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1999 Ecotour Log Rancho Los Colorados, Aldama, Mexico We arrived after an hour ride through the Sierra Madres in an open-air truck under a sky of sparkling stars and the full moon. This trip to the research station/ranch along Mexico's Gulf coast was my first visit there, in the fall season. As always, in many other spring visits, we had incredible viewing of fantastic birds! The Amazona oratrix, (Yellow-head), scene was fabulous, a juvenile hoard flying right over head, lots of racket and cavorting in the trees. They are the clowns that we know them to be, their happy trilled calls resound throughout the land every dawn and dusk. What a thrill! The Amazona autumnalis (Red-loreds) were a-plenty too, and Amazona viridiginalis (Red-heads). They moved in, up close and personal! A good view of their day glow green cheeks explains why they are also called Green-cheeked Amazons. The Aratinga holochlora, (Green Parakeets, or conures) chirped cheerfully and wildly right outside our cabanas. Another super sighting right in the yard was a pair of Trogon elegans ambiguus, (Elegant Trogons). We were able to sit in the grass and ogle them from just a few feet away for over an hour! The female was very active, hunting insects, coming and going from her mate's side. He sat there, to be fully admired. He is iridescent emerald green, with a bright scarlet breast! At a distance, a patch on his wings and his under-tail feathers appear slate gray, but close-up, you can see that they are a fine Op art design in black and white! What a work of art. We desperately hoped that just one of any of his fantastic feathers would molt in our presence, but no such luck! A first sighting for me was the totally Jurassic looking Cocblearius cocblearius phillipsi (Boat-billed Heron). A huge broad, heavy beak, and large eyes for nocturnal fishing give an incredible, other worldly appearance! We admired the orchids and bromeliads, and even the insects, since one of the participants was a student of entomology, and his knowledge about them allowed me to take one half step back from my "creepy bug" phobia! There were iridescent scarab beetles, lots of giant walking sticks and praying mantis, and a multitude of incredible butterflies. The base color of one species disappears into the background so that they look like bright spots flying around. Then those spots land on flowers that match them so closely that you can barley discern flower spots from butterfly spots. Pretty tricky plan! The weather was warm and humid, offering occasional drizzle, but plenty of sun, especially for our day at the beach where we watched osprey hover and dive and make their catch. They do an impressive in-flight water shake-off after each dive. White pelicans floated gracefully by. We had the birds, the waves and sand and all of the shells all to ourselves! What an amazing world out there! Join us for the next eco-tour to Mexico!
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