Subject: Mexico Birding
Date: Feb 2 12:38:05 2004
From: Carol Riddell - cariddell at mac.com
Hi Tweets,
I just got back from two weeks on the Pacific Coast and the central
highlands of Jalisco and Guanajuato. My message will not be of interest to
experienced birders of Mexico, just to other neophytes. Last year I was
disappointed because I had just taken the Peterson Field Guide to Mexican
Birds, in spite of having been warned that it wasn't very good. Once on the
trip I discovered to my horror that it lacked pictures of about 400 birds.
So this year, following the advice of experienced birders of Mexico, I took
Peterson and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North
America. This seemed to be an acceptable combination of two small books
that give pretty good coverage when used together. I also used Steve N.G.
Howell's A Bird-Finding Guide to Mexico because it covers the areas where I
was traveling. The three books together did not take up much room in my
carry-on luggage and worked very well. The only time Howell's directions
did not seem to work was getting from our base in Ciudad Guzman to the Fire
Volcano (Volcan de Fuego). We ended up at the park entrance to the Colima
Volcano because we never could find a particular turn he described. The
park authorities said the Colima Volcano was equally interesting and that we
would not be able to get our rental car (a Chevy Cavalier) on the Fire
Volcano road as it did not have high enough clearance. The Colima Volcano
was covered in snow this year (the peak is 4240 meters) so it was fun to go
from frigid afternoon weather to balmy temps on the coast that evening.
I understand that people who drive to Mexico take along a large, weighty
hard-cover book that is comprehensive for the birds of Mexico and Central
America. Perhaps those who are flying down for the sole purpose of birding
take it along, too. Since my trip was a combination of birding and touring,
I thought my combination of books worked pretty well. We flew into
Manzanillo and it is indeed true that the marshes and agricultural fields
along the 5 km. airport access road are truly productive for interesting
birds. I got a number of life birds on the trip and saw a lot of great
mural art by Clemente Orozco and Chavez Morado, as well as the Diego Rivera
home and museum (it included the unfinished painting he was working on when
he died three year's after Frida's death).
I had another example of why I find Sibley to be the superior field guide.
I had a few minutes to bird the ponds before we had to turn in the rental
car and was intrigued by a hawk I saw. I just couldn't pin it down with
either Peterson or the Nat'l Geographic and wondered if it was a juvenile
something-or-other. So I carefully noted some field marks and checked
Sibley as soon as I got in the door. Bingo! It was a juvenile Gray Hawk.
My third observation of a Gray and my first of a juvenile!
Good birding,
Carol Riddell
Edmonds