Birding Gomez Farias and Alta Cima

Oh the ironies. Today we had 73 species of birds. Yesterday we had 73 species of birds. Today the birding was excellent. Yesterday the birding was mediocre. After a description of the day, I’ll include details on the birds we saw.

After biscuits and coffee with Saul, we drove up to Gomez Farias for a long day of birding. The temperature started out quite cool, in the lower 60s I’m guessing, but was very comfortable once it warmed up a bit. Mel and I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to take a group of approximately 30 people through the area. Though we started out on some nice trails, they were too narrow for a large group. We discovered that the beginnings of the road which leads to Alta Cima had excellent habitat, great views, and was very birdy. It was also wide and easy to walk on (no boulders to climb over like some of the trails). Mel and I birded this until lunch.

After lunch, we headed up to Alta Cima (by car), getting out occasionally to bird along the way. Despite a few extra species here and there, it was incredibly slow, though Mel provided some entertainment by managing to get himself into a swarm of army ants on the way up. The pictures I snapped are quite entertaining. The town of Alta Cima is higher elevation than Gomez Farias, and the birdlife found there is more or less than same as other places we’ll be visiting, such as the road to El Maguey de Oriente near El Naranjo (which Mel and I travel to tomorrow). Because of this slowness at Alta Cima, we’re considering skipping it and focusing on the areas below Gomez Farias along the river.

Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for. I’ve included a complete bird list for those interested. Species in bold are probably of high interest to those who’ve not birded outside the US before. (H) = heard only. This should give you an idea of what we’ll see here on the upcoming post-festival trip.

1. Thicket Tinamou (H)
2. Black Vulture
3. Turkey Vulture
4. Sharp-shinned Hawk
5. Cooper’s Hawk
6. Gray Hawk
7. Short-tailed Hawk (dark morph)
8. Zone-tailed Hawk
9. Bat Falcon
10. Plain Chachalaca
11. Red-billed Pigeon
12. White-winged Dove
13. Mourning Dove
14. Inca Dove
15. White-tipped Dove (H)
16. White-crowned Parrot
17. Squirrel Cuckoo
18. Groove-billed Ani
19. Vaux’s Swift
20. Wedge-tailed Sabrewing – five inch hummingbirds that sing are just so cool!
21. Canivet’s Emerald
22. Amethyst-throated Hummingbird
23. Blue-crowned Motmot (H)
24. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
25. Bronze-winged Woodpecker
26. Lineated Woodpecker
27. Pale-billed Woodpecker
28. Olivaceous Woodcreeper
29. Barred Antshrike – We got the coolest look at a male and female that were calling back and forth to each other. I even got a poor picture of the male. These are spectacular birds and were without a doubt my highlight of the day.
30. Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet (H)
31. Tufted Flycatcher
32. Greater Pewee
33. Eastern Phoebe
34. Dusky-capped Flycatcher
35. Boat-billed Flycatcher
36. Social Flycatcher
37. Masked Tityra
38. White-eyed Vireo
39. Blue-headed Vireo
40. Warbling Vireo
41. Green Jay
42. Brown Jay
43. Tamaulipas Crow
44. Barn Swallow
45. Canyon Wren (H)
46. Spot-breasted Wren (H)
47. House Wren
48. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
49. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
50. Brown-backed Solitaire (H)
51. Black-headed Nightingale-Thrust (H)
52. Clay-colored Robin
53. Blue Mockingbird
54. Tropical Parula
55. Black-throated Green Warbler
56. Common Yellowthroat
57. Wilson’s Warbler
58. Painted Redstart (H)
59. Fan-tailed Warbler
60. Golden-browed Warbler
61. Summer Tanager
62. Yellow-winged Tanager
63. Yellow-throated Euphonia
64. Olive Sparrow
65. Black-headed Saltator
66. Crimson-collared Grosbeak (H)
67. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
68. Melodius Blackbird
69. Great-tailed Grackle
70. Altamira Oriole
71. Audubon’s Oriole
72. Black-headed Siskin
73. House Sparrow

I may be too tired to include an extensive list every day, but I wanted to give a feel for what we’re seeing.

Until tomorrow…