing we saw well over 20 whales moving through the entrance of the lagoon. There was a mix of mothers with newborn calves and juveniles from the previous year. It was breathtaking to look out across the horizon and see so many whale spouts! When we arrived at our luxury tent camp, a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins cruised by as if they were welcoming us to the camp. The camping was fabulous. It was like having all the fun parts of camping—being under the stars and away from the city noise—without having to do the work of cooking or setting up.

The next morning, we went out whale watching again, this time with more favorable weather. We had several close encounters with both mothers and calves. It was as if they were showing off for us as they spun around alongside our boat. After a soul-satisfying time with the whales, we crossed back over to La Paz and staged for the next day’s activity: swimming with Whale Sharks. These colossal fish converge off the coast of La Paz in the winter where they can be seen fairly close to shore. It took some time before our chartered boat was allowed to leave the harbor (the activity is highly regulated), so we birded a strip of mangroves across from La Paz, which turned out to be great. We saw Mangrove Warbler, and some cool desert lizards. Anticipation soared when we finally left to look for the Whale Sharks. It didn’t take long before our captain spotted one. He positioned the panga so that folks who wanted to could jump in and follow the animal as it cruised gracefully near the water’s surface. Being next to such an enormous, peaceful animal was truly a humbling experience.

The last leg of the tour was to target some of the Baja endemics at Sierra la Laguna, the mountain range at the tip of the peninsula. We had an early start and drove up a bumpy dirt road to a ranch where we had a delicious breakfast with fresh tortillas hot off the skillet. We then walked a drainage where we saw Gray Thrasher and the San Luca form of Cassin’s Vireo, a bird that will probably be split at some point. It’s got a lot more yellow than the Cassin’s Vireo up north. Before lunch, we stopped at a freshwater wetland with cattails and palms, where we called out a Belding’s Yellowthroat, our 4th yellowthroat of the tour! The bird came right out and posed in front of us on a palm frond. Que maravilla!

Before departing for the airport, we visited another wetland near San Jose del Cabo where we scoped a flock of Dowitchers and a slew of other shorebirds—a fine way to wrap of a fine time in Mexico. Jesse and I would like to thank all of you for traveling with us. We look forward to birding with you again!

Saludos,

Micah and Jesse

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

This is just one of the many branches covered by Monarchs that we saw! Photo by Micah Riegner.

These are Hooded, Belding's and Black-polled Yellowthroats, all of which are endemic to Mexico. The Belding's is found at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, while the other two are found in Central Mexico. Photos by Micah Riegner.

A young Gray Whale surfaced right near our boat at Magdalena Bay. As they get older barnacles grow on their heads. Photo by Micah Riegner.

Black-chested, Sierra Madre and Striped Sparrows are all endemic to Mexico. Photos by Micah Riegner and Jesse Fagan.

That's Jesse swimming alongside the Whale Shark and those are remoras on its tail. Photo by Micah Riegner.

Gray-barred Wrens are often upside down on mossy branches. Watercolor by Micah Riegner.

Group shot at Xochicalco. Photo by Micah Riegner (even though he's in it).

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 237 bird taxa and 4 mammal taxa