Birding at Rio Lagartos

Two things stood out today. The first is how friendly people can be, and the second is how friendly wildlife can be.

So, before I came to Mexico I had marked Rio Lagartos as somewhere I wanted to visit and in particular go birding. The best way to see it is from the water and that means taking a boat. I was keen to get a boat with a proper wildlife specialist. Some of the boats show you the Flamingos (not many this time of year) and then take you for a mud bath. I was keen to see as many birds as possible. Our excellent guide from Celestrun, Joel (WhatApp +52 9993905059) of Birding in the Yucatan and Birding Mexico Expeditions had recommended a particular boat captain. The bad news was that on the day we wanted to go he was already booked. The good news he was booked by Joel who was taking an American couple out. After a bit of WhatsApp messaging we were welcome to join them and split the cost of the trip! People in general and birders in particular are a very friendly bunch! And let me once again highly recommend Joel for both his bird knowledge and lovely friendly manner. You couldn’t wish for a better guide in Mexico.

When we first arrived in Rio Lagartos we drove along the coast and I was pleased to add Black Skimmer to my life list. The last time I saw a skimmer was in Africa and their bills are impossibly large!

That night we took a short trip to see Yucatan Nightjar. Basically we were lamping (shining a bright light) from a boat until we saw the tell-tale gleam of a bird’s eye looking back at us. We saw two but alas both poor views, with the birds flying before we got too close. But we did see them in the air with no white in the wing ruling out alternative birds.

The next morning we were out on the boat with birds everywhere. Before the boat set off I was pleased to add Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. From the boat we had closer views of lots of Herons and Egrets, an Osprey Fishing and was pleased to add Marbled Godwit to my life-list too.

It is at this point that I make my first reference to the “friendly” wildlife. A Common Black Hawk seemed to be following us along the mangrove edge instead of flying away. At one point our captain cut the engine and let the boat drift to within about 5m of the Hawk at which point I fired off some photos. I was pretty sure this was the closest I would ever get to this species, I was wrong. A bit later my wife pointed out that a distant log was in fact a large Crocodile. We subsequently added both American White and Brown Pelican, Reddish Egret, and Tricoloured Heron (life tick). We also added two rails – the very hard to see Rufus Napped Wood Rail (which we did see) through the mangroves and the Clapper Rail which we didn’t see but it gave fantastic calls.

We were heading back past where we had seen the Common Black Hawk earlier when I sensed a gentle movement at the front of the boat to which we were all stunned – the hawk had landed about 2 feet from our guide Joel. We all fired off some photos, the friendliness of the hawk put those with an iPhone on a near equal with me with my “big” camera. We suspected fishermen had fed this bird to account for this behaviour. After a while, perhaps a minute, it flew off. We added American Oystercatcher on the way back to port and I was delighted to ID two birds I know from home Herring Gull (the first time I have been pleased to see one) and Caspian Tern.

After saying good-bye to our new friends, when you are travelling someone you have met twice is definitely a friend, we passed a small lagoon with Flamingos, allowing a good photo. 

We then stopped at an area of scrub that Joel had recommended and added several new birds including Laughing Falcon, White-Tailed Hawk, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and Indigo Bunting. We had to let some IDs go without the excellent Joel as our guide.

A fantastic days birding and great to see my trip list grow to 217.