Birding
Trips with a Web Page and
Rio Grande Valley Birds |
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| Aug 2006 | Cd Victoria, Cd Mante, Gomez Farias and El Cielo |
| Feb 2007 |
Cd Mante, Gomez Farias, El Cielo, La Florida, El Naciemento, El Naranjo, and El Salto * |
| Mar 2007 | Cd Mante, Gomez Farias, El Cielo, La Florida, and El Naciemento * |
(Bird
Lists *) |
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| Plan a custom trip for yourself or group by clicking here for details. | |
Brownsville, Texas
El Cielo & El Salto April 2005
This Mexico six day-five night trip was for photographers who had not traveled, birded or photographed in Mexico. The target area included El Cielo, Gomez Farias, Cd Monte, El Naranjo, and El Salto. Our original list of birds included Bat Falcon, Boat-billed Heron, Sun Grebe, Bare-Throated Tiger-Heron, Melodious Blackbird, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Roadside Hawk, Northern Jacana, Red-billed Pigeon, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-collared Swift, Elegant and Mountain Trogon, Blue-crowned Motmot, Amazon Kingfisher, Social Flycatcher, Tamaulipas Crow, and any other we could see or take pictures of. We did get a very special Ornate Hawk Eagle with nest thanks to the local guide, Ricardo, who keeps up with all current birding opportunities.
| Ornate
Hawk Eagle seen and photographed from the Cloud Forest floor. (L/R)
Ricardo, Ingrid, and Ralph. by Lee Zieger Click to enlarge. |
We reached Gomez Farias about 2PM after a lunch stop in Cd Victoria. After seeing two Bat Falcons we proceeded to Gomez Farias to drop our baggage at Casa de Piedra. Excitement grew with Brown Jays and Melodious Blackbirds along with staff, Ricardo and Margarita, greeting us at Casa de Piedra. A short boat trip produced Boat-billed Herons, a Sun Grebe, Belted Kingfishers, and more. A morning trip would have better light and more birds. Just can’t do every trip in the morning. The spring fed river with tropical birds and vegetation gave the group an idea of what was ahead. Our host fixed our dinner of chicken breasts, Spanish rice, and fresh mixed vegetables. The night sounds of nature put us to sleep with windows open.
Day
Two
Breakfast to order (eggs, ham, bacon, pan cakes and coffee) was served at the appointed time by our host. Ricardo, also a local bird guide familiar with daily bird locations, accompanied us up to Alta Cima. Various Trogons, Doves, Raptors, Warblers, and more were seen driving up on an overcast wet morning. A nest of Azure-crowned Hummingbirds was seen and photographed at Alta Cima. He treated us with Wedge Tailed Sabrewing Hummingbirds a few kilometers up from Alta Cima. The one to two hour hike for the Ornate Hawk Eagle rocky damp trail was in question late morning. Our hike took two hours going and one and three quarter hours on the return carrying tripods, cameras, multiple lenses, and assorted gear weighing 30 pounds plus each. We did see and photograph the bird. Dinner at my request with our late return at 8PM included Picadillo (Meat, Potato, Tomato, & Onion), Rice, and Mixed Vegetables was delicious. We slept well after the hike and great meal. The nest is at least sixty feet above the cloud forest floor with the image taken from directly underneath. Click Nest for a larger and printable view. Printing the page from here on will not include the photos unless you use a screen capture program. The larger photos are printable but come under copyright. |
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| This day was voted to be a No Hiking Day by popular demand! We photographed Northern Jacana, Least and Pied-billed Grebes, Purple Gallinules, and others. The sun was great and we photographed from the vehicle and over the hood with tripods for about three hours. After lunch in Gomez Farias and short rest we drove the Rio Sabinas Road for beautiful views of the crystal clear river and large Cypress trees with numerous bubbling rapids. An early return gave us time to clean and organize our gear plus a little birding in town. Baked chicken plus the trimmings finished the day. | ||||
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| Cliff and Ralph got good photo shots of the Red-billed Pigeon on a branch about 1/3 up the tree and just twenty feet from our bedroom door. I could not get to my camera still in our bedroom. My guests were on their first trip to the Interior of Mexico and were really surprised at the good roads, food, and friendly people. The road up to El Cielo, an old logging road, was an exception. We checked into Hotel Del Valle in El Naranjo before noon and had lunch at the hotel restaurant. We drove to a site where Tamaulipas Crows and Brown Jays were thick to find none. Later a visit to El Meco Falls, El Salto Falls, and a sugarcane property at the fall drew lots of photos and a desire to return the next day. A Seafood restaurant in town was so good a second diner was planned for our final night on the trip. |
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Rio RV Park
8801 Boca Chica Blvd.
Brownsville, TX 78521
Phone: 956-831-4653 or 866-279-1775
Fax: 956-831-0147