Bahia Santa Maria

January 20th & 21st

One of the most important wetlands in Mexico and North America, Bahia Santa Maria, will be the destination of our 2 night post festival trip. This coastal wetland, measuring over 123 000 acres, is on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. (Ramsar, Iran, was the location where an intergovernmental treaty was signed in 1971 to protect important wetlands) and is also a site of Hemispheric Importance within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN).
Owing to the size of the site, many habitats are represented there including dense mangrove, thorn and shrub, tropical deciduous forest, marshes, tidal flats, dunes and large barrier islands which separate the bay from the Sea of Cortez.  This varied habitat offers refuge for literally millions of migratory and resident birds including ducks, pelicans, herons,seagulls,terns, and, of course, thousands of shorebirds. It is also an important nesting site for the Royal Tern, Blue-footed Booby and the Magnificent Frigate bird.

Pronatura Noroeste and their affiliates have worked hard to preserve and rehabilitate these areas that have been damaged by the uncontrolled growth of shrimp and traditional farms. Join us on a tour of this wonderful area with the experts from Pronatura Noroeste. The trip includes transportation, bilingual guide, accommodations, meals, bird list, and drinking water.

 $360 usd/person/trip. Based on double occupancy (Single Occupancy TBA)

San Blas, Nayarit

January 20th, 21st and 22nd

Thanks to a new highway, the fishing port of San Blas is now an easy three hour drive from Mazatlan.  It is south of Mazatlan in the State of Nayarit. San Blas is well known as a birding destination and boasts a number of different habitats, all within easy reach of the town center. Join local guides and San Blas natives, Armando Santiago and Manuel Lomeli, and visit the birding hotspots of San Blas. Arriving in San Blas, we will have lunch and rest at the hotel before going to experience a wonderful afternoon/evening boat ride in the La Tovara estuary. Our guides will share with you the ecology of this special place including the nesting habits of the Orange-fronted Parrots.  In addition we will be looking out for the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Black-and Yellow –crowned Night Herons, White Ibis, Snail Kites, Common and Great Black Hawks, Crane Hawk, Mangrove Cuckoo, Mangrove Warbler, and Mangrove Vireo and, of course, the Northern Pootoo  among many others. Our second day will take us to La Bajada and Singayta to look for species in the Tropical Deciduous Forest like the Collared-forest Falcon, Colima Pygmy Owl, Crested Guan, Orange-fronted Parakeet, Mexican Parrotlet and the Lilac-crowned Parrot, Mexican Hermit, Mexican Woodnymph, Citreoline, Mountain and Elegant Trogons, Grey-crowned Woodpecker, Grey-collared Becard, Rose-throated Becard, Gray-breasted Jay,  and the Black-capped Vireo, Golden Vireo, Godman´s Euphonia and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. On our third day we will head up to Cerro San Juan where we have the possibility of  seeing the Lesser Roadrunner, Mexican Woodnymph, Bumblebee Hummingbird, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Golden Vireo and Audubon`s Oriole.  

 $540 usd /person/trip. Based on double occupancy