Birding West Mexico Endemics

January 22 – February 1 2018

Avocet Tours: www.avocettours.ca

Birding Guides: Luis Morales and Chris Charlesworth


Photo credits: Barbara and Bill Bowman, Marilyn and Andy Buhler

The Mexican flag has a great image to inspire our birding trip – the centre of the flag is a Golden Eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. That would be a very memorable sighting!

Our trip would take us to western Mexico on the Pacific Ocean – beaches, forests and mountains.

https://www.avocettours.ca/tours

West Mexico Endemics ~ Jalisco & Nayarit



Birding Guides: Luis Morales and Chris Charlesworth

Marine Biologist Luis Morales serves as the Executive Director of the San Pancho Bird Observatory which is a non-profit organization dedicated to advance bird and habitat conservation at the southern and central Nayarit coast in western Mexico by integrating educational, scientific research and community development programs.
Luis has been guiding nature tours from an early age with over 20 years of bilingual nature guiding experience throughout Mexico. During the last 13 years he has been guiding mostly bird-watching tours in collaboration with international bird conservation organizations as well as bird-watching tour companies primarily from North America and Europe.

In 2002 Chris Charlesworth formed Avocet Tours, based in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia and he has led trips in many western states and Canadian provinces as well as international birding trips.

Our two guides, welcomed us at the Puerto Vallarta Airport.



We were a group of 9 participants from Canada, all with international birding experience:

Marilyn and Andy Buhler, Vernon BC Chris Siddle, Vernon BC Margaret Bryan, Kelowna BC Pauline O’Toole, Surrey BC Nimali Seneviratne, Calgary AB Patricia Mitchell, Calgary AB Barbara and Bill Bowman, Ottawa ON

By late afternoon we were on our way north to the town of San Francisco, commonly called San Pancho. We were travelling in a van and a jeep with our guides as drivers.

The warm weather felt good to us and we were eager to absorb the beautiful natural features of Mexico and to be introduced to the colourful variety of Mexican birds.