Gary,
Mexico with many varied habitats is well worth visiting at certain times of the year. The summer though would be brutal as far as heat goes in many lowland areas, with birding dying down pretty early in the morning. Think South Texas in the summer and you're there. So, eastern places like Cancun, The Yucatan, Quintanaroo, Palenque, western places like San Blas/ Nayarit, and Baja, and central places like southern Oaxaca and Chiapas, and northern Tamalipus, would not be optimal then. So what does that leave. Probably the interior mountains would be your best bet. So if that were the case, then it would probably come down to what birds you might want to see, or what areas you might be interested in if you're looking for cultural experiences, or how secure you feel traveling in certain parts of Mexico, or whether you will have a car or not.
Some places that I would recommend would be 1-Colima. Where you could drive up the volcano and see some great birds. Or 2-Chiapas where you would be over 5,000 feet regularly. Though some people have concerns about safety there. We didn't have a single problem and loved the area. Or possibly 3-the mountains north-west of Alcapulco( west of Chilpancingo). Again another area that some people worry about. Again we had zero problems there. The roads here are pretty rough, but we had no trouble with a regular rental car. Or 4-the area in the mountains south-east of Cuidad Victoria in Tamalipus. This is a great spot, though I don't know how hot it gets in the summer. I've only been there in November. If it wasn't too hot there that would be a place to hang out. As for the mountains in Sonora, Chihuahua, I'm not sure what they would be like in the summer. My guess is that you would have to gain some elevation to escape the heat. Probably somewhat like Arizona in the summer.
Anyway, hopefully a place to start. Hopefully more Tweeters will respond and you can pull all the info into a cohesive set of data. I'd also try trip reports that are on the web and see what spots others have been too. I love Mexico so I might have a built in bias. Feel free to get back in touch if I can be of help.

Barry

________________________________

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu on behalf of Gary Bletsch
Sent: Fri 3/10/2006 8:37 PM
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Mexico RFI



Dear Tweeters,

As this seemingly interminable winter winds down, I am
thinking of doing some Neotropic birding this summer.
Mexico appeals to me, because I have never been there,
and also because I am guessing that it might be less
expensive than points south.

I have spent about three weeks birding in Costa Rica,
so I do have some Neotropic experience already; I have
also birded quite a bit in the USA along the Mexican
border. I am interested in going somewhere where I can
see lots of lifers. I speak pretty good Spanish, am
quite comfortable in uncomfortable places, and will
most likely go down there alone.

I would love to hear any suggestions for places to go,
itineraries, ways to maximize habitat coverage,
recommendations, and disrecommendations. If you can
think of a way to bird South America without its being
much more expensive than Mexico or Central America, I
would be interested, too--expecially since I have
amassed what is probably the world's most pathetic
South American bird list, at least for someone who
lived there for over seven months.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch



Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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