Excerpts from Jim Conrad's
Naturalist Newsletter

from the December 29, 2008 Newsletter written at Mayan Beach Garden Resort 20 kms north of Mahahual; Caribbean coastal beach and mangroves, ~N18.89°, ~W87.64°, Quintana Roo state, MÉXICO
CHRISTMAS BIRD-WALK , 2008
Longtime readers know that each Christmas I take an unhurried saunter around wherever I happen to be and jot down which birds I happen to stumble across. This Christmas morning about half an hour after sunrise it was 80°F (27° C), a stiff breeze was blowing off the Gulf, and it was balmy and partly cloudy.

Here basically there are two places to walk: Along the narrow sand road following the sand ridge separating the sea and the mangroves, and along the beach. A perfect two-hour walk I've taken many times is up the beach on the road, concentrating on the mangroves, then back along the beach. Here's what I saw this Christmas morning on that walk, with species listed in the order I saw them, so you can get a feeling for how the walk developed:

*** ALONG ROAD ***

  1. CATTLE EGRET stabbing for crabs on the sandy road
  2. MANGROVE CUCKOO watching me from roadside scrub
  3. WHITE-EYED VIREO calling from mangrove edge
  4. GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER pecking in dead mangrove
  5. TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD perched on tall dead mangrove
  6. LEAST FLYCATCHER flycatching at mangrove edge
  7. PALM WARBLER on sandy road tail-bobbing
  8. GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE screeching beside beach house
  9. HOODED ORIOLE singing in snag beside beach house
  10. WILSON'S WARBLER, soft tch! call in Poisonwoods
  11. YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER on snag among Poisonwoods
  12. MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD, 2 sailing over road
  13. YUCATAN JAY, 3 raucously complaining along road
  14. CINNAMON HUMMINGBIRD zipping at mangrove edge
  15. GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER calling wheep! wheep!

*** BEACH ***

  1. BROWN PELICAN diving just offshore
  2. TURKEY VULTURE sailing over mangroves
  3. SPOTTED SANDPIPER tail-wagging in driftwood pile
  4. SANDERLING, ±30 chasing waves in and out
  5. RUDDY TURNSTONE, ±20 among Sanderlings
  6. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER with Sanderlings & Turnstones
  7. ROYAL TERN unmoving on Shoal Grass flat

This list is about what I see every day. Occasionally a Laughing Gull flies by. A few days ago a Peregrine Falcon flew about 15 feet above me, and a couple of weeks ago a Common Black Hawk sailed down the beach screaming, but those were unusual events.