After our first three days in Mexico, we headed south
from Rio Legartos to towards the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, where we were to
spend two nights at the Hotel Mayaland, a nice colonial-style building with its
own gate into Chichen Itza. We arrived in the late afternoon and had a quick
walk around the grounds, which produced lots of Clay-coloured Thrushes in a dusk
chorus and my first two confirmed White-fronted Amazons, as well as plenty of
large bats.
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| The view from our room; jungly |
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| White-fronted Amazon |
The next morning, I had just over an hour in the gardens
before breakfast. Many birders seem to stay at Hacienda Chichen Itza, which
apparently has some very birdy grounds, but Mayaland also had some nice habitat
including a trail cut through an area of adjacent jungle. I quickly added a
good selection of new species – Ivory-billed
Woodcreeper, Altamira Oriole, Tropical Pewee, Masked Tityra, Black-throated
Green Warbler, Scrub Euphonia, White-eyed Vireo, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Vaux’s
Swift, Yellow-winged Tanager and
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Other species
included Yellow-throated and Black-and-White Warblers, Red-eyed Vireo, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Ruby-throated
Hummingbird, Golden-fronted, Yucatan and Lineated Woodpeckers, and Turquoise-browed
Motmot, plus brief flight views of a Catharus thrush which didn’t
reappear.
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| Ivory-billed Woodcreeper |
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| Golden-olive Woodpecker |
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| Lineated Woodpecker |
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| Golden-fronted Woodpecker |
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| Masked Tityra |
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| Scrub Euphonia |
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| Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl |
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| White-eyed Vireo |
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| Black-throated Green Warbler |
Four hours walking around Chichen Itza itself didn’t
produce much different, but these Maya ruins are a must-see if you are visiting
the Yucatan. I particularly liked the wildlife-themed carvings, which seemed to
focus on snakes, as well as eagles and jaguars crushing men’s hearts in their
talons/claws.
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| The pyramid at Chichen Itza |
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| Chichen Itza |
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| An eagle grasping a man's heart |
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| Bronzed Cowbird |
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| Black Iguanas are difficult to miss in the Yucatan |
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| Black Iguana |
After this, I had another three hours in the hotel grounds and on the jungle trail,
seeing much the same as I did in the morning plus a few extras – Yellow-throated Euphonia, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Southern House Wren, Tennesse Warbler and Greenish Elaenia (all new), plus Rose-throated Becard, Groove-billed Ani, Indigo and Painted Buntings,
Buff-bellied and Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Yucatan Jay and Black-headed Saltator, amongst others. The only mammals I saw were
several Yucatan Squirrels and one Dieppe’s Squirrel.
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| Southern House Wren |
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| Painted Bunting |
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| Yucatan Squirrel |
The following morning I had another hour and a half
around the gardens and trails, adding another eight new species – Grey Hawk (on a nest), Yellow-throated Vireo, Olive Sparrow, Red-billed Pigeon, Rufous-browed
Peppershrike, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing,
Cave Swallow (around the main hotel building itself) and Violaceous Trogon. Other nice bits and
pieces included Prothonotary and Magnolia Warblers, Green Jay and Plain
Chachalaca.
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| Grey Hawk |
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| Olive Sparrow |
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| Violaceous Trogon |
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| Cave Swallow |
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| Yellow-winged Tanager |
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| Yellow-throated Vireo |
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
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| Frog Rana sp in an ornamental pond |
After breakfast, we then began our journey to the Caribbean coast, where we took the ferry from Calica (where we saw a small group of Spider Monkeys), just south of Playa del Carmen, over to the island of Cozumel.Cozumel is set up for receiving big cruise ships, many of
which come from the US, but supports several endemic species of bird and
mammal, the exact number depending on which taxonomic authority you follow; although
one of the birds, Cozumel Thrasher, may well be recently extinct. The west
coast, facing the mainland, is relatively built up in places, and we were
initially a bit ambivalent about the place. However, our accommodation, the
Villas el Encanto, on the south side of the main town of San Miguel, was very
pleasant, and a few little patches of scrub on plots in the vicinity allowed me
a bit of birding either side of a walk into town; Green-breasted Mango, Cape
May and Prairie Warblers, and Bananaquit were new, whilst there were
plenty of other Yank warblers around – American
Redstart, Northern Parula, Tennessee, Yellow-throated, Magnolia
and (the near-ubiquitous) Yellow Warblers - and Yellow-faced Grassquits were much less skulking than their mainland counterparts.
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| Spider Monkey |
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| Yellow-faced Grassquit |
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| Cape May Warbler - much smarter than that grotty Unst individual... |
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| Bananaquit - a proper Caribbean species |
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| Green-breasted Mango |
We then spent the rest of the day on the southern end of
the island, at Punta Sur. This is a protected area (described as an 'eco beach park'), which raised our impression
of Cozumel considerably – beautiful unspoilt white beaches and crystal clear
blue seas, backed by a large mangrove-fringed lagoon which is overlooked in one place by a tower
hide. It is popular with tourists, but the tourist infrastructure is very low
key. The lagoon held Roseate Spoonbill,
White Ibis, Reddish Egret, Tricolored
Heron, Osprey and Black-necked Stilt, amongst other things,
andI also saw Golden Warbler,
the Cozumel race of Mangrove Warbler. A couple of crocodiles (including one
lurking under the board-walk at the hide) were also in evidence, whilst several
Cozumel Coatis (a race of White-nosed Coati) were hanging around the carpark at
the lighthouse. Most of our time, however, was spent on the beach, lounging
around and snorkelling on the small bit of coral reef that lies close offshore.
A very enjoyable day.
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| The tower hide at Punta Sur |
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| A croc under the boardwalk |
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| Roseate Spoonbills |
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| Coastal habitat at Punta Sur |
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| Looking towards the Punta Sur lighthouse |
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| The view from the lighthouse |
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| Cozumel (White-nosed) Coati |
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| Even I had a swim, and I hate swimming |
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| Beach art |
In the evening, we bumped along a track at the northern
end of the island, past the sewage works, to the place where boats take
tourists over to Isla Pasion. The target here was the endemic, and critically
endangered Cozumel Raccoon. We soon found a handful feeding at a big pile of
pasta that had been thrown out behind one of the food shacks by the carpark. They were very characterful little animals, and clearly habituated to close human presence, as I could get to within just a few metres of them. The rarest mammal I have ever seen, beating the Mediterranean Monk Seal I saw two summers ago in Madeira.
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| Cozumel Raccoons picking the best bits out of some pasta |
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| Cozumel Raccoon |
The drive back down the track produced my second endemic bird, Cozumel Wren (although this species isn’t split by all authorities), dust-bathing on the track. As dusk fell, three Pauraques were feeding over the sewage works, and another nightjar sp. flew across the road on the drive back through the hotel zone.
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| Cozumel Wren |
The following morning I returned to the start of this
track, parking up and walking a network of tracks to the west. My main target
was the third endemic, Cozumel Vireo, which I failed to see, but did add Grey Catbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana
Waterthrush and Purple Martin,
as well as several Pauraques on the
track before dawn (no Yucatan Nightjars though), and a selection of other
species, including Cozumel Wren and Cozumel Emerald, including a good variety of wood warbler. After breakfast we headed to the Mayan ruins
at San Gervaiso; Cozumel Wren and Cozumel Emerald again gave themselves up
without any issue, but I still couldn’t find a Cozumel Vireo, and Ovenbird was the only new species.
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| Pauraque |
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| Worm-eating Warbler |
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| Grey Catbird |
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| Male Black-and-White Warbler |
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| Trackside habitat |
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| Ovenbird |
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| The Mayan ruins at San Gervaiso |
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| Cozumel Racerunner (I think) |
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| Dirce Beauty |
Having had our fill of Mayan ruins for the day, we then continued
on the cross-island road to the wild east coast, finding a rather cool bar for
lunch. There are several small wetland
areas visible from the east coast road, which held a decent selection of
species: at KM33, a fairly large lake held Least
Grebe, as well as Black-bellied
Whistling Duck, Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Jacana, Spotted Sandpiper, and Reddish Egret. Another at the
Buenavista Ranch (were we went horse riding) held some of the same, as well as Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs. A third, just south
of the ‘Coconuts’ bar, held an Anhinga.
A look at the sea at one location produced Wilson’s
Plover, amongst a few more familiar other wader species like Sanderling and Grey Plover.
On the way back to San Miguel, I was allowed one final crack
at Cozumel Vireo, walking along a track into the jungle off the cross-island
road. This was quiet at first, but as it got towards dusk, activity increased. Caribbean Elaenia was new, and I saw
many species that were by now ‘normal’ – Black
Catbird, Bananquit, Cozumel Wren, Cozumel Emerald, Green-breasted
Mango, several species of American wood warbler, and Pauraque.
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| Jungle track |
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| Caribbean Elaenia (I think - one I struggled to ID) |
However, try as I could, I just couldn’t find a Cozumel
Vireo. With our ferry early the following morning, allowing no time for
birding, I eventually admitted defeat. No-one seems to dip the vireo, so I was
a bit deflated by this. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it – we were off on
the next stage of our trip!
