MAZATLAN, MEXICO & THE DURANGO HIGHWAY
November 16-23, 2008
P. D. Hulce with local guides and five participants

Sun., Nov. 16 Arrival in Mazatlan
Today, after an airport delay, we enjoyed several hours of birding on a road with still-wild habitat between the airport and our hotel, the Don Felix.  Quickly evident were flocks of the Sinaloa Crow, our first endemic species.  Actually smaller than a Great-tailed Grackle, repeated looks at this small crow soon enabled everyone to quickly be able to easily tell them apart.  Perched Gray Hawks, numerous American Kestrels, Wood Storks, and a great mix of Thick-billed, Tropical, and Cassin’s Kingbirds, as well as numerous other species soon filled out our day’s list.  After checking in at our hotel, we had a fantastic dinner at Pancho’s, easily the best restaurant in Mazatlan’s Golden Zone.

Mon., Nov. 17 Birding North From Mazatlan
After an early continental breakfast at the Don Felix, we headed north from Mazatlan into the arid scrub forests and estuaries of the coast.  Our first new species of the day was another endemic, the dazzling Purplish-backed Jay.  This was quickly followed by one of Mexico’s most spectacular species, the amazing Black-throated Magpie-Jay.  At the Mesete de Cacaxtla Reserve, we got close looks at Sinaloa Wren, Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, Streak-backed Oriole, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, the first of over 8 Peregrine Falcons for the trip, Yellow-angled and White-angled Sulphurs, and Yellow-tipped Flashers. 

This reserve was created specifically to preserve the wonderful petroglyphs carved in black volcanic rocks right on the Pacific beach and as we were walking and looking at these ancient carvings, a Common Loon flew close and low over the ocean and landed in front of us.  We had a wonderful seafood lunch at a local restaurant and then went to a large area of estuarine mudflats.  Dozens of Snowy Plovers, a cooperative “large-billed” Savannah Sparrow, another Peregrine, and hundreds of other birds posed for us.  We found a Merlin in the same tree where I had seen one in February, on an earlier Naturalist Journey’s trip.  Lark Sparrows and Blue Grosbeaks rounded out our day’s list.

Tues., Nov. 18 Sierra Madre Occidental and the Tufted Jay Preserve
Today we left early for our all day drive up into the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Tufted Jay Preserve.  Our first birding stop, on the narrow Panaltitlan dirt road, produced Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Nutting’s Flycatcher, Squirrel Cuckoo, and a wonderful Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, surrounded by over 30 angry, scolding small birds.  Butterflies were amazing on this road, with Malachite, Zebra Heliconian, sulphurs, swallowtails, and dozens of tiny Elfs. 

At our lunch stop, there was a very cooperative Plain-capped Starthroat and a Violet-crowned Hummingbird, and the Petaca Road salvia patch was jumping with hummingbirds.  There were literally dozens of White-eared Hummingbirds, as well as numerous Beryllines and at least six Bumblebee Hummingbirds, probably the second smallest hummer in the world. Upon arrival at the Tufted Jay Preserve, we were greeted by the calls of the Blue Mockingbird, surely the most difficult of all the species that we were to see on this trip.

Wed., Nov. 19 Tufted Jay Reserve
The first full day at the Tufted Jay Preserve is always special because we don’t get in the vehicle for the entire day.  At 7 am, our very first bird of the day was a Thick-billed Parrot that flew low and slow, directly over our cabins, squawking and calling.  We were to have 2 more fly-bys of this species this morning. By 8 am, we were in the middle of a tremendous flock of about 20 species, that included Red-faced, Olive, Hermit, Townsend’s, and Graces’ Warbler, White-striped Woodcreeper, Tufted Flycatcher, and Greater Pewee.  After finally losing this flock about an hour later, we then encountered a pair of Red Warblers and a pair of Golden-browed Warblers, foraging at eye level about 15 feet away. Reluctantly walking away from these beautiful birds, we encountered our first flock of Tufted Jays, the target bird of the trip.  There are really no pictures that do justice to the experience of seeing this magnificent species.   

The preserve personnel had a great breakfast waiting for us at 9:30.  After a short rest and, after a quick session to complete our checklist, we headed out for another walk.  During the next 3 or 4 hours, we had over eight Mountain Trogons, several Red-headed Tanagers, Crescent-chested Warblers, and at least 3 more huge foraging flocks, including another small flock of Tufted Jays. 

Thurs., Nov. 20 Open Pine Woodlands /  Tufted Jay Reserve  
Again, Thick-billed Parrot flew right over the cabins first thing in the morning. We had an early breakfast today and then took a short drive to another area of slightly differing habitat.  An open pine woodland produced numbers of Red Crossbills and Yellow-rumped Warblers at our first stop.  During the course of 3 or 4 walks today, we added Rufous-capped Warbler, Pine Flycatcher, Eastern Bluebird, more mixed species flocks, and our best looks yet at the Tufted Jays.  For over 20 minutes, we were absolutely surrounded by between 15 and 20 individuals of this incredible species.  They were above us, at eye level, and below us, foraging along a small stream.  After several trips to the Sierra Madre, this was my best look ever at this lovely species.  There were also some Steller’s Jays in the area. 

As we returned to our van after another very birdy walk, we were surrounded by Tufted Jays again.  As we ate our lunch under their watchful eye, a beautiful male Chiricahua White butterfly landed right by us.  Two other gorgeous butterflies that were common in this area were the Mexican Silverspot and Kerwinski’s Beauty. 

Fri., Nov. 21 Rancho de Liebre
After another early breakfast, we headed out to the Rancho de Liebre, the abandoned ranch in the small canyon that leads up to the Barranca de San Diego.  Mixed species flocks continued to entertain us, and during the course of the day, we added several White-throated Thrushes to our list.  Blue Mockingbirds continued to elusively call from thickets, and we managed to call out only our second Russet Nightingale-Thrush of the trip.  Spectacular views of the scenic barranca awaited us at one end of the hike and more Mountain Trogons were found at the other end.  At least 2 more flocks of Tufted Jays entertained us and 2 more Red Warblers were also seen.  Mexican Chickadees were incredibly numerous on most all of our hikes. 

Sat., Nov. 22 Tufted Jay Reserve
After a final breakfast at the Tufted Jay Reserve, we loaded our van and headed back down the mountains for Mazatlan.  We stopped again at the Petaca Road and the hummingbird show was even better than before.  At one point, we had a male Bumblebee Hummingbird barely 10 feet in front of us, feeding on the abundant salvias.  This species usually hovers with its tiny tail tilted up at a 45 degree angle and its violet-red gorget was streaming out beyond its neck. 

Our next stop at the Panuco Road produced a lovely pair of Military Macaws passing right overhead.  More Violet-crowned and Broad-billed Hummingbirds were working the roadside flowers in this area also. 

We lunched at Daniel’s Restaurant in Copala and continued on to Mazatlan.  At 2 pm, we arrived at the Mazatlan marina, where we boarded a Sendero Mexico boat for a trip to the offshore bird islands.  Within a very short time, we were watching dozens of Heerman’s Gulls and Brown and Blue-footed Booby, sitting, flying, and diving.  Another treat was a very close approach to a small rock that had 6 or 8 California Sea Lions lazily relaxing and catching a little sunshine.  Other birds that we saw as we left the harbor included American Oystercatchers, Marbled Godwits, and pelicans, cormorants, and several Magnificent  Frigatebirds.

Sun., Nov. 23 Bosque de Ciudad
Having only a few hours on our final morning, we went to a lovely city park called the Bosque de Ciudad, between our hotel and the airport.  We added many species to our lists here, including Orchard Orioles, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Least Grebes, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, and our best looks yet at the “Cinnamon-rumped” White-collared Seedeater, a possible split in the future. 

By noon we were sitting in the Mazatlan airport, awaiting our flights back to the United States.

 

Photo Credits: Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Least Grebe and Merlin by Tony Beck, Broad-billed Hummingbird  Evelyn Earlougher, Eastern Bluebird by Wm. McDougal, Jr. all others by Peg Abbott.

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