| Bird Watching in Puerto Vallarta |
By Miguel Camacho F. - Editor of Ambito -
June, 2005
|
Last week I went out bird watching with my friend Gerardo. He is an experienced tour guide who specializes in nature tours and bird watching, and received first-hand training by Manuel Lomelí, one of the few Mexican ornithologists recognized by the Audubon societies.
 Puerto Vallarta is a very special place for bird watching. Because it has wetlands, coastal lagoons and estuaries as well as jungle covered mountains, it offers a home for all kinds of birds, from beachcombers, spoonbills, herons, egrets, ducks, to woodpeckers, doves, flycatchers, parakeets, jays, magpies, orioles, hummingbirds, mockingbirds, owls, hawks and eagles. There are numerous endemic species, some of which share a home in Puerto Vallarta and can only be found together here.
Bird watching is an early morning activity. We left before sunrise towards the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta, and very soon we spotted some ducks flying to their feeding areas, a prelude to the many species of birds we were about to encounter.
With the rising sun we arrived at a crossroad were we got off the van and started walking on foot trails, and immersed in a birdsong symphony; at a certain point we could hear the song of ten different species of birds around us.
Gerardo, of course, knows all the birds by name. And he told me the name of every bird we spotted, but they were simply too many to remember. I do remember a few of them, like the black-throated magpie and the San Blas jay, the blue jay, elegant trogon, cinnamon hummingbird, gray hawk, a black hawk we spotted in the distance.
As we strolled along the paths under the evergreen trees, we enjoyed witnessing the life of birds, something that looked like hummingbird courtship later turned out to be a territorial quarrel; and the magnificent flight of two gray hawks was in fact a diversion to drive us away from their nest, which we discovered on the top of a huge tree, and from which we kept a respectful distance. This diversion proved to be a priceless opportunity to admire those wonderful birds flying around for quite some time. One of them later remained perched on a tree branch, and that was a treat to our eyes. It was a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by such an abundance of wildlife. At times we had a hard time deciding on which specimen to set our binoculars. Sparrows, jays, trogons, parrots, hummingbirds, it was a feast!
We spent the morning filling our senses with the sounds and the sight of beautiful birds, and the cool morning breeze on our faces.
As we headed back for Puerto Vallarta, we were both very pleased by our successful bird watching expedition. We had enjoyed the sight of numerous species of all kinds of birds, even enjoyed the excitement of spotting a species of robin for the first time, and rejoiced in the close contact with nature. Gerardo can be reached at
gerardomexico@yahoo.com.mx or at Tel. No. 011 52 [322) 227-9750
Source: Ambito Puerto Vallarta Weekly Newspaper
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