What a great trip!
We flew to Puerto Vallarta April 14. We arrived late in the
afternoon, but still had
enough day light to go for a walk. Our hotel, The Villa Del
Mar (old town) was just a
few blocks from the beach and the Rio Cuale. Both areas were
good for birding.
We spent all day Thursday walking and birding. The MAGNIFICENT
FRIGATEBIRDS fly continually over the bay. At the river, there
were GREEN HERONS and GREEN KINGFISHERS. Where the river flows
into the Bay of
Banderas, there was a NORTHERN JACANA. What a colorful bird.
Among the
trees along the rivers were GROOVED BILL ANI. We also saw a
small bird and
it took us a bit to ID it. It was a WHITE COLLARD SEEDEATER.
There were so
many new birds to ID, it really kept us on our toes.
We saw ninety species, and sixty of them were new to us.
Friday, we made arrangements to go to San Blas. A young local
fellow drove us there
in a new Volkswagen (for a price). He spoke excellent english,
so Herman was driver and tour guide, all in one.
We had a comfortable room (hot running water and two double
beds) in San Blas. Oh,
yes, and a fan for the affordable price of 150 pesos per
night. (About $16.)
The boat trip to La Tovara is a must.. Our boatman and bird
guide, Oscar, took us
through the mangroves and helped us ID many birds.
Some of the highlights were LAUGHING FALCON, ANHINGA, NORTHERN

POTOO, BOAT-BILLED HERON, PURPLE GALLINULE, ...were do I stop.

I will give complete list at the end.
Monday, Manuel Lomeli, took us for a guided trip in the jungle
by Singayta. Manuel
is a very knowledgeable guide and also speaks excellent
english. He knows about the
birds, local history, plants and animals. Some of the birds
seen on this trip were BLACK-
THROATED MAGPIE-JAY, RUSSET-CROWNED MOTMOT, CITREOLINE and
ELEGANT TROGANS, ROSE-THROATED BECARD, HAPPY WREN, ROSEATE
SPOONBILL and many more. We spotted a BLACK-VENTED ORIOLE and
Manual said it was rare for the area.
There are many places in San Blas you can walk to and see a
variety of birds. One of the outstanding birds we saw on a
walk was the YELLOW ING-WING CACIQUE.
Jerry got many good pictures and they will be posted later.We
hope to go back someday. The food was good and we found the
people to be very
friendly.

LEAST GREBE
PIED-BILLED GREBE
BROWN PELICAN
NEOTROPIC CORMORANT
ANHINGA
MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD
BARE-THROATED TIGER HERON
GREAT EGRET
SNOWY EGRET
LITTLE BLUE HERON
TRICOLORED HERON
CATTLE EGRET
GREEN HERON
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
BOAT-BILLED HERON
WHITE IBIS
WHITE-FACED IBIS
ROSEATE SPOONBILL
WOOD STORK
BLACK VULTURE
TURKEY VULTURE
COMMON BLACK HAWK
GREY HAWK
CRESTED CARACARA
LAUGHING FALCON
COLLARD-FOREST FALCON
WEST MEXICAN CHACHALACA
WOOD RAIL
SORA
PURPLE GALLINULE
BALCK-NECKED STILT
NORTHERN JACANA
LAUGHING GULL
HEERMANN'S GULL
RED-BILLED PIGEON
WHITE-WINGED DOVE
INCA DOVE
COMMON GROUND DOVE
RUDDY GROUND DOVE
ORANGE-FRONTED PARAKEET
MILATARY MACAW
WHITE-FRONTED PARROT
SQUIRREL CUCKOO
GROOVE-BILLED ANI
NORTHERN POTOO
CINNAMON HUMMINGBIRD
RUFUS HUMMINGBIRD
CITREOLINE TROGAN
ELEGANT TROGAN
RUSSET-CROWNED MOTMOT
BELTED KINGFISHER
GREEN KINGFISHER
GOLDEN-CHECKED WOODPECKER
LINEATED WOODPECKER
BROWN-CRESTED FLYCHATCHER
GREAT KISKADEE
SOCIAL FLYCATCHER
TROPICAL KINGBIRD
ROSE-THROATED BECARD
MACKED TITYRA
TREE SWALLOW
N. ROUGH WINGED SWALLOW
BARN SWALLOW
BLACK-THROATED MAGPIE-JAY
HAPPY WREN
NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
WARBLING VIREO
SOLITARY VIREO
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
YELLOW WARBLER
SCRUB EUPHONIA
AMERICAN RESTART
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT
WILSON'S WARBLER
YELLOW BREASTED CHAT
WESTERN TANAGER
GREYISH SALTATOR
PAINTED BUNTING
WHITE-COLLARD SEEDEATER
STRIPED-HEADED SPARROW
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE
BRONZED COWBIRD
ORCHARD ORIOLE
STREAKED-BACK ORIOLE
BLACK-VENTED ORIOLE
YELLOW-WINGED CACIQUE
RUFUS-BACKED ROBIN
HOUSE SPARROW

Sandy and Jerry Converse
Grand Coulee, WA

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember, amateurs built the Ark and
Professionals built the Titanic.