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Michoacan & Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico

Holiday Tour South of the Border

27 December 2010 - 3 January 2011, 8 days & 7 nights

Marilyn Mayo will be our hostess as we settle into the village of Patzcuaro in the highlands of Mexico. We will bird local trails, explore a Monarch Butterfly sanctuary where MILLIONS of butterflies winter, and look for Northern Jacana, American Bittern, Black-polled Yellowthroat, and other aquatic species during a 3-hour boat ride on the waterways surrounding Lake Patzcuaro. Cerro Burro is likely to produce Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer, Gray-barred Wren, Crescent-chested Warbler, and possibly Mountain Pygmy-Owl and Mountain Trogon, as it has on recent tours. We'll experience a local fiesta, explore ancient ruins, and enjoy Berylline Hummingbirds and Blue Mockingbirds in our backyard. The climate is cool, dry, and very comfortable. Among the 150+ species that we are likely to see, we will search for a number of Mexican endemics including Happy Wren, Russet Nightingale-Thrush, and Red Warbler. We will have the added guidance and knowledge of Marilyn Mayo, a local resident, historical expert, and gracious hostess. Bob Schutsky and Marilyn Mayo are your tour leaders.

Price: $2395.00 from Morelia, Mexico    

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Oaxaca, Mexico

A Myriad of Mexican Endemics

5 January 2011 - 15 January 2011, 11 days & 10 nights

The state of Oaxaca, Mexico is wonderfully diverse in flora and fauna, history, culture, cuisine, and scenery.  Our tour is designed to provide optimum exposure to this richness at a comfortable pace while enjoying unique and superb lodging experiences, great natural history and birds, and fascinating cultural experiences.  While in the city of Oaxaca we'll stay at the charming Hotel Azucenas, a wonderful place with a nice intimate atmosphere, located in a quiet neighborhood. From there we'll visit the arid scrub habitat around Teotitlan del Valle, a Zapotec town well known for its fine weaving.  On past trips we've seen as many as 90 species of birds in the day we spend in this area. Some of the specialties include White-throated Towhee, Boucard's Wren, Ocellated Thrasher, Oaxaca and Bridled Sparrows, Dusky Hummingbird, Gray-breasted Woodpecker, Golden Vireo, and White-striped Woodcreeper. To the north, in the Sierra Juarez, we'll enjoy rich cloud forest and have good opportunities to find the endemic Dwarf Jay, plus Gray-barred Wren, Golden-browed and Red Warblers, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Collared Towhee, Chestnut-capped and Rufous-capped Brush-Finches, and Gray-breasted Wood-Wren. We'll trade the color of Oaxaca City for the color of the Sierra Miahuatlan, where we'll stay in a hotel on a mountain ridge surrounded by pine forest and flowering plants with hummingbirds, Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer, and Hooded Yellowthroat.  Fruiting pyracantha bushes may provide close views of White-throated Robin, Brown-backed Solitaire, Gray Silky-Flycatcher, and Russet Nightingale-Thrush.  In the nearby forests and on our descent to the Pacific coast, we'll look for Common Bush-Tanager, Red-headed Tanager, Blue-capped and Bumblebee Hummingbirds, Mountain Trogon, and Golden Vireo, plus some striking butterflies amidst the rich tropical vegetation.  Here we'll also visit a shade grown coffee plantation where we've found dozens of Fan-tailed Warblers, Double-toothed Kite, Barred Woodcreeper, Emerald Toucanet, and outstanding butterflies.  We'll stay at the lovely and unique Rancho Cerro Largo on the Pacific coast, where White-throated Magpie-Jay, Banded Wren, Russet-crowned Motmot, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, Orange-breasted Bunting, Red-breasted Chat, and Citreoline Trogon can be found on the lodge grounds. Out over the Pacific, we'll see Red-billed Tropicbirds and Brown Boobies soaring with Magnificent Frigatebirds.  In the nearby forest we should find Colima Pygmy-Owl, Happy Wren, Blue Bunting, Yellow-winged Cacique, Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, and many other avian wonders.  We go to the Laguna Manialtepec, a mangrove-lined lagoon where we should see Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Mangrove Vireo, Mangrove Swallow, Collared Plover, and possibly Ruddy-breasted Seedeater and Mangrove Cuckoo. Our journey combines exciting birding, rich natural history, outstanding food, the warm hospitality of the people of Oaxaca, and memorable cultural experiences.

Price: $2750.00 from Oaxaca City, Mexico    

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San Blas, Mexico

One Location, Great Birding & Many Endemics

10 February 2011 - 18 February 2011, 9 days & 8 nights

The West Coast of Mexico is home to many of this amazing country's endemic species and San Blas is the ideal location from which to search for these birds. This quaint fishing village offers easy access to the ocean, lagoons, beaches, mangroves, and arid scrub, plus pine-oak woodland at higher elevation. In the arid thornforest that surrounds the coastal areas we should find endemics such as Rufous-bellied Chachalaca, Elegant Quail, Mexican Parrotlet, Citreoline Trogon, San Blas and Purplish-backed Jays, and Happy and Sinaloa Wrens. Rufous-crowned Motmot and Golden Vireo will be in evidence here and farther up the hillsides, where a past tour yielded excellent looks at Colima Pygmy-Owl and the elusive Rosy Thrush-Tanager. Our only full-day trip away from San Blas will be to the higher elevation pine-oak forests of Cerro de San Juan. Mixed species flocks here include White-striped Woodcreeper, Crescent-chested and Fan-tailed Warblers, Red-headed Tanager, while Spotted Wren and Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow inhabit the understory and Brown-backed Solitaire gives its eerie song from the forest canopy. During two river trips we'll search for mangrove specialties including Boat-billed Heron, Rufous-necked Wood-Rail, Mangrove Cuckoo, and many wading birds and shorebirds on the mudflats and lagoons. An ocean boat ride will give us excellent looks at Blue-footed and Brown Boobies, plus a chance for Red-billed Tropicbird and several pelagic species. Add to all this an incredible beach for swimming, and endemics such as Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, the majestic Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Sinaloa Crow, and Yellow-winged Cacique right in town, and you can see why San Blas is truly a birder's delight.

Price: $2995.00 from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico    

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El Triunfo, Chiapas, Mexico

Birding & Natural History in Mexico’s Great Wilderness

9 March 2011 - 18 March 2011, 10 days & 9 nights

Harboring about ten percent of Earth's biodiversity, Mexico is one of the most biologically rich countries in the world. During this birding and natural history adventure, we'll explore and learn about much of that richness as we travel through what is one of the last great wilderness areas in Mexico, the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. Though somewhat rigorous, the tour to El Triunfo stands as one of the greatest natural history adventures that I've personally ever experienced. The week that we'll spend hiking in and enjoying the cloud forests of southern Mexico will be highlighted by some of the best birding in the world, as well as by the warm hospitality of our Mexican hosts. Our trip begins in Tuxtla Gutierrez, where we'll spend a morning enjoying the tropical deciduous forest and great scenery of Sumidero Canyon. Here we'll look for dry forest specialists such as White-throated Magpie-Jay, Nutting's Flycatcher, White-lored Gnatcatcher, Streak-backed Oriole, Banded Wren, and the rare Belted Flycatcher. From Tuxtla we'll head south to the small town of Jaltenango, our take-off point for El Triunfo. We'll spend six unforgettable days birding, hiking, and enjoying the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. Amidst the towering, epiphyte-laden trees, we'll have chances to see Resplendent Quetzal, Emerald Toucanet, Black-throated and Unicolored Jays, Mountain and Black Robins, Green-throated Mountain-Gem, Yellow-throated and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finches, Spotted and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrushes, Blue-throated Motmot, Highland Guan, Fulvous Owl, and the rare prize of the area, the Horned Guan. From the high elevation ridges, we'll descend for three days through pristine forests, stopping to camp at lovely spots where we'll likely find White-eared Ground-Sparrow, Long-tailed Manakin, Cabanis' Tanager, Rufous Sabrewing, Rufous-and-white Wren, White-winged Tanager, perhaps the rare Prevost's Ground-Sparrow, and many others. We'll conclude our adventure in Tapachula at a comfortable hotel with grounds that are home to Giant Wren, White-bellied Chachalaca, Orange-chinned Parakeet, and Pacific Screech-Owl. While this trip is highly exhilarating in terms of the natural wonders we'll experience, it is physically challenging with hikes of 4-8 miles and tent camping for 3-6 nights. The tour will be led by Mark Pretti. Group size is limited to 8 participants.

Price: $2600.00 to $2800.00

Price: $2800.00 from Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico    

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CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO

TREASURES OF THE SIERRA MADRE

15 May 2011 - 19 May 2011, 5 days & 4 nights

The largest of the 31 Mexican states, Chihuahua, due to its interior location and altitude, offers nature enthusiasts a glimpse into yet another aspect of Mexico's great biological diversity.  Our journey begins in Sierra Vista, Arizona, from where we'll travel southeast through Chihuahuan Desert grassland and desert scrub and eventually into the high Sierra Madre and the town of Madera which will serve as our home base.  On the way to Madera, we'll stop at the small town of Casa Grandes and visit the excellent museum at the Paquime ruins to learn about the rich human history of the region.  From Madera, a small logging and agricultural town at 6500 feet, we'll explore the vast pine, oak, and mixed conifer forests of the area.  In addition to many of the Madrean bird species also found in southeast Arizona - including Elegant Trogon, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Mexican Chickadee, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, and Greater Pewee - we've also found Brown-backed Solitaire, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Rufous-capped Warbler, White-striped Woodcreeper, Slate-throated Redstart, Russet Nightingale-Thrush, Mountain Trogon, and some of the most memorable prizes of the area including Eared Quetzal, Striped Sparrow, and Thick-billed Parrot.  Thick-billed Parrots, one of only two parrot species in the genus Rhynchopsitta, are spectacular pine-nut and acorn eating birds, which nest primarily in large cavities of quaking aspen at about 9000 feet in the Madera area.  We'll have excellent views of these amazing birds.  In addition to birds we may see up to four species of squirrel, white-sided and black-tailed jackrabbits, eastern cottontail, various butterflies (we've seen about 50 species in the area so far) and reptiles including striped plateau, Yarrow's and Clark's spiny, bunchgrass, short-horned and Mexican plateau horned lizards, and black-necked garter snake.  On our return to Arizona, we'll stop in Casa Grandes where we'll spend the final night at Las Guacamayas, a memorable B&B run by a remarkable woman who has a superb gallery of some of the finest Mata Ortiz pottery to be found.  From there, we'll visit the charming town of Mata Ortiz, made famous by local artist Juan Quezada who, inspired by the pottery of the people who inhabited Paquime, resurrected the art which has flourished in his home town.  The tour will be led by Mark Pretti and is limited to eight participants.

Price: $900.00 from Sierra Vista, Arizona    

Itinerary Photos Previous Tours Birds Previously Seen Pay Balance Due

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Michoacan & Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico

Holiday Tour & MILLIONS of Monarch Butterflies

27 December 2011 - 3 January 2012, 8 days & 7 nights

Marilyn Mayo will be our hostess as we settle into the village of Patzcuaro in the highlands of Mexico. We will bird local trails, explore a Monarch Butterfly sanctuary where MILLIONS of butterflies winter, and look for Northern Jacana, American Bittern, Black-polled Yellowthroat, and other aquatic species during a 3-hour boat ride on the waterways surrounding Lake Patzcuaro. Cerro Burro is likely to produce Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer, Gray-barred Wren, Crescent-chested Warbler, and possibly Mountain Pygmy-Owl and Mountain Trogon, as it has on recent tours. We'll experience a local fiesta, explore ancient ruins, and enjoy Berylline Hummingbirds and Blue Mockingbirds in our backyard. The climate is cool, dry, and very comfortable. Among the 150+ species that we are likely to see, we will search for a number of Mexican endemics including Happy Wren, Russet Nightingale-Thrush, and Red Warbler. We will have the added guidance and knowledge of Marilyn Mayo, a local resident, historical expert, and gracious hostess. Bob Schutsky and Marilyn Mayo are your tour leaders.

Price: $0.00 from Morelia, Mexico    

Itinerary Photos Previous Tours Birds Previously Seen Pay Balance Due

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