In my other life I am a middle school French teacher in Georgia. In 2006 I found out that I would also be teaching Spanish the following year, so I felt that it might be useful for me to actually speak the language before attempting to teach it. But seriously, though I had a relatively strong background in Spanish, I worked hard throughout the year in staff development classes to improve my proficiency. I also applied to a wonderful program that the Cobb County School District offers, sending teachers, counselors, and other faculty to Mexico for an immersion language experience. I was very excited to be accepted into the program, which in just two weeks advanced my Spanish-speaking abilities and knowledge of Hispanic history and culture more than an entire year of classroom instruction! If you are interested, you can view a NON-BIRDING PHOTO GALLERY of the experience.
Naturally, being the birding enthusiast that I am, I decided early on that a trip to Mexico would not be complete without getting into the field at least a few times to explore the diverse avifauna and unique habitats the country has to offer. Finding good habitat and good birds in a foreign country can be difficult to say the least, and in Mexico security concerns can be very real. I knew I would need the help of an experienced guide. Enter Manuel Grosselet, and his eco-tourism company Tierra de Aves. Based on his name alone you can tell that he is a multi-cultural personality! A Frenchman, Manuel is an ornithologist who has lived and worked in Mexico for eight years. This guy is the real deal... banding and studying birds across Mexico (especially in Mexico City and in the state of Oaxaca), creating checklists and establishing occurence patterns, working with the wildlife division to fight illegal trading of wild birds, providing training to ornithologists in North America and Europe, and somehow squeezing in time to guide birders as well. Manuel's first language is French, second is Spanish, and third is English - all of which are very strong. Considering these are also the three languages I speak (though in a different order, of course), you can imagine the colorful conversations we had over the course of a full day of birding! Any bird species in the list not mentioned in the journal below were seen on my own either in the city where I stayed (Cuernavaca) or on a day hike to a temple in the mountains outside the village of Tepoztlan. You can scroll past the journal below to a BIRD LIST and photos at the bottom of this page.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All photos and other content on this website are the exclusive property of Ken Blankenship (KB) and Rachel Cass (RC), unless otherwise credited. Unauthorized use and reproduction is strictly prohibited; you can usually obtain friendly permission to use images by sending me an email.
Birding in the State of Morelos, with Manuel Grosselet
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Manuel picked me up before dawn in the city of Cuernavaca at 6:30am. We headed north immediately to higher elevations for the special birds that breed there; though Cuernavaca is at 4,856 feet above sea level it is located in a valley which is surrounded by the beautiful volcanic peaks of the Sierra Madre. We arrived at a mountain pass known as La Cima, which is written up in Steve Howell's book, A Bird-Finding Guide to Mexico. On the dirt road approaching the hill several STRIPED SPARROWS flew across the road, perching on nearby posts. Further along, a BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD was waking up, preening on a tall weed stalk. When we parked and got out, I was amazed at how chilly it was! This should not have been surprising, as Manuel's altimeter read just over 9,000 feet. I was immediately impressed by a chorus of singing birds up on the hillside - a few of them sounded like warblers but I had no idea. Manuel mentioned that we would bird here for a while earlier in the day because a group of Americans a few months previous had been robbed at gunpoint later in the afternoon. When I asked why morning was safer he said with his French accent, "Because the bad boys do not wake up early."
With that, we strapped on our optics and cameras and started up a rough cobblestone road between rows of conifers... the smell of this damp, humid pine-oak forest reminded me of hiking along Burrell's Ford Road back in Georgia. Soon, a song rang out close to us that reminded me of an American Redstart - not coincidentally, I was soon rewarded with great looks at a SLATE-THROATED REDSTART, the first of several for the day. A WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD chattered as it foraged on some viny flowers. A strange noise, a kind of raspy wheezing, gave Manuel some deep thoughts and he finally determined it to be a COOPER'S HAWK - a rare breeder in the area. I played this species on the iPod and sure enough, a now-curious accipiter swooped through the trees. On the note of audio, one unfortunate miscommunication rendered us without local audio recordings. Manuel had planned to get a cable and some new speakers for his iPod and bird with me the following day (he had left his speakers in France a week earlier). However, I had plans to visit Teotihuacan on Sunday and did not realize that his iPod would not fit my speaker. Though he mentioned several times how much closer we may have gotten to this-or-that bird for photos, I was more than happy with the amazing looks in binoculars that I enjoyed... so many species that were virtually all lifers for me... and in the end the birds were not pestered as much during the breeding season. The commotion of the hawk roused the attention of two GREEN-STRIPED BRUSHFINCHES, who flitted through the brush near the ground. As we climbed, I caught tempting glimpses of the surrounding mountains through holes in the canopy. We soon found more birds such as singing SPOTTED TOWHEES, GREY SILKY-FLYCATCHERS, HUTTON'S VIREO, and CRESCENT-CHESTED WARBLER. The first of many BUSHTITS (Black-eared) was working the mid-story as well. I was proud to make one ID on my own, as AMERICAN ROBINS happily sang up the hillside. As we neared the top, Manuel pointed out the calls of a LONG-TAILED WOOD-PARTRIDGE from across the valley; this species is rarely seen and I was glad to enjoy hearing its call several times. A BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK began singing from the top of a nearby tree, and in the same area we saw a Mexican subspecies (albescens) BROWN CREEPER working the bark of a dead tree. A female WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD perched in some vines for a good view. At the top of the mountain is a fire watch tower and related buildings, so the summit has been cleared and landscaped with tropical flowers for a stunning view. These flowers and the surrounding trees attracted a great variety of birds. A male and female CINNAMON-BELLIED FLOWERPIERCER probed for nectar, while a noisy BLUE-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD patrolled his territory and had breakfast as well; the size of this hummer is striking... it reminded me of a miniature helicopter! YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS, PINE SISKINS, LESSER GOLDFINCHES, SPOTTED TOWHEES, GREY SILKY-FLYCATCHERS, and a BUSHTIT rounded out the gathering at the top. We observed the Grey Silkies building a nest. While we enjoyed this sight, Manuel alerted me to the calls of a GREY-BARRED WREN near the firefighter's quarters. With some patience, I was rewarded with an excellent view of this large, black-and-white wren, which was soon chased by another of the same species.
The day had started off great, and we headed down the hill. We came upon a fledgling Green-striped Brushfinch bobbling awkwardly along the road on the way down. At the bottom, I got the best view yet of a male White-eared Hummingbird in the open while VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS performed loops overhead. Big, chunky Striped Sparrows foraged on the ground, and a BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER was working a weedy area in the fields. A female RED CROSSBILL perched on top of one of the conifers lining the road for great views, while another pair of Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercers worked some nearby flowering plants. I got some great views of the flashy red underwings of a family of NORTHERN FLICKERS that flushed from the low grasses into some pine trees. We finished at La Cima with the one bird the area is most noted for - the very rare and threatened SIERRA MADRE SPARROW. Their preferred bunchgrass habitat with scattered pines in high elevations is being turned into farmland at an alarming rate. Manuel speculates that there are perhaps only 2,000 pairs remaining in the world, and the vast majority of them live and breed within a several-mile radius of where we were standing along with a few other sites in Mexico. Manuel played an essential role in finding proper habitat, capturing and banding Sierra Madre Sparrows during a critical study conducted several years ago. We flushed one bird up to a rock outcropping from an area that probably held a nest, so we retreated to the road and later had a longer view of a bird perched on a weed and foraging on the ground.
We then headed back south, through the town of Tres Marias, and on to an area called Coajomulco which also features humid pine-oak forest but at a lower elevation. We drove down what I felt to be a precarious dirt road in Manuel's down-sized SUV before parking, but he insisted on staying off the main road shoulder because if the highway cops don't tow your car a passing thief will break into it. The incredible metallic song of the BROWN-BACKED SOLITAIRE rang out almost immediately; we were able to get a good look at one later. A high-pitched trill alerted Manuel to the presence of a WHITE-STRIPED WOODCREEPER, which I chased down for a couple nice views as it hitched its way up a few pines. The woods came alive with birds for the next hour, starting with a bird I had really wanted to see - a male OLIVE WARBLER - and continuing with HEPATIC TANAGER, WHITE-THROATED ROBIN, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, HUTTON'S VIREOS, Crescent-chested Warblers, and a RUSSET NIGHTINGALE-THRUSH that sang beautifully before affording a quick view as it darted across the trail. A song from deep in the understory that at first struck me as vireo-like was identified by Manuel as an ORANGE-BILLED NIGHTINGALE-THRUSH. It was so clear that I knew it had to be visible, and sure enough as we crept ever closer Manuel spotted the bird perched on a branch singing every 10-15 seconds. Manuel then heard the distinct call of a bird a bit further away - a MOUNTAIN TROGON! Not having any audio, he actually did an imitation by whistling and I was astounded to see this majestic bird soar in and perch almost directly overhead! The iridescence of the blue-green tail feathers was unlike anything I have ever seen. After several minutes of searching through more Olive Warblers in a pine tree, we finally got on a couple MEXICAN CHICKADEES that Manuel had heard. I had fleeting glimpses of a CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, and heard it call several times. I thought it reminded me of an Acadian Flycatcher's call. A bird that Manuel pegged as a Blue Mockingbird flashed across the trail, but I certainly didn't see enough of it to be happy counting it. When we got back to the car and started heading up the road, we slipped immediately. Manuel spun the wheels to no avail, and then slowly backed down the hill, turned to me and said, "You ready, buddy?" I knew what he meant... we took off like a shot and flew up the hill, bouncing around the cabin wildy and making it up another 50 feet before once again losing traction. But this time as we rolled back down, we somehow ran into a ditch and the axle lodged against the ground; we were not going anywhere soon. Amazingly, Manuel managed to get up to the road, jog into Coajomulco, find two guys with a huge work truck and had us pulled out of there in 45 minutes. He only had a $200 peso bill (about $20 US, more than a full day's wages for a layman) and I had nothing between a $500 peso bill and about $20 pesos in coins so Manuel gave it to them, producing huge smiles. Though he didn't want me to, I later reimbursed him half of this expense because, hey, we both went down there willingly!
We fought through some heavy mid-day traffic going back through Cuernavaca, and finally came out on the southeast side and then on to an area called Cañon de Lobos. This is a deep ravine with a highway running through the bottom, where you have to take care in parking lest the aforementioned fates befall your vehicle. Manuel chose to park at some industrial center and asked the security guard if he could keep an eye on the car; he may have paid him a small fee, I was too busy taking in the scenery. We had to walk along the shoulder for about half a mile which was kind of treacherous, but we hopped a fence for a few moments to relative safety on private property when we saw some movement on the other side of a stream. This area produced a THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD, STREAK-BACKED ORIOLE, and a ROSE-THROATED BECARD. We noticed a huge iguana sunning on a rock in the median of the highway, and I'm telling you this thing was so big I was glad to have two lanes of traffic between us! We finally came to a gate with a sign on it, from which a GROOVE-BILLED ANI flew as we approached. I asked Manuel if this is where he normally birds the area, and he said no... but that the whole valley was great thorn forest habitat and he was up for something new. The sign said something about the area being a natural preserve or something like that so we opened it and went in. In his book, Howell talks about how "private" property in many parts of Mexico doesn't mean what it does in the US, and it's even seen as strange to ask permission... so we felt comfortable with it, and started uphill along a path that was worn by a group of cattle that was contained within the borders of a barbed-wire fence. What they subsisted on I have no idea because other than acacia and other cool-looking twisted thorn trees and bushes, there wasn't anything for such a large beast to eat! Right off the bat we came across the strikingly-patterned RUSTY-CROWNED GROUND-SPARROW, an actively foraging NUTTING'S FLYCATCHER, two GOLDEN VIREOS, and a singing YELLOW-GREEN VIREO that followed us for a while. NORTHERN BEARDLESS TYRANNULETS and both GREATER and WESTERN PEWEES made appearances and called from high perches as well.
The trail was very rough and rocky and virtually straight up the valley, but the birds made it worth it. A LESSER GROUND-CUCKOO called several times from a distance, but Manuel said not to expect to see one... and there were other birds calling around us but not coming into view. It was around this time that Manuel decided to start doing his best imitation of a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl... it must have been dead-on, because the birds reacted immediately. Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrows came in low, and a BANDED WREN started chattering above us along with a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet. Then, a gorgeous RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER joined the mob and at one point I had it and the wren in focus in the same field of view! Next, quite unbelievably, up the ravine we heard a real FERRUGINOUS PYGMY-OWL start calling! We started a running joke at this point that Manuel was a pop star and all the birds were fighting to be the closest to the stage to hear his hit single. We heard but never saw a Greenish Elaenia (but luckily I happened into one on my own a few days later); and a TROPICAL KINGBIRD kept up a constant racket over our heads. On the way back down we saw a Streak-backed Oriole emerge from its nest, and an encore of Manuel's song brought a frazzled-looking DUSKY HUMMINGBIRD down to a perch for a nice, long look.
Hot and parched, we stopped to get some mango juice boxes from a roadside stand and headed to our last stop of the day, another natural thorn forest area just outside a poor village that seemed to have nothing more than dirt, rocks, scattered acacia trees and a few STRIPE-HEADED SPARROWS... though the surrounding vistas were amazing. As soon as we parked and started walking, a huge and impressive cuckoo swooped from one tree to another one nearby. The look we had was clear, and I immediately said, "That isn't like any cuckoo I've ever seen. It has such a pink wash on the belly and a striking black mask." Rachel and I had heard and then saw a Mangrove Cuckoo in terrible light in Florida once, but not like this, so I initially thought due to our inland location that it was a vibrantly-colored Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The whole encounter excited Manuel a great deal, and we went back to the car to check the books. Though MANGROVE CUCKOO shouldn't be in the inland state of Morelos, a little more research and study of his photos when he got back home that night proved this ID to be 100% correct! We followed the bird, and found that it had a friend; we heard at least 2-3 others call while we hiked the area.
Manuel sang his song a few more times that afternoon, bringing in some BLACK-CHESTED SPARROWS and yet another real Pygmy-owl who called from the surrounding trees. We heard Yellow Grosbeaks, a Black-vented Oriole, and a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher singing very close, but none came into view. An ELEGANT TROGON called way up on the hillside, and I admit here was one point at which I wish we had audio to bring at least a couple of these birds closer! As we started up the trail, I saw a nightjar flush from the ground and fly down the trail and into the trees; though Manuel didn't see it, he felt it was probably a Common Nighthawk. A raucous WHITE-THROATED MAGPIE-JAY called as it flew behind some trees up the valley. A vibrant song burst from the brush along the trail, and we were soon afforded some views of a HAPPY WREN through the tangles. We saw more nest-building behavior, this time by a pretty Rose-throated Becard.
I think at this point even I had reached the limit of what a birding freak can do in one day, and we headed back to the car. The last surprise of the day was not a bird... but a crew of five Federales (Federal Police) milling around the vehicle, all of whom were either carrying rifles or had their hand on their pistols as we approached. Manuel told them in Spanish that I did not speak the language (playing the "Gringo" card) so he could handle it while we were both thoroughly patted down and the vehicle was searched. He explained how he was an ornithologist, who often worked with law enforcement, and was guiding an American tourist on some birdwatching today. The officer in charge gave him a hard time... why didn't he have a permit or ID card to do such things? Of course, such a document does not exist but Manuel kept it cool and nodded his head as the guy chided him about being in such an unpredictable place where danger lurks around every corner, and how they are not used to finding such a nice vehicle parked so far off the road unless someone is up to no good. With this warning they let us go and we had a nervous laugh about it - it is not the first time he has been in such a situation, but it was a real eye-opener for me. In the end, I was much happier to have them waiting for us at the car than a group of armed thugs.
Manuel dropped me off back in Cuernavaca around 7:00pm after an awesome day of wonderful birds and adventures. I look forward to birding with him again, perhaps in Oaxaca next spring!
TOTAL SPECIES ENCOUNTERED: 88
LIFE BIRDS (54):
(* = Endemic species; Diurnal birds heard only are not on my "official" life list until seen)
Rose-throated Becard
Western Bluebird
Green-striped Brushfinch *
Bushtit (Black-eared)
Mexican Chickadee
Greenish Elaenia
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer *
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Nutting's Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (heard only)
Black-headed Grosbeak
Yellow Grosbeak (heard only)
Lesser Ground-Cuckoo (heard only)
Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow *
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Dusky Hummingbird *
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird *
Yellow-eyed Junco
Thick-billed Kingbird *
Tropical Kingbird
White-throated Magpie-Jay
Russet-crowned Motmot *
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Russet Nightingale-Thrush *
Black-vented Oriole (heard only) *
Streak-backed Oriole
| Mottled Owl
Greater Pewee
Western Wood Pewee
Slate-throated Redstart
Rufous-backed Robin *
White-throated Robin
Grey Silky-flycatcher *
Brown-backed Solitaire *
Black-chested Sparrow *
Sierra Madre Sparrow *
Striped Sparrow *
Stripe-headed Sparrow
Violet-green Swallow
White-naped Swift
Hepatic Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Elegant Trogon (heard only)
Mountain Trogon *
Golden Vireo *
Hutton's Vireo
Yellow-green Vireo
Crescent-chested Warbler *
Olive Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
White-striped Woodcreeper *
Long-tailed Wood-Partridge (heard only)*
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker *
Banded Wren
Grey-barred Wren
Happy Wren *
Canyon Wren (heard only)
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OTHER BIRDS (28):
Groove-billed Ani
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown Creeper (Mexican ssp. albescens)
Red Crossbill
Mangrove Cuckoo
Inca Dove
Rock Dove
House Finch
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
Vermilion Flycatcher
Lesser Goldfinch
Common Ground Dove
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk | Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Great Kiskadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Pine Siskin
House Sparrow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Bewick's Wren
House Wren (Brown-throated)
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl |
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Copyright 2008 Ken Blankenship. All rights reserved.
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