Birding at Rio Lagartos

Yesterday we met our birding guide a little after dawn by the pier at Rio Lagartos.

Diego Nuñez drove us to nearby fields abutting the enormous Rio Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, where we spotted 24 birds. My favorite was the Vermillion Flycatcher whose bright red feathers glowed in the morning sun.

Nancy's favorite bird was the Mexican Sheartail, a hummingbird with a brilliant crimson throat, found only along the northern coast of the Yucatan Penninsula.

After three hours of birding on foot, Diego took us deep into the park in his little motorboat. Rio Lagartos was misnamed by the Spaniards who thought the waterway was a river (it’s an inlet from the Gulf of Mexico). The meandering expanse of saltwater weaves in and out of stretches of dense mangroves, providing a sanctuary for 333 bird species, marine turtles, fish, and crocodiles.

After an hour of leisurely birding, we reached our destination: the waters off the salt flats (shown above) where over 40,000 pink flamingos make their home, the largest colony in Mexico. The young flamingos are pale pink. The mature adults are orange from the concentrated brine shrimp in their diet. (My photo below doesn't do the color justice.)

Here's a photo from Diego's website that gets closer to the actual color. The flamingo is a beautiful bird in flight with the black edging on its wings.



On the return trip, we caught sight of two great blue herons in a mating dance, stretching their impressive necks skyward, fluffing their feathers, advancing and retreating through thigh-deep water, and being oh-so coy.


Diego Nuñez, shown below, is an excellent guide.

You can check out his website at http://riolagartosnaturetours.com/

Becky

Note: Photo of the vermillion flycatcher is from the usgs.gov website, photographer Greg Lasley.

Photo of the Mexican Sheartail is by Diego Nunez. Photo of flamingos in flight from his websit, taken by Jim Legault.