VERACRUZ 2014: Day 7 – Rancho El Mirador

Day 7 /  Oct 8: Rancho El Mirador; Chichicaxtle

After yesterday’s amazing raptor flight with nearly 200,000 birds reported streaming through the region, we deferred our focus on hawks today, and headed up the mountains to the El Mirador Ranch and coffee finca, situated at elevation 3,000 feet. There we met our gracious host Jorge Muller, whose family has owned the finca since the mid-1850’s. He loves showing people around, explaining the coffee growing process, and pointing out the birds of the plantation. Jorge manages his expansive property with a balance of shade-grown coffee as well as native forest, recognizing the array of birds and wildlife that both habitats support.

Olivaceous Woodcreeper

While walking the tracks through lush vegetation we found Gartered Trogon, Blue-crowned Motmot, beautiful “Bronze-winged” Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, and Olivaceous and Streak-headed Woodcreepers. In the middle of our walk, with perfect timing, Odilon arrived with a treat of cookies and mid-morning coffee – local beans, of course! We watched birds and enjoyed Jorge’s impromptu discourse on coffee and its production. Our walk continued through the finca where we spotted Common Bush-Tanager, White-winged Tanager, Red-crowned and Red-throated Ant-Tanagers.

Tom, Cathie, Vera, Jorge Muller and Robert

Lunch at the Mirador Ranch is always a wonderful experience. On the lovely back porch of Jorge’s hacienda, amid a lush garden, animated Band-backed Wrens and nectar-sipping Azure-crowned Hummingbirds, we were graciously served delicious local specialties. Dishes included chicken in a traditional Mexican barbecue cooked in banana leaves, 3 kinds of tamales (mole, ranch-style, and one made with a local seasonal herb – my favorite), Spanish-Mexican rice, black beans, and a refreshing limeade.

Short-tailed Hawk, dark morph

With heavy hearts and bellies we said goodbye to Jorge and the Mirador Ranch, and made our way back down to Cardel, stopping only to admire a few Collared Aracari along the way. We arrived in time to enjoy late afternoon hawk watching, with impressive squadrons of White Pelicans, good flights of Swainson’s Hawks, a few Broad-winged Hawks, as well as a resident Short-tailed Hawk as the sun descended on yet another lovely day in Veracruz.

– Robert Straub