Birding West Mexico Endemics

Saturday, January 27: San Sebastian Del Oste
Hotel Posada Del Oste

Visit Ruinas de la Contaduría, travel to San Sebastian El Oeste via Puerto Vallarta

BIRD of the DAY: Orchard Oriole

Our goal today was the ancient community of San Sebastien El Oste high in the mountains, an ancient town founded in 1605.

It turned out to be an adventurous travel day featuring mechanical issues with both the jeep and the van.

Our day started out in San Blas with a very early morning visit to a gas station store for coffee. As it got lighter, we reached an impressive ancient fort, Ruinas de la Contaduría, on a hill towering over San Blas. It was also a good place for birding. It was a perfect start to our day.



We returned to our hotel for a hearty breakfast.



Unfortunately, the battery on the jeep was dead, so needed a boost. No need for cables, a guy from the garage arrived and held a good battery upside down on the dead one so that the terminals made contact. This delayed our departure but we discovered a beautiful garden for birding at the side of the hotel. Orchard, Streak-backed and Hooded Orioles were all bouncing around feeding in the beautiful flower tree.



Once the jeep was back in action, we started out towards Puerto Vallarta. Chris had to leave the jeep running even when stopped for gas. When we reached our lunch stop in Bucerias, the rental company brought a replacement jeep while the rest of us found some interesting wildlife, as well as birds, on the patio.



Also, there were hummingbird feeders in a nearby apartment. So, no problem busying ourselves while we waited for the new jeep. And we enjoyed our lunch too.



We were back on the road late afternoon. It was a beautiful drive up into the mountains although the road was narrow and very curvy. When we reached Carretera Palmas-Las Mesitas, the van broke down; something wrong with the transmission. There was no cell coverage, so Luis flagged down a taxi and had the driver take him back towards town until there was a signal. It was 5:55pm and the van rental facility in Puerto Vallarta closed at 6pm. on Saturday. Luckily he reached them and they promised us a new van. Chris directed oncoming traffic as our van was stopped on a curve and there was quite a bit of traffic on the windy road. Of course, we birded while we waited and we saw a far away fly past of a flock of Lilac-crowned Parrots. When Luis returned he told us he had ordered three taxis to take us up to San Sebastien El Oste. As the taxis came, we loaded in the gear from van#1. Luis would wait for van#2 to arrive. We would all meet later at our hotel. It was getting dark. We had a 45 minute drive in the taxi, moving very fast up the steep road serenaded by loud music.



When we arrived at San Sebastien El Oste, we felt like we were in an old European village. Narrow windy cobblestone streets. We were very happy to reach Hotel Posada Del Oste and knew Luis would be along soon.



Later in the evening we were busy listing our birds and having a welcome dinner nearby. Thanks Luis and Chris - our transportation challenges were met very professionally.



January 27 Birds

Ruinas de la Contaduría, Nayarit, MX
Jan 27, 2018 8:24 AM
Protocol: Incidental
44 species

Great Egret 4
White Ibis 1
Roseate Spoonbill 2
Black Vulture 20
Turkey Vulture 2
Gray Hawk 1
Red-billed Pigeon 1
Inca Dove 9
Ruddy Ground-Dove 5
White-winged Dove 1
Squirrel Cuckoo 1
Cinnamon Hummingbird 1
Citreoline Trogon 1
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker 1
Gila Woodpecker 1
Lineated Woodpecker 1
Mexican Parrotlet 20
Great Kiskadee 2
Social Flycatcher 2
Tropical Kingbird 3
Thick-billed Kingbird 1
Plumbeous Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 2
Gray-breasted Martin 40
Happy Wren 1
Sinaloa Wren 1
Rufous-backed Robin 6
Northern Mockingbird 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 1
MacGillivray's Warbler 1
Tropical Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 5
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1
Grayish Saltator 1
Summer Tanager 1
Blue Grosbeak 1
Painted Bunting 1
Yellow-winged Cacique 1
Black-vented Oriole 2
Orchard Oriole 1
Streak-backed Oriole 1
Great-tailed Grackle 6

Carretera Palmas-Las Mesitas, San Sebastián MX-JAL (20.8240,-104.9961), Jalisco, MX
Jan 27, 2018 4:57 PM
Protocol: Incidental
6 species

Crested Guan 2
Red-billed Pigeon 4
Cinnamon Hummingbird 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Lilac-crowned Parrot 150 Conservative number, coming into roost at dusk
Thick-billed Kingbird 1