Birding Ixtapa

Got out for a few morning's birding during a lads long-weekend in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo recently.  We were staying by the Marina in 'Porto Ixtapa' and around the complex, I had Streak-backed Orioles, Olive Sparrows, Citreoline Trogons, Rufous-naped Wrens, Great-tailed Grackles, Grey-breasted Martins, Barn Swallows, Mangrove Swallows, West Mexican Chachalacas, Great Kiskadees, Social Flycatchers, Tropical Kingbirds, Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Orange-breasted Buntings and Blue Buntings.

Olive Sparrow

Rufous-naped Wrens

Streak-backed Orioles

Things were great at dawn at Playa Linda.  In the Crocodile Pen, there were breeding Roseate Spoonbills, Green Herons, Yellow-crowned Night-herons, Snowy Egrets and Boat-billed Herons. Nearby, there were breeding Wood Storks.  Along the beach and offshore, we saw Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown Boobys, Royal Terns, Least Terns, Willets, Neotropic Cormorants and Laughing Gulls.

Brown Pelicans at Playa Linda

Neotropic Cormorant

Roseate Spoonbill

Willet

Roseate Spoonbill

Green Heron 

Yellow-crowned Heron

Wood Stork

Mick Dundee

Great-tailed Grackle pair

After the beach, I walked up into the hills behind Playa Linda.  Here, I found Northern Cardinals, White-bellied Wrens, the endemic and beautiful White-throated Magpie Jays, Hooded Orioles, Yellow Warbler, Zone-tailed Hawks, Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures and many of the birds also seen at Porto Ixtapa.

White-throated Magpie Jay