Veracruz 2010: Xalapa

For our first full day in Xalapa on Sept 30th, we started at the Macuilteptl Park, an old volcano, and now a wonderful 80-acre park of cloud forest habitat in the very center of the city. The birding here is always great, and we had a very productive morning. We were awed by a clear view of the glacier-topped Pico de Orizaba (above) – at over 18,000 feet it’s the highest peak between Denali in Alaska and the Andes in South America!

Soon after arriving we saw a cooperative Azure-crowned Hummingbird and a Cordilleran Flycatcher (above), both residents of the park. Shortly thereafter we had a good look at a Blue-crowned Motmot, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and Greater Pewee. A loud group of Green Jays showed off their spectacular colors. Walking along the wide paved path, making our way towards the crater, we added several migrant passerines, including Ovenbird, Blue-winged, Black-throated Green, Townsend’s, Hermit, Black-and-White, Worm-eating, Hooded, and Canada Warblers. Resident warblers included Slate-throated Redstart, Golden-crowned, and Rufous-capped Warbler. It was a great warbler day! Our day list reflects the occurance of east and west migrants, as well as residents in the highlands; we have recorded 52 species of warbler in central Veracruz, perhaps more than another other place in the world! The morning’s walk was capped off with Plain Chachalaca and good looks at both White-naped and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finches.

We then visited the lovely Xalapa Anthropology Museum, which covers the rich pre-Hispanic history of the state in a beautiful setting, and includes the 2,000 years old “Colossal” Totonac heads (above) from the southern part of the state.

We visited hummingbird feeders at the home of Kim, a friend who originally hails from Minnesota. He greeted us warmly, with an offer of beer or coffee, and then tortilla chips, a bean dip, and homemade cheese. Kim’s beautiful porch overlooks a forested valley, and the hummingbirds were amazing. We had wonderfully close views of Azure-crowned Hummingbird, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, and several spectacular male Violet Sabrewings (above) (the bird-of-the-day for both Peter and Micha), as well as Berylline Hummingbird. We also saw our first Acorn Woodpecker and nice scope views of White-crowned Parrots. Kim then called in Brown Jays for their daily tortilla scraps by imitating a Common Loon! The birds, setting and conversation were great, but all too soon, we had to depart for the Texolo Waterfall in Xico.

The striking Texolo waterfall (above) is a beautiful destination, made all the better by a bit of late afternoon birding. Here we compared flights and vocalizations of White-collared, Vaux’s, and Chestnut-collared Swifts, and had nice views of Montezuma Oropendola, and Common Bush-Tanager.

We added many new species to our list, and at the end of the day, both Micha and Peter had reached 100 life-birds since the start of the trip!