A quick and easy trip, relaxing, almost like a vacation. I’d add a few nice birds to my life list and it would be fun to bird with Steve Shunk again. Steve is the owner of Paradise Birding, until recently based in the woodpecker wonderland of central Oregon. I will always remember my life Black-backed Woodpecker that Steve found for me fifteen years ago, a stunning adult male in fresh fall plumage. The trip would also put Mexico on my eBird map. Those were my thoughts when I planned a trip to Mexico. Some of those goals were achieved, but it was not an easy trip. I got sick with a respiratory bug before our second full day was over. If one travels enough, these things happen. It gave me practice being grateful for what I did see and not stressing over the misses. I comforted myself with the thought that if I missed everything, I could do the trip over again.
It would have been impossible to miss the snazzy Streak-backed Orioles that were everywhere.
My friend, Derek, was able to join me for this trip and we both had connecting flights in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Three hours later, we arrived in Puerto Vallarta where Steve and his partner, Lizzy Martinez, picked us up and started the drive south along the coastal road. We soon had our first exciting observation of the trip – a baby Humpback Whale playing just offshore!
As soon as we arrived at Rancho Primavera, we had more excitement with this pretty little Buff-breasted Flycatcher, an uncommon bird on the ranch.
We got settled into our house for the week and then went to the nearby town of El Tuito for dinner. The ranch has three houses that can be rented and we chose Villa Carpintero which was a great base for the week. We had lots of space, a kitchen, a lovely balcony, and a bird feeder in the yard. The lake was visible from the balcony and the dock was just two minutes from our door. We would see Golden-cheeked Woodpeckers on our feeder every day.
On our first morning at the ranch, Tuesday, January 28, we started at Bonnie’s feeders. Bonnie owns Rancho Primavera and the main feeding area is her yard. It was perfect to start the week with Black-throated Magpie-Jay (in photo below), Yellow Grosbeak, Cinnamon Hummingbird, Blue Mockingbird, and other wonderful birds, many endemic to Western Mexico.
Not an endemic species of the area, but we loved the Yellow Grosbeaks.
Several species of hummingbirds frequented the nectar feeders in Bonnie’s yard. The most plentiful were Cinnamon Hummingbird, Plain-capped Starthroat, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Rancho Primavera is a release site where rescued parrots are returned to the wild. The rescue birds tend to stick near the feeding area. We enjoyed close views of this gorgeous Lilac-crowned Amazon.
We spent the rest of the day birding other areas of the ranch and added a few more life birds to our lists.
On Tuesday morning, we started at Bonnie’s feeders again with a couple of new birds including West Mexican Chachalaca.
Next, it was off to Vallarta Botanical Gardens, a lovely spot with interesting plants, a few butterflies, and a wonderful lunch. It is the easiest location to see San Blas Jays; they come to the feeders there. It’s also the best place to see the brilliant Golden-crowned Emerald, which was much too quick for me to get a photo. Derek is faster than me and he got the shot below.
After lunch, we returned to the ranch and I started feeling sick. For two and a half days, I stayed at our casa while Derek birded with Steve and Lizzy. If you have to be sick on a birding trip, this was the place for it. It was much more comfortable to stay in one place rather than pack up and move every day. I spent some time sitting on our balcony enjoying the birds that came to the feeder. I was surprised that we had our own Yellow-breasted Chat that came to eat fruit every day. We also had many of the same birds that we’d seen at Bonnie’s feeders – Golden-cheeked Woodpeckers, Yellow-winged Caciques, Cinnamon-bellied Saltators, and Streak-backed Orioles. I got my best views of White-throated Thrushes and Rufous-backed Robins in our yard.
Yellow-winged Caciques were common on the ranch.
Blue Mockingbirds also came to our feeder.
By Sunday, I was feeling well enough for a trip to the southern coast of Cabo Corrientes and the coastal thorn forest. We were successful finding the bird that I most wanted on this trip, the beautiful Orange-breasted Bunting.
Steve also found a bird that is now one of my favorites, an exquisite Citreoline Trogon.
It was a lovely day with a delicious lunch of local Mexican food at a beach-side restaurant at Mayto. After eating, we drove a short distance for this postcard-perfect view of the Pacific coastline.
Late that afternoon, we drove the other direction, up into the nearby mountains. Eared Poorwill is a difficult bird to see and Steve had never taken birders to look for it, but I wanted to try and he was willing to take us to the spot. We did not see the poorwill, but I am so glad that we tried. The mountains were beautiful and peaceful and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.
The week had gone quickly and soon we had only one full day left. We spent that day at the ranch and found some nice birds. The Golden Vireo in Steve and Lizzy’s yard lived up to its name.
Later, we were thrilled to have close looks at an extremely cooperative Russet-crowned Motmot.
Several species of neotropical migrants also winter at the ranch; the most common was Nashville Warbler.
Derek and I are avid iNaturalist users and we enjoyed some interesting flora and fauna. Derek was fascinated with our whipscorpion. My favorite sighting was one that I missed, Derek’s adorable little Dwarf Mexican Tree Frog.
A sample of my observations is in the gallery below.
All of my iNat observations can be seen here and Derek’s here.
We left for the airport and our flights home on February 4. Our flight was late enough that we could indulge in one stop on the way, the beautiful little beach at Boca de Tomatlán, a tiny town just south of Puerto Vallarta. It was a quick stop, but we were rewarded with our target birds, adult Heerman’s Gulls.
In spite of being sick, I saw most of the important birds and I have many happy memories of the week. Rancho Primavera was the perfect base for exploring the area and we could not have asked for better guides than Steve Shunk and Lizzy Martinez. See our eBird trip report for a complete list of birds, locations, and photos.
Birding for Life 