VERACRUZ 2010: Reigning Migrants

We began our official first day of the trip on the morning of Sept 27th, with a tour of Johnny Angel Beach, my favorite rainy day site. We climbed to the second floor of the beach hotel there, and with shelter and scenic views, we enjoyed some nice birding. The river held a nice group of Black-necked Stilts and a couple of Greater Yellowlegs. We then moved to a new “palapa” or thatched-roof hut for some great views of the beach and Gulf of Mexico. 

This tropical depression was bringing in many terns from offshore including hundreds of Black Terns, along with many Gull-billed, several Least -a bit late for them- and Royal Terns. Many migrants were also pushed onto shore, including a steady stream of Green Herons. We saw a beautiful male Mourning Warbler, a Least and a Trail’s Flycatcher, and a Black-and-White Warbler. On the drive out we spotted a resting group of perched, and wet, Purple Martins.

After our productive morning, we moved up the coast to La Mancha for some additional sheltered birding as the rains persisted. At the mouth of the lagoon we picked out a small group of Least Sandpipers, as well as Semipalmated Plovers, many Sandwich Terns, and Magnificent Frigatebirds overhead. After lunch the rains finally slowed, and a northern wind picked up. Thousands of Dickcissels and White-winged Doves poured through with the tailwinds. We walked a bit and found a large group of White Ibis, and an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

As we were moving to our next site we stopped along the highway to scan a field. Here we experienced a “Veracruz” moment, where in the fall, if you stop nearly anywhere with vegetation, you will find migrants. We pished along the roadside and several warblers appeared: Magnolia, Yellow, a beautiful Prothonotary, and Common Yellowthroat. We moved on to El Salado, to a small marsh and series of ponds. The water level was high for waders, but we had many Northern Waterthrush, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Hooded Warbler, and Green Kingfisher; a Gray-necked Wood-Rail dashed across the track.

Near the end of the afternoon we drove the highway to Palmas de Abajo (above) and found many Blue Grosbeaks, Montezuma Oropendola, Red-billed Pigeon, and an Amazon Kingfisher. A stop at a small pond produced a Least Grebe and several families of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, including three different groups with young ducklings. A group of passerines responded to our pishes, including Yellow-throated, abundant Yellows, and Black-and-White Warbler, as well as Blue-black Grassquit, and a Lineated Woodpecker. Overhead, thousands of Dickcissels continued to stream by; later we saw a few perched with a group of Blue Grosbeaks.

We were pleased with our efforts for the day, managing to stay dry in spite of the rain, and finding a diverse 103 species, including many spectacular migrants.