So now what?

So that was Mexico. It seemed to spill out really rather quickly so I took advantage. 25 posts in January must be some kind of record? In fact let me check that...... indeed it is. You have to go back to 2017 to get close, where somehow I spouted out 24 that January. One of those was this one about Redpolls which some of you may remember. In my highly biased opinion it is well worth re-reading, especially as it came true last year!

As I mentioned the real reason for bashing out so many travel posts in quick succession is that I have a lot of juicy photos of Wheatears lined up that I am very keen to publish, all taken with my new Sony setup, but in order to allow myself this treat I pledged that I would first catch up  to the present day. The whole thing is ridiculous. I still have to quickly write up Greece (Novemeber) and Spain (December) , two weekend jaunts at the end of the year but Mexico was in October 2024 so I have made excellent progress as at the end of last year I was still wittering on about June. I am aware that these travel posts don't appeal as much as, say, dipping Yellow Warbler but that isn't really the point. Schadenfreude has always been irrationally popular. 

That said, and I bet I forgot to mention it, I did see the Yellow Warbler. It popped up again a couple of days after I had missed it and I nipped straight down and got it within the hour. And with a much smaller crowd which felt a lot nicer. I think that might have been the last day it was seen, not sure. So 2024 was not afterall a blank year in terms of new UK birds. Clearly my advancement up the UK twitcher leaderboard has slowed to a crawl but I may yet rediscover a thirst for it. Or not as the case may be, and either of those two outcomes is fine by me, I'll just take it as it comes. Right now my priorities lie elsewhere but that could change. As this blog makes abundantly clear I much prefer birding abroad. Or in Scotland. The southeast of England is just really hard work, simply too crowded.

Much of 2025 is expected to be spent here

Anyway, welcome to February. January seems to have passed in a blur - mainly due to location of the photo above - and no doubt this month will too. It is good to be busy. I have a modicum of travel planned but it is another busy month at work and I also have to get the 2023 London Bird Report done, an annual contribution to birding in London that takes a surprising amount of time. No doubt I will end up having to burn the candle at both ends to get it done. On the plus side I have very happily found a successor, and so she and I will tackle 2023 together before I hand over the reins. See you in March!

Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Trip List

We saw exactly 200 species over the six days, the extra diversity versus our last trip being the northern coast around Rio Lagartos. I cannot recommend this area highly enough, easy relaxed birding and loads to see, and I don't think we encountered anyone whilst out on the various tracks. Cozumel was excellent too, very glad that we added that on at the beginning as the two endemics got the trip off to a great start. Other than the scumbag police near Tulum we had no issues whatsoever.

Of the 200, 12 were lifers, versus 30 last time. This was not a productive trip in that respect but neither was it expected to be, compared to somewhere like the Pantanal where so much was new. My Mexico list now stands at 245 having only visited the Yucatan twice, so to have seen over 40 new birds across those two trips feels OK. I am not sure I would do other areas of Mexico by myself but I need to research that more fully - the FCDO webpage about safety and security is extremely lengthy.

Trip List

Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Day 6 - Wakax Hacienda and home

Day six and there is not a lot to tell. We had a long walk around Wakax Hacienda before breakfast, once again heading out into the forest via the yoga retreat and then returning via the lagoon. A Ferruginous Pygmy Owl was calling at dawn, and we also heard (but did not see) the Collared Forest-Falcon near the main swimming pool again so it must be resident on the estate. A Yellow-lored Amazon flew over and in a fruiting tree by the main lagoon we found Altimira Oriole, Hooded Oriole and Melodious Blackbird with upwards of ten Yellow-throated Euphonia. We also found a second lagoon off the entrance track that was being developed, presumably into something akin to the first one, with bridges, boardwalks, viewpoints and so on, and on this one were well over 200 Vaux's Swift coming down to drink. We also found a Carolina Wren in a brush pile. 

By now I think I had given up with my camera, all week it seemed to have been getting heavier and heavier, especially when compared to Mick's lovely new and extremely lightweight (by comparison) Olympus mirrorless kit. The end was drawing near I felt. Indeed once I got back I made the momentous and very sad decision to get rid of the DSLR and join the modern revolution. So this trip was the last with Canon - that 500mm f4 had served me brilliantly for over ten years, and when I finally sent it off I very nearly had second thoughts, especially when I saw the pittance that I was offered for it - lots of scratches and scuffs to the paintwork, and as everyone with an sense knows it's absolutely vital that a camera lens is totally pristine on the outside in order for it to be able to take a sharp photograph. Grrrr. 

Social Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

We took a leisurely breakfast at the restaurant and then set off again on another foray into the forest. This produced much the same set of birds as the first, or so it felt, but there were good numbers of Lesson's Motmot near the yoga platform, a pair of Turquoise-browed Motmot, three Pygmy Owls all piping away, lots of White-eyed Vireo, Yucatan Vireo and a Yellow-throated Vireo. We also found Tawny-winged Woodcreeper but overall we felt that Wakax Hacienda disappointed on the bird front, especially vs what we knew had been recorded here. Over the course of an afternoon and a morning we recorded just 63 species whereas we had imagined we would get over 100 and lots of our targets. In the event we saw just one new bird for the trip, Neotropic Cormorant.

We returned to the room, packed up the gear, washed off the grime and changed into our last remaining fresh clothes. It was time to go. We headed back to Tulum for another set of tacos, and then pointed the car towards Cancun. We made one final stop at the Yaax Che botanic garden but this served only to add a few mosquito bites and we shouldn't have bothered.

And that was it, well done if you made it this far, I am nothing if not stubborn by following this relentless day by day approach but if I didn't it would be an immense post. The other approach would be to just to show the map with the pins, add the trip list (which follows tomorrow), whack a few photos on and leave it at that. I'd find that somewhat unsatisfying, but it would get it out of the way a lot quicker!

Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Day 5 - Tulum, Muyil and Wakax Hacienda

We ended up staying at the top end of Tulum, and persusing eBird had suggested that a lot of trip ticks might be found at the new Quintana Roo airport. Think of this a modern Mayan site, as just like archaeological ruins it is the access roads through the jungle that are the real draw. And boy is there an access road - it is huge, like a motorway, and goes in for miles. It's a reasonable distance south of Tulum, but once off the main road you head off vaguely north for quite a while, doubling back on the yourself such that when you arrive you are nearly opposite Tulum again. There is a keen eBirder in the area called Daniel, responsible for all of the enticing pins (now seemingly consolidated into one central pin with 199 species since May 2024), and we actually met him not that long after we arrived - he is an airport employee with responsibility for relocating wildlife that strays onto the now built-on areas, so collecting snakes and so on. I imagine he has his work cut out as so much forest has been removed. 

Keel-billed Toucan

We concentrated on the road that runs directly parallel to the airport rather than the entrance road as that was quite busy with traffic. We went nearly all the way to the far end where there is a military case, and then started birding on the far side of the road just far enough away that the soldiers wouldn't be able to see us. This is also the side of the road that borders untouched forest and whilst it is fenced off you can get really good views of the verge and the trees. We also birded the airport side of the road to the east of all of the construction and where there is a footpath/trail set slightly into the trees, and this was rather good too. 

Collared Aracari

Ivory-billed Woodcreeper

We spent about two and a half hours here, starting at 7am, and recorded 30 species. Of note was an Olive-sided Flycatcher which was a new bird for the site, three Keel-billed Toucan, a group of Collared Aracari, a flight of Yellow-lored Amazon, several Lineated Woodpecker, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Bright-rumped Attila, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Lesser Greenlet, and a pair of Scaled Pigeon. The only real issue was how busy the area was, with lots of noisy trucks and buses drowning out the birds, and ultimately this caused us to leave and somewhere else.

Somewhere else was the village opposite the ruins at Muyil. We had birded here before on our last visit and found it extremely productive. Unlike the airport this is lovely and quiet, and we spent an hour and a half walking round the largely zoned yet undeveloped streets. One of these roads ran out and turned into a track which led to a clearing in the forest and a memorable encounter with a Barred Antshrike. We also found two Masked Tityra, three Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Hooded Oriole, Green Jay, a nice group of Yellow-throated Euphonia, a Squirrel Cuckoo, two Black-headed Saltator and two Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, and a smart Prothonotary Warbler. 

Masked Tityra

Barred Antshrike

After exhausting the village we crossed the road to find the ruins closed off and construction work occuring. Thinking we might be able to access the back of the site from the lagoon, and knowing there was a rear entrance there, we started to drive along the rough track to the side of the site. We were immediately chased down by two guys on a moped insistent on collecting a parking fee from us. Fine, but it does rather grate that all people want is money for doing nothing, all the time every time. We were indeed able to sneak in at the back, and walked along the deserted boardwalk that led through the flooded woodland. I am not sure how it has been closed for, but without regular traffic it is falling rather into disrepair. We did not find a great deal it has to be said, but Yellow-billed Cacique, Long-billed Gnatwren and Grey Catbird were new for the trip.

Muyil

By now it was 1pm and we stopped off for lunch at our favourite taco stop north of Tulum to work out what to do. The tacos and pico de gallo were just as great as before. We did not really have much of a plan, but we came up with a good one which was to book a hotel in the jungle which had a good bird list. This cost us a pretty penny compared to the other places we had stayed, but Hacienda Wakax was really nice once we had negotiated the front gate who could not quite believe that two scruffy birders were attempting to stay there.

Wakax Hacienda

Once checked in to our frankly amazing room we set about exploring the massive property. It is an old ranch. Well, not that old, quite recent in fact but made to look as if it were colonial. It used to be a private estate but was turned into a hotel a few years ago. In addition to several cenotes there is a large amount of forest with good paths through it, lots of open areas, a few swimming pools, and thoughtful placement of cool water and coffee throughout. And when we felt like a break we were able to stop off at the bar and observe the laguna from the deck with a cool drink in hand, or go for a swim. And seemingly we were the only guests. In short it was ideal. We spent the rest of the day here, walking nearly four miles without leaving the property, but it was actually pretty hard work. Perhaps it was the time of day? The only new bird for the trip was Neotropic Cormorant, #200. In addition we saw Olive-throated Parakeet, Collared Forest-Falcon (as we were having a swim), Collared Aracari, Turquoise-browed Motmot, lots of Yellow-throated Euphonia, Yucatan Jays, Carolina Wren and lots more besides.

Neotropic Cormorant 

After a nice meal in the restaurant later that evening we went for a nighttime walk in the forest looking for Owls but failed completely. We also managed to somehow leave the circular route I thought we were on and head out towards the Mayan Train line before I realised our error and we found our way back to civilisation. Final day tomorrow!

Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Day 4 - Rio Lagartos and Xocen

We had another attempt at night birds early in the morning, driving the Camino San Felipe in the hope that there would be birds lingering on the warm tarmac. This was pretty successful except that everything we found that we could get a scope on was a Common Pauraque. A number of birds flew up and over into the vegetation and I can only hope they were also Common Pauraques!

As the sun rose we were back at the Ejido San Salvador. Largely we found the same birds as before, but of note were Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Mangrove Cuckoo and a Turquoise-browed Motmot which we saw well enough to be able to distinguish it from the very similar Lesson's Motmot - the tail streamers have a much longer bare section (see photo). All of these birds were in or around the obvious clearing that forms a "triangle" with the main road. Also here were a small flock of jumping Blue-black Grassquit, and a female Painted Bunting and Indigo Bunting, and close to the bridge on the main road up to Los Coloradas a Wood Stork flew over.

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Tropical Mockingbird

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

We returned to the hotel for breakfast and to plan the rest of the day. The first thing we needed to do was get down to the main east-west road below the coast at Valladolid. From there our options opened up, and there seemed to be some good birding near Xocen so that became the plan. With the early afternoon sorted we got on with another excellent breakfast and birded on the terrace again. Birds were much as the previous day, but two Terns on the breakwater stood out as different and I hurried to get the scope. Gull-billed Tern! 

Gull-billed Tern

San Felipe

We bade the owner farewell and headed out. San Felipe and Rio Lagartos had been excellent and the hotel a really good find. Long may it stay open! A quick stop at the dump on the way to the main road netted another Mexican Sheartail and another Cinnamon Hummingbird, and further towards Tizimin at a wetland area we made another quick stop. We had stopped here on the way up and had been having doubts about whether we had seen American Moorhen or Purple Gallinule. This sounds daft and probably was but actually both were present so we had both been correct! There were also a pair of Fulvous Whistling-Duck along with the more commonly encountered Black-bellied Whistling Duck.

The church at Temozon

In the town of Xocen we found a Bat Falcon perched on top of a transmitter mast, and once in the forest beyond headed for the Xocen Birding Trail, and eBird hotspot on the east side of town. This was closed! Instead we took the rough track that ran alongside it and this was a more than worthy substitute. Woodpeckers had been largely absent from our list up until this point and in short order we found Golden-fronted Woodpecker and Golden-olive Woodpecker as well as Yucatan Woodpecker. We just hadn't really spend enough time in the right habitat and so we added quite a lot more besides. Green Jay, Groove-billed Ani, Olivaceous and Ivory-billed Woodcreepers, Spot-breasted Wren, Green-breasted Mango, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, White-bellied Emerald, Rufous-browed Peppershrike and Red-throated Ant-Tanager. An adult male Hooded Warbler was a huge bonus. We spent two hours on this track before retracing our steps to the car and relocating a short distance to a very similar track on the north side. Here we found a pair of enormous Lineated Woodpecker, Northern Tropical Pewee, Yucatan Flycatcher and finally a Canivet's Emerald, a Hummingbird that we had thought would be common but that we had not been able to find anywhere.

Bat Falcon

After an hour or so on this track it began to rain, a weather phenomenon we hadn't really encountered on this trip before. We made it back to the car before it got really bad and considered our options. It turned out there were not a great many places to stay around Xocen, and rather than head back to Valladolid we opted to head to the coast at Tulum where we knew there were lots of places to stay as well as lots of places to go birding. This took about an hour and a half and we arrived in time for dinner, over which we hatched plans for the following day.

Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Day 3 - Rio Lagartos

Yucatan Wren

We were at the Ejido San Salvador at 5.45am, pretty dedicated. We had been here the previous afternoon as soon as we arrived in the area, and whilst we had not seen a great deal we felt it had a lot of promise - after all the eBird pin had 276 species on it! The track heads directly east from the obvious bend in the main road and has scrubby vegetation on the southern side and a more watery landscape on the north. Our main target this morning was Yucatan Wren, a peninsula endemic, as well as Black-throated Bobwhite which has a slightly wider distribution albeit not by much. We were also looking for Mangrove Vireo and Mexican Sheartail. We found the first two of these with consumate ease, our first Yucatan Wren was right by the car and over the course of two hours we found eight! Like many neotropical Wrens this is a chunky beast with a loud call and is only really present on this coast. A bit further east along the track we came across our first Bobwhite, small blobs helpfully perching in low trees just the other side of the stone wall. Our full list from this walk is here and contained many highlights. Mexican Sheartail was another lifer in the same area with a single bird perched on a lone twig, and there were five Mangrove Vireo and two White-eyed Vireo, all of these on the northern side of the track which bordered the water. There were tons of small birds along this track, with Least Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Elaenia and Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet within feet of each other, a pair of Rose-throated Becard, Altimira and Orange Orioles, Red-winged Blackbird and Bronzed Cowbird. A smattering of Warblers included Grey-crowned Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, two Parula and three Northern Waterthrush, and noisy pair of Laughing Falcons were sat in a taller tree out on the marsh to the north. In short it was a brilliant two hours. 

Black-throated Bobwhite

Northern Bearless-Tyrannulet

Mexican Sheartail

Yucatan Wren

We headed back to the hotel for breakfast just after 8am, popping into the cemetery briefly which is right by the crossroads. This was flooded around the outside of the walls, with at least half a dozen Least Sandpiper and two Roseate Spoonbill feeding in the shallow water. In the cemetery itself we found another Mexican Sheartail perched on one of the crosses, and a Yucatan Wren was in a small bush by the gate.

Breakfast was excellent, bread, eggs, beans and above all coffee! The Hotel San Felipe de Jesus is right on the edge of the lagoon and we were able to bird as we ate. Right outside the windows on the breakwater of the small harbour were many Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern, Laughing Gull and Double-crested Cormorant, and Flamingos fed in the shallow mangrove-bordered water on the far side of the lagoon. A Whimbrel flew past, as did a Roseate Spoonbill, and there were flights of Brown Pelican further out whilst Magnificent Frigatebirds wheeled with Vultures high over the lagoon. Life was good and breakfast took a long time.

So long that we did not arrive at Las Coloradas until late morning. After avoiding the guides/touts, all of whom maintained that we could not possibly visit the Salinas without their paid assistance, we parked up outside the visitor centre here and birded with the scope. Here too we were pressured into walking out with a guide, but we had no interest in being shown how salt was made and we could see everything we wanted from right where we were. Later on we walked around and into the village, finding our way to the vehicular access for the salt pans, and from here were able to see a lot further east into some pools which were far more birdy than the drier salt pans themselves. We counted around 40 Black-necked Stilt, a pair of American Avocet, Snowy Plover, Wilson's Phalarope, innumerable Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, hundreds of Least Sandpiper and Western Sandpiper, a bonus Caspian Tern in with hundeds of Royal and Sandwich Terns, and a handful of Mangrove Swallow. And as for the Flamingos.... An excellent site, and our trip list rose very quickly in no time at all.

Heading back west we stopped at the beach and walked to the shoreline. The beach is vast, as far as you can see in both directions. We added Grey and Semipalmated Plovers here, a smart Reddish Egret, and tried to give assistance to a Yellow-throated Vireo that had clearly just made the crossing and was in danger of dying. It may still have done exactly that, but we gave it some water and put it in such shade as there was to try and increase its chances. A little further on, where the road bends back down towards San Salvador we found our first Willet and American Oystercatchers, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull flew past, something of a rare bird here.

Yellow-throated Vireo

Back on the main road towards the crossroads we drove in an open gate that led to a small holding and a minor quarry of some description. The entrance is just opposite the Rancho El Paraiso.  A guy was doing something with a bulldozer and completely ignored us, so we parked up and had a look around. We found another Mexican Sheartail here, Vermillion Flycatcher, a Killdeer and two Orange Orioles. It felt good for Nightjars with a lot of open ground so we decided to come back at dusk and try our luck.

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Royal Tern

We had a late lunch in Rio Lagartos itself and then went birding on the western side of town where there are some accessible shallow pools. This was an excellent spot, and at the end of a short dead end track where some houses were being constructed we found five Short-billed Dowitcher, a Spotted Sandpiper, seven Marbled Godwit and six Willet. Our wader list was going great guns today! In the marshy vegetation we tried for Clapper Rail and were amazed to find three quietly moving around mostly invisibly. 

Late afternoon we found ourselves back on the Camino San Felipe looking for Canivet's Emerald but only finding Cinammon Hummingbird. Green Heron were common, and a Melodious Blackbird was with an Orange Oriole north of road. The dump near here was full of Black Vultures. At dusk we returned to the Rancho El Paraiso but found the previously open track now closed off with a roll of barbed wire fencing. Gutted! We parked outside and birded from the main road but this put paid to our plans of looking for Yucatan Poorwill. We did get another two Lesser Nighthawk, and as per the previous day there were several large flights of ducks heading off to roost on the water as the sun set.

Birding takes you to all the best places

Back at the hotel we arranged with the owner to stay an extra night which was no problem at all, the birding had been so good that we wanted another shot at it the next morning and given we had done so well already there was no need to travel further west. I think that when I had been researching the trip that the chances of things like Black-throated Bobwhite had been much higher the nearer to Celestun you got, but we had already seen this and our other main targets we could modify our plans. Dinner was an excellent piece of salmon washed down by some local beers. It had been a rather good day, this area is really good.

Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Day 2 - Akumal, Coba, and San Felipe

The day started extremely badly when we were stopped in the dark by two policemen in a large 4x4 on the main road south out of Playa del Carmen. They invented a speeding ticket and said they would have to take my driving licence to Cancun. We could see where this was heading.... Using the translation service on his telephone I enquired as to whether there would be a way of settling this immediately. Some silly amount of pesos came back as the answer, so we rooted around and pulled together whatever it was that we had but that was in no way close to the total demanded. This seemed to satisfy them however and they took it, said the ticket was cancelled, and to get back on the road. Vamos! Go! On this last point they were most insistent, they clearly didn't want any further interaction with us or to be seen having stopped our car. Fine fine, off we went. But we were pissed off, poorer, and a little unnerved by the experience. I suppose we were an easy target and this is a regular play by these two particular cops, but it left a bad taste in the mouth. They had cleaned us out so we no longer had any money to even buy water. We resolved not to drive in the dark again if we could help it.

We nonetheless arrived at our destination before dawn, the Camino Akumal a Uxuxubi which leads to a popular cenote. We simply picked a random spot close to the eBird pin and started birding - the theory was the same as always in the Yucatan, get yourself into the jungle as this is where the best birds are. Roads and tracks that cut through the forest to attractions or Mayan sites are the easist way to accomplish this. 

We birded from pre-dawn to around half past seven once it was light, recording 33 species. Laughing Falcon and Collared Forest-Falcon were heard and seen along just a few hundred metres of the road, as well as four Pygmy Ferruginous Owl, two Gartered Trogon, a Black-headed Trogon and three Lesson's Motmot. Bright-rumped Attila was a good find and a new bird, and five Yucatan Jay and six noisy Brown Jay flew over. You can see the full list of birds seen via the link above, but suffice it to say it was superb. 

We stocked up on money once back on the main road, and then drove west out of Tulum to Coba which has some impressive ruins and two large lagoons. We first spent some time looking at the lagoon, finding our first Limpkin and Great Blue Heron, but the real target here was Ruddy Crake. We expected to find it in the reeds of the main lagoon but actually it was in a muddy strip filled with litter on the opposite side of the road between the Cocodrilo and Xaibe restaurants. There were also two Jacana here and a pair of Yellow-winged Tanager in a bare tree on the far side.

Grey-headed Tanager

We paid the small entrance fee for the ruins and walked in. The done thing here is to take a bicycle tour in a guided tricycle but this wouldn't be very good for birding! As with most Mayan ruins it was both fascinating as well as very birdy even at 11am. The long straight entrance track was probably the best bit, the forest each side of the wide road being very active. Tawny-winged and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper were good finds, and there were loads of Swainson's Thrush hopping around the understorey. There were two Gartered Trogon and two Black-headed Trogon, plus a Keel-billed Toucan. They're the kind of exotic neotropical birds that feel rare but in fact are really common. In some of the damper areas we found Northern Waterthrush, and a Louisiana Waterthrush was seen on one of the pyramids. Tanagers were represented by Rose-throated, Summer and Grey-headed. Near one of the pyramids an Ocellated Turkey was sat in the shade - I had not thought we would see this species here, indeed this was one of the species that had caused us to drive all the way down to Calakmul last time. It was the only one we saw though, whereas further south there had been large numbers. Anyway, I can thoroughly recommend Coba. It was not busy at all, and we found loads of birds.

Black-headed Trogon

Swainson's Thrush

Ocellated Turkey

By now it was the heat of the day and activity had declined noticeably as we left the site and returned to our oven-like car. We had a quick spot of lunch next to the water and then headed northwest towards Valladolid and Tizimin. After Tizimin it is a straight road to Rio Lagartos, and with Hurricane Milton having gone through only a couple of days previously we were a little worried as to what it would be like. As it happened it was absolutely fine, but actual news had been hard to come by so we just didn't know. We made one stop on the way up at a wetland area but didn't really give it the time it deserved as we wanted to get to the coast, and so added it to the itinerary on our way back.

Just before you reach Rio Lagartos there is a crossroads, with roads heading east and west along the southern sides of the inland lagoons. To the west is the Camino San Felipo, to the east the Ejido San Salvador. We decided to go east to where the road bends up to Los Coloradas and by continuing straight you are on an unpaved track to a ranch. Here we started adding water birds to our trip list, with Tricoloured Heron, Green Heron, Spotted Sandpiper and American Flamingo. Further along the main road we came across Belted Kingfisher, our first Black-bellied Whistling Duck, and a Peregrine shot across the sky.

As dusk fell we relocated to the Camino San Felipe as this was the direction of accomodation. This was nothing short of sensational. As it got darker thousands of waterfowl came overhead, heading for the lagoons to roost for the night. There were in the region of 1500 Blue-winged Teal, 250 Cattle Egret, hundreds of Great-tailed Grackle and more Black-bellied Whistling Duck. A family of Russet-naped Wood-Rail ran across the road, two adults and four chicks. Of note this was my 1001st species of the year. As it got darker two Lesser Nighthawk came out to hunt for insects over the marsh on the south side of the road. There was a bit of traffic, people heading back to Rio Lagartos and to San Felipe, and after one of these cars passed we heard a thump. Looking in the road we saw the prone shape of a bird and it was with great sadness that we picked up an injured Boat-billed Heron, its eyes still open. Its neck was broken, there was nothing we could do, and its eyes dimmed before us as we lait it in the grass. Such a shame, a fantastic bird.

Boat-billed Heron

Russet-naped Wood-Rail

Once fully dark we drove the short distance west to San Felipe, and quickly found our hotel on the water's edge. Of Hurricane Milton there was barely any sign whatsover. A few downed palm fronds and a few large puddles. We had a great dinner of fresh lobster and a couple of beers before retiring for the night, it had been a great day and we felt that having reached the coast (which had really been the point of this trip all along) we were really getting into gear.