|
I thought you might enjoy reading about my
trip to Veracruz. This was my submission for Salt Lake Birders'
newsletter.
The River of Raptors
by Letitia Lussier
I had read of a place, somewhere in the
jungles of mainland Mexico, which people in the birding community referred
to as the "River of Raptors". Naturally, I was intrigued. And
as I soon found out, the metaphor was entirely
appropriate. The river truly exists. It is a jaw-dropping experience in
every sense of the word. But let me back up a bit.
In late September, I joined a fun group led
by Mark Stackhouse with co-leader David Wheeler for their
tour of Veracruz, Mexico. Larene Wyss and I
shared a room and we were joined in the hotel by our dearly missed
Alan Godwin, Alan's parents, and another couple.
During the tour we covered a wide variety of
habitats including the sandy beaches of the gulf, dry desert
scrub, coastal jungles, and cloud forest. The shade-grown coffee
plantations and the high mountain slopes we
visited reminded me of my trip to Peru and the Andes
mountains.
On the beaches, we were lucky enough to
watch Aplomado Falcons hunting above us. Below the falcons were
Double-stripped Thick-knees resting in the open vegetation. They appeared
almost comical with their big wide eyes and bodies resting very erect
on backward bent knees.
The jungles offered us 4 varieties of Trogons and
numerous hummingbirds. One specialty we were fortunate enough to see was the
Black-crested Coquette. This was much to the envy of the other birders in
the area.
Scrubby areas were filled with scolding wrens in a
variety of species. The prize was an awesome look at the Sumicrast's Wren. This
Wren is endemic only to a very small and localized area.
We were also envied by others for seeing the
elusive Solitary Eagle. However, I must admit my favorite sighting
was a pair of Black and White Owls. Their beautiful striped mantles
and glowing red eyes were wonderful.
The highlight of the trip however, was
standing on top of a hotel in Cardel with the hawk counters of
Pronatura a local conservation group. It was an
unbelievable experience watching the kettles of hawks form with
3-4 HUNDRED birds stretching up to a mile high. On a good day,
you could watch several of these kettles forming
simultaneously.
The kettles were actually comprised of a wide
variety of birds. Approximately 20 species of hawks and vultures migrate through
the area. The season starts in August with Mississippi Kites and by
mid-September, Broad-winged Hawks number in the
thousands, while October begins with the migration of Swainson's
hawks. Other flocks drift by as well including Wood Storks,
Am. Wht Pelicans, Anhingas and White-faced Ibis to name a few.
As the kettles reached high into the sky the birds
at the top began to peel off like the skin of an orange. A steady,
well defined stream of soaring birds drifted south forming the world
famous "River of Raptors". The current of air was taking them far away off
into the distance. It was very exciting.
On our biggest day of the migration we
counted approximately 25,000 raptors. The final count for the season posted on
their website was 6.5 million! It's an incredible phenomena to
witness.
Overall, we found 350 species of birds a record for
the Veracruz trip. Yours truly ticked off about 70 new
lifers.
This "River of Raptors" event is truly one of the 7
wonders of the birdwatching world. A must
see. |