Mexico 2009 Summary
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2009 Trips    Mexico 2009 Photos  

Whenever we meet others that love to travel the first question Diana likes to ask is "where are your favorite places to travel to".  We then mentally sort them into a category of a one week trip or a three week trip.

One destination that continually was mentioned was the Oaxaca province of Mexico. So in mid-March we spent 10 days in Mexico exploring the complex of pyramids, terraces and crumbling temples of Monte Alban and the varied habitats that extend from Oaxaca to the Pacific coast with John Forcey .  With temperatures in the mid 80's and 90's it offered a welcome break to a long New England winter.

For the first section of our trip we stayed at a small B & B within Oaxaca City.  This focused on the central valley section of Oaxaca in the mornings and in afternoon heat we would head to the mountain areas along the road to La Guacamaya and La Cumbre.  Red Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Grey Yellowthroat, Crescent-chested Warbler, Olive Warbler and Grey-silky Flycatcher were among the highlights for this section of the trip.

From the central valley area and surrounding mountains of Oaxaca we made our way to  the coastal mangrove swamps of Puerto Escondido.  Located about 200 miles south of Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coastline, Puerto Escondido has long been known by surfers and still remains a traditional fishing village. Puerto Escondido allowed us a central location from which to view the shorebirds at Barre de Navidad and the mangrove swamps. 

The scrub habitat along the beaches near our B&B  provided a wonderful opportunity to see a target bird for this region - the Orange-breasted Bunting as well as Russet-crowned Motmot, Citreoline Trogon, Wagler's Toucanet, Blue Grosbeak and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.

The highlight of the region for us was a late afternoon boat excursion with Lalo Ecotours to explore the mangrove swamps of Manialtepac Lagoon.  The ultimate destination was the rookery within the mangroves with nesting Boat-billed Herons, Woodstork, Neotropic Cormorants, & Magnificent Frigatebirds.  But remember - getting there is part of the adventure.  On our journey through the swamps to the rookery we encountered Green Kingfisher, Ringed Kingfisher, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Black Hawk, a Lineated Woodpecker nest cavity and a roosting Lesser Nighthawk.  We decided to continue through the swamps to enjoy sunset along some of the back beaches which allowed us to find hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Roseate Spoonbills, Crane Hawk, and flocks of Dicksissel and Seedeaters in the reeds.

<>The last segment of our trip was scheduled for the Western sloped mountains of the the Cafe Lindro Finca - a shade grown coffee finca.  This provided us a different habitat to explore with deep vegetation within the coffee plantings, pathways along the streams and cascading waterfalls.  Among the highlights for this area were the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, our 3rd for the trip, Fan-tailed Warblers, Red-legged Honeycreepers, Collared Trogon, Rufous-crowned Motmot, Painted Buntings, White-throated Magpie Jay, White-ringed Flatbill and the Oaxaca Hummingbird.

Overall Oaxaca was a wonderful choice - the food was great, the habitats varied, the hospitality more than we could have asked for.  As it turned out our timing was impeccable as the Swine Flu outbreak happened about a month after we returned and luckily we had no incubation period worries.

We tallied 280 species of which 59 were life birds. 

2009 Trips   Mexico 2009 Photos