Yucatan

From Palenque, we headed into the Yucatan Peninsula for a few days.
We stayed a while at Tulum, where we mainly got very drunk, but we did manage some birding in the scrub opposite our hostel.


Rose-throated Tanager (yucatan endemic)


White-eyed Vireo (my hot tip to turn up in Britain or Ireland sometime soon)

We also had a day out at the nearby Mayan ruins of Coba


Black-headed Trogon

Plain Chachalaca

Worm-eating Warbler

After rushing through the grim town of Playa-del-Carmen (think Costa Del Sol, but with the package holiday brits replaced by their american counterparts, yuk!!) we got the boat out to Cozumel Island, which was also very plasticky and crappy around the main town, but exploring the island, we found it be quite a nice spot, and we also caught up with some local endemics;

Cozumel Vireo

Yucatan Vireo

Cozumel Emerald

Palenque photos

After a gruelling 26 hour bus journey from Oaxaca, we arrived at the historic Mayan ruin site of Palaenque, where we stayed for 4 days over Christmas. The ruins themselves were extremely busy with tourists, but the trails leading off into the nearby gave us some excellent birding.

White-collared Swift

Red-capped Manakin

distant White Hawk

female Great Antshrike

Kentucky Warbler (taken through a window in our tent)

Bat Falcon, sat in a tree in the centre of the ruins early in the morning

Lovely Cotinga, taken from the top of one of the Pyramids. These birds are infinitely better seen in the sunlight, they are an unbelievable electric blue, with big purple patches, just stunning!!

Oaxaca

One of the highlights of our trip was a 5 day stay with our good friend and expert local birder, Eric Martinez, in Teotitlan Del Valle, in Oaxaca State. The birding was truly excellent in this area, and with Eric's knowledge of the local sites, we were able to pick up a decent number of regional endemics and specialties, along with plenty of other great birds.


Oaxaca Sparrow


Lesser Nighthawk, Usual Excuses for poor quality(near darkness, manual focus, Max ISO ,blah blah blah)


Bridled Sparrow

Black-throated Grey Warbler

Rock Wren

Bullocks Oriole

Vermillion Flycatcher

Boucard's Wren

Red Warbler

Chestnut-sided Shrike Vireo

Red-faced Warbler

Violet-green Swallow

Lark Sparrow

White-throated Towhee (looks like a heap of shit, but a very range restricted endemic and my 1000th bird of the year)

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

Curve-billed Thrasher

Western Mexico

After Baja, we crossed the Sea of Cortez to Western mainland Mexico, where we spent a few days each birding around San Blas and Uruapan:


Russet Crowned Motmot


Slate-throated Redstart


Russet Nightingale-thrush

3 appaling record shots of 3 cracking warblers, all in the same tree;

Graces's Warbler

Olive Warbler

Hermit Warbler

Elegant Quail, a tricky North-west Mexican endemic

Masked Tityra

Citreoline Trogon

Bell's Vireo

Tropical Parula

Cinammon Hummingbird

Rufous-backed Thrush

The end, and the beginning

For anyone reading this who wasn't already aware, the trip is over, we're safely back in England.

It was an epic journey and we had a fantastic time, seeing incredible places, meeting some truly excellent people and of course, some mind-boggling birding. The final trip list was a monster 873!!! of which about 850 were recorded in the 3 months from leaving the Tip of Long Point, Canada to departing Panama City.
Of course, now i'm back I have the monumental task of sorting through stacks of photographs, here's the first installment, all from the peninsula of Baja California, in North-western Mexico.



Spotted Sandpiper


Blue-footed Booby


Yellow-footed Gull

Double-crested Cormorant

Clark's Grebe

Savannah Sparrow

Sage Sparrow

Western Sandpiper

American Avocet

To be honest (and it may well become painfully obvious as I continue to upload photos) I took relatively few shots on this trip. I simply found that it was challenging enough getting good looks at birds, particulalry in rainforest/jungle (which most of our birding was in).

Still, I managed to take a fair few shots, and i'll be slowly sorting through them over the coming weeks/months/years, so be sure to check back frequently.