A Return to the Gardens
Golden-crowned Emerald-finally! Lifer achieved
After my Cape Verde excursion, I had another birding trek planned to Western Mexico. This was a true birding trip and a great way for me to compare my style of birding to the typical style of birding many utilize to find their birds. I needed to pick up a few birds that I missed during my first visit to Puerto Vallarta. However, we added San Blas as well to the trip for a greater understanding of West Mexican birds with friend and guide Mark Stackhouse. With a lot of aches and pains, we accomplished our mission. But we started out in a comfortable area first to get acclimated to the temps....the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. I went with my friend Jon who had never birded the area. So he had lifers left and right on this trip. Unfortunately, my usual travel companion, and mutual friend, Gordon couldn't go due to health concerns and he needed to stay alive. As he likes to say, "Getting older is not for the weak." But if you make it to "older", does that mean the weak die? When you get to Gandalf's age, it is a milestone but you have to play it safe and stay on top of your health. It's a Catch 22. Older people are often retired and free to explore the world, but their health interferes with planned travel. So my point is??? I don't know. Let's just talk about birds.
For some odd reason, I dipped on the Golden-crowned Emerald my first time in Puerto Vallarta. I had one zip past my head but I never counted it . I wanted better views. As we entered the beautiful gardens, it was pretty much the first hummingbird we saw!
I didn't have many lifebirds to add here, BUT I did want to observe many of these birds again. There are places on this planet that have birds that don't necessarily dazzle. And then there are places, like Western Mexico, where the birds are colorful and unusual. Observing them for a 2nd or 3rd time was a bonus.
In many cases, it was observing the behaviors and vocalizations of these birds. I've seen the various subspecies of Green Jays over the years but never have I seen them doing a mating dance or protect a territory from an annoying Rufous-backed Robin! The second time around was much better because I wasn't chasing target birds. I was just enjoying "the ride".
Green Jays
During our visit, we went to the gardens twice. It's highly recommended for any birder and their loved ones/friends. It's simply nature, safety and comfort all in one place. Great food, great nature and great shopping for souvenirs. If I lived there, I'd have a year membership.
Plain-capped Starthroat
One day we tried for the Military Macaws in the sanctuary down the road but the rain was so bad that we couldn't safely make it to our destination because of the pot holes and slick mud conditions. I felt terrible because we had set it up with the director who met us down the hill during that rain event but we explained that we couldn't do it safely. But I had hunches from my previous visit and eventually we did find a pair of Military Macaws checking out a nest box near the gardens.
Military Macaws
There's nothing quite like watching a pair of macaws fly the skies while you're out in nature. It's a very loud and magical event.
Hopefully these two figured out a place to nest. There was a Collared forest falcon that took over another Military Macaw nesting box on the property and a war ensued with the forest falcon winning. No birds died. But the macaws were irritated.
In Arizona, we don't have any chachalacas. I have witnessed that most birders casually look past them and tick them off their list. It drives me nuts. They'll look at a Great Curassow for quite some time, but a West Mexican Chachalaca? Forget about it. Just another chicken getting into the gardens. However, keep on the lookout! There are Crested Guan in those gardens. Birders like that species as well.
I'll finish with some brief notes about the general area around the gardens and in the gardens. During the northern hemisphere summer, bring an umbrella along with water. Taxis are plentiful and range from 25-30 US dollars one way. Between 2 people, it's not bad. The gardens entrance fee is cheaper and can be done in person or online. The area is huge so bring comfortable hiking shoes. If the river is low, you can swim in it. However, during monsoon season it is off limits as the gentle river turns into a raging river and cuts off access to the trails in the forest on the other side.
Once you're done with your wildlife searches and explorations, you can meet back at a WIFI friendly area for coffee, breakfast, lunch and some shopping. SO bring money. The upper level gives you a bird's eye opportunity to watch hummingbirds and many other West Mexican endemics zip from tree top to tree top.
Between the Macaw Sanctuary and the Gardens, there is this famous side stand for the freshest empanadas you have ever tasted. It's a great stop if you're heading south from Puerto Vallarta to El Tuito. Or just exploring.
This trip to West Mexico would be challenging for me in many ways. It's definitely not the time to go for birding because the bug and humidity factors are off the chart in June, July and August. And I bet September and October can be gross as well. But what we did successfully do was add data to ebird because there wasn't much or anything in the way for bird records during the summer. In some cases, we discovered some amazing things that will hopefully help others. While it was a very birdy trip, it was also the most challenging I've had in years. My body took weeks to recover from the bug bites. I'll go more into that in the next post and give you all some obvious tips to avoid those nasty bug bites. But if you like birds, and I know you do, it's all worth it, right? Until next time nature lovers....
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