VERACRUZ 2014: Day 6 – River of Raptors

Day 6 / Oct 7: Chavarillo; Cardel; Chichicaxtle; Rio Escondido

Alvaro, Cathie, Vera & Tom at Chavarillo

On our last morning in Xalapa we visited the small town of Chavarrillo, situated just below the city in elevation. This slightly lower, drier location yielded new birds for our trip list. We were accompanied by my friend Alvaro, who guided us through the “ejido” (communal) land. We walked dirt roads through shade-coffee plantations and forest, along the base of the Tepeapulco Hill, which dominated the landscape, making our way to the railroad tracks and more mature forest.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

We heard Thicket Tinamou along the way, and had nice looks at Gray-crowned Yellowthroat and a very cooperative Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. We found Buff-bellied Hummingbird, and our first Keel-billed Toucans. We appreciated our first looks at “Bronzed-winged” Woodpecker, an endemic to northeast Mexico, and residing here at the southern edge of its range (cousin to Golden-olive Woodpecker). Along the tracks we found Rufous-browed Peppershrike, confiding Black-headed Saltator, and a close Laughing Falcon which was the bird-of-the day for many!

Swainson’s & Broad-winged Hawks

After enjoying refreshing drinks at Alvaro’s mother’s house, we made our way as quickly as possible back to Cardel, eagerly anticipating a big hawk flight after the rains. After a quick check-in and lunch at the Hotel Bienvenido, we scrambled to the roof to check the flight.  Seeing little activity, we jumped back into the car and headed inland to the site at Chichicaxtle. It was a good decision, as a massive line of hawks was flying right over the highway between the two sites. It was a good mix of Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks; many more Swainson’s than we had seen only a few days ago (the Swainson’s migrate later than the Broad-winged). The flight had just picked up when we walked up to the observation deck at Chichicaxtle, and the view was phenomenal. Lines and kettles of hawks filled the skies everywhere overhead.

American White Pelicans and Swainson’s Hawks

They were interspersed by equally-spectacular groups of American White Pelican and Wood Storks contrasting with the hawks. During the peak hours of 1:00 to 3:00 pm, we observed more than 122,000 migrating raptors. We delightfully shared this spectacle with two other visiting birding groups as well as local residents and hawk-counters whose sharp eyes and impossibly-fast tallying held us in awe.

Raptor count totals for Oct 7, 2014

The final raptor count for the day, combined for both Cardel and Chichicaxtle sites, was 199,007.  We had truly witnessed an amazing River of Raptors!

Couch’s Kingbird

After the incredible flight, we headed to nearby Rio Escondido for some late-afternoon birding, this time entering from the lower end of the track. We were greeted by a pair of Couch’s Kingbirds, a wonderful Mexican Sheartail, gorgeous male Canivet’s Emerald, and Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.

We retired with great joy that evening, having seen great birds and experienced an incredible raptor flight streaming over Veracruz!

– Robert Straub