Dates and Costs

NEW DATES FOR 2023 and 2024! April 26 - May 4, 2023 $3200 per person ($500 single supplement) April 28-May 6, 2024 $3350 per person (550 single supplement)

About This Trip

ITINERARY Northeast Mexico April 26 -May 4, 2023 Day 1 – Arrive in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon in the afternoon / evening in time for an orientation and dinner. Night in Monterrey. Day 2 – This morning, we’ll have a very early departure from our hotel for a two plus hour drive through Saltillo and on to the best areas for Worthen Sparrow, an endemic and endangered bird of the central Mexican plateau. Although Worthen Sparrows can be quite abundant this time of year, they can also be quite localized and we may need to look in a few locations before we find them! Other birds today may include Golden Eagle, Feruginous Hawk, Scott's and Black- vented Oriole, Burrowing Owls, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Western and Mountain Bluebird and Scaled Quail. In the afternoon, we will drive over the mountains and near a location known as The Highrise and search for Maroon-fronted Parrots! Night in Cola De Caballo. Day 3 - This morning we will head back up to the Highrise, an extremely tall cliff face that overlooks a large area of pine forest and is the only breeding location for Maroon-fronted Parrots. This will be our main target for the morning, but there are plenty of other cool birds to find in this area as well, including Pine Flycatcher, Bronze-winged Woodpecker, Mexican Jays, Audubon’s Oriole, Rufous-capped Warbler, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Rufous-capped Brushfinch, American Goldfinch and Long-billed Thrasher. After lunch we will make the four plus hour drive to La Pesca, a small resort/fishing town on the Gulf of Mexico. Our goal is to get to the foothills near La Pesca at dusk to look for the Tawny-collared Nightjar, another Mexican endemic. Other night birds could include Eastern Screech-Owl and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Night in La Pesca. Day 4 - We will bird the estuaries and coastal areas around La Pesca in the morning before heading back west through Ciudad Victoria for lunch and then onto Gomez Farias. We should have time to bird the road into town before checking into our hotel. Some of the birds we might see are Altamira Yellowthroat Spot-breasted Wren, Melodious Blackbird, Yellow-headed and Red-lored Parrot, Green Parakeet, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Tamaulipas Crow, Crested Guan, Collared Forest-Falcon, Singing Quail, and Thicket Tinamou Mottled Owl. Night in Gomez Farias. Day 5 – Today we will bird the lowlands to the east of Gomez Farias. Our big targets will include Sun Grebe, Double-striped Thick knee, Ringed, Amazon, Belted and Green Kingfishers, Yellow- throated Euphonia, Bat Falcon, Tamaulipas Crows, Crimson-collared Grosbeak and Altamira Yellowthroat. After lunch, we will bird a couple of locations very close to the hotel and in the evening look for Mottled and Stygian Owls. Night in Gomez Farias. Day 6 - This morning we will pack up our overnight bags and store our our suitcases in preparation for an adventure into the highlands and a place called Rancho Del Cielo. After breakfast at the hotel we will be transfering transferring into a four-wheel drive vehicle with our local guide Mario. The 13 mile road to the rancho is not exactly smooth and often times it is very slow going, but the rewards can be tremendous. Rancho del Cielo has nearly mythical status to long time birders, and area that provided a lot of projects to budding ornithologists and bird watchers from the Untied States. We have two days to travel in the highlands and the bird activity will determine our progress both days. Some of the possibilities for birds include Blue Bunting, Fan-tailed Warbler, Gray-collared Becard, Bumblebee Hummingbird, Wedge- tailed Sabrewing, Black-headed Siskin, Blue-capped Motmot, Orange-billed and Black-headed Nightingale Thrush, Mountain Trogon, Blue Ground Dove, Gray-headed Dove, 13 possible hummingbird species, including Rovoli’s, Bumblebee and Amethyst-throated, Singing Quail and Ornate Hawk Eagle. Our accommodation for the night is a very nice four bedroom house with limited electricity and there is a great little restaurant walking distance from the house. Night in Rancho del Cielo. Day 7 - This morning we will spend some time just birding around the little settlement of Rancho del Cielo before getting back in the truck and retracing our steps back down the mountain. Although the bird list is somewhat similar to yesterdays, we will focus more on getting higher in elevations and looking for anything that we night have missed the previous day. Birds we’ll be looking for are Green Parakeet, Red-crowned Parrot, Red-lored Parrot, Tamaulipas Pygmy Owl, Bronze-winged and Smokey Brown Woodpecker’s, Gray-collared Becard, Fan-tailed Warbler, Hooded Grosbeak, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, Canivet’s Emerald, Crescent-chested Warblers, White-winged Tanagers, Rusty Sparrows, Tropical Parula, Painted Redstart, White-winged Tanager, Townsend’s, Nashville, Wilson’s, Golden-crowned, Black- throated Green, and Black-and-white Warblers, Ovenbird, Olivaceous, Spot-crowed, and Ivory- billed Woodcreepers; Acorn, Smoky-brown, and Bronze-winged Woodpeckers, Gray-collared Becard, Green Jay, Rufous-browned Peppershrike, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and Hepatic Tanager. Night in Gomez Farias. Day 8 – Today we need to start making our way back to Monterrey, however prior to leaving we will take a short boat trip on a beautiful cypress lined river looking for Sungrebes and Muscovey Ducks before tackling our but we will have time for birding in the morning and later in the day before arriving at our 5-hour drive to Monterrey. We’ll have a great farewell dinner at a nice restaurant close to our hotel. Night near the Monterrey Airport. Day 9 – Flights out of the Monterrey airport. This trip starts and ends in Monterey, Nuevo Leon.

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