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Tucson Audubon Society From my seat in this very nice Boeing 757, I can see the blue mountains of Jalisco and white beaches of Puerto Vallarta receding in the distance, being replaced by ocean beneath us as we head back to Arizona. Once again, a week of great birding has flown by, but the memories will linger. Friends from Texas persuaded me to take them birding in Jalisco. After last year’s great trip with Larry Liese, I was ready to go back. We arrived in Puerto Vallarta last Wednesday (3 hours late due to a faulty radio and subsequent replacement plane) and were met by Pat Morrow, her daughter Bonnie and our driver Carlos, and transported to Rancho Primavera near the small town of El Tuito. Unfortunately it was too late to bird that day, so we settled into our comfortable rooms and had refreshing drinks and a delicious meal (the first of many fantastic meals here) prepared by Bonnie and Pat from ingredients raised on the ranch. It was very cool as we loaded up at 7:30 on Thursday morning for a jaunt to Bioto Road. There were so many birds that we stood in one spot for an hour and tried to sort them out. A pair of Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers really put on a show. Orange-fronted Parakeets, White-fronted Parrots and Military Macaws screeched and wheeled overhead, and a Squirrel Cuckoo yelled "met-tar!" A pair of Pale-billed Woodpeckers came in to investigate and Cinnamon Hummingbirds zipped through the flowers. An Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Rose-throated Becards, and West-Mexican Chachalacas posed for the scope as Rufous-capped Warblers teased us from the brush. What a place to start our lists! After a lovely lunch at Altamira Restaurant, we returned to the ranch for a siesta, and later birded the ponds and fields of the ranch property. A whole flock of Sinaloa Martins and many water birds were added to the list. The trees around the ranch were loaded with kiskadees, flycatchers, kingbirds, caciques, woodpeckers (love that Golden-cheeked Woodpecker!), tityras, Black-vented and Streak-backed Orioles, and the ground was littered with Stripe-headed Sparrows. All this splendor was followed by an equally splendid dinner and delicious dessert. Such was our daily routine, with different destinations and different birds each day. Here are just a few of the highlights: w A magnificent Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and stunning Orange-breasted Buntings at Cajon de Pena reservoir; w Perky Black-headed Siskins, Berylline Hummingbirds, and scope views of a Bright-rumped Attila, Gray-crowned Woodpecker, and a Laughing Falcon (laughing loudly) at La Bascula; w The road to Juntas de Veranos with its trogons, solitaires, becards, orioles, and swarms of Lilac-crowned Parrots; w Laguna de Quelele with more Black-bellied Whistling Ducks than I knew existed, many wading birds, and a tree full of Mexican Parrotlets. David crossed on a rotten board, reached for a rotten handrail that broke under his weight, and plunged six feet into the foot-deep mud, landing flat on his back in the muck. What an apparition—body, camcorder, and binoculars oozing with mud as he sloshed his way back to the van, miraculously unhurt! w The fruiting tree in El Tuito alive with Rufous-backed and White-throated Robins, and its resident Russet-crowned Motmot; w Getting to play with an orphaned 10-month old jaguar in El Tuito; w Shopping in Puerto Vallarta and being presented with a beaded Huichol jaguar head by the members of my group! w And Bonnie dancing into the room on the last night at the ranch, resplendent in her hand-made Mexican dress, singing La Cucaracha and balancing a huge pitcher of tamarindo juice laced with tequila—yummy! It turns out that the best birds of all were on the ranch property itself. On the third morning, I heard what I thought was a tinamou—a long quavering whistle all on one level. I whistled in return and received an answer. We followed the sound and found little clumps of leaves and dirt popping up from the forest floor. I zeroed in with my scope and saw a red and black bird digging in the leaf litter and tossing it high into the air. Rosy-Thrush Tanager!! Then I noticed there were two puffs of leaves going up, and found the female. Wow! Everyone saw the male in the scope but the female remained mostly hidden. And then this morning, just before we left, we walked once again to the same area behind the main ranch building and staked out the flowering shrubs for hummingbirds. I heard David yell and followed him into the meadow where he was riveted to a tiny hummingbird perched on a bare stick. Oh...my...gosh! It was a male Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird (formerly Woodstar) with long split tail twitching side to side. He sallied out for insects but always returned to that particular perch. The whole group, including Pat and Bonnie, got to see him through the scope. And after we tired of watching this little show-off, another hummingbird flew in about 3 feet to our left. A Mexican Woodnymph! In the same area, a male Black-capped Vireo and a Blue Mockingbird appeared. What a fantastic last morning to our trip! In spite of a 20-minute stop by the Federales on the way to the airport, we made it and were on our way home with a list of 213 Jalisco birds: 24 new species added to Rancho Primavera’s "Seen by Ranch Guests" list, and probably five extra pounds from all the delicious food. We couldn’t designate a clear winner for favorite bird; everyone had a different choice. That tells you what great birding we had. I think Pat and Bonnie are likely to see my face again in the not-too-distant future. After being treated like royalty for a week, it’s going to be hard to return to "normal." Editor’s note: This article was written in March, 2004. We were not able to run it until now.
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