Mexico and Palenque
March 10, 2008
The last weather front that brought snow to parts of Central Texas also brought relief from the heat to Southern Mexico. It was so cool that it was necessary to pull up the sheet for night-time warmth. After a long day’s drive from Chetumal, it was good to find an old familiar place that we have enjoyed so much in the past. The Mayabell campground is located on the edge of the Mayan ruins of Palenque in southern Mexico. These ruins can be found on a mountain ridge that remains covered with native forest. Consequently, it is a great place for the native birds and is one of the best birding spots in one of the best Mayan ruins in Mexico. We woke at the “crack-of-dawn” and knew it was time to get outside. We could hear the Howler Monkeys defending their territories and knew the birds would be visible soon.
I left Pat in the motorhome and found a comfortable spot by the pool to watch the sun’s first rays hit the tops of the huge trees of the rainforest. A couple of White-fronted parrots landed high in the treetops and a Keel-billed Toucan followed his large yellow-green beak across the blue sky. A rich-rufous-colored Squirrel Cuckoo slithered along the branches of a tree. Many small warblers and bright yellow and black euphonias appeared and disappeared in the now sun-drenched foliage. The volume of the Howler Monkeys became louder. Pat came out and sat with me. We pointed out birds to each other.
Now it was approaching the time for the park to open its gates, so we ate a quick breakfast and drove to the parking lot at the park entrance. It was filled to near capacity with tour buses. A large outdoor auditorium was filled with Mexicans in their old native dress – colorful haupil dresses on some of the women and large sombreros on some of the men. The gates opened and we drove up the steep road to the Palenque ruins. The parking lot on top was filled to overflowing with busses, pickups and various kinds of autos. A young man ran out into the street and offered to help me park. He guided me through the thick traffic and got somebody to move their car so we could park. I was prepared to offer him a generous tip, when he asked if he could wash our dirty motorhome, and watch it too, for 20 US dollars. I accepted his offer, bought entry tickets and we passed through the entry gates.
When we visited this place in 2002, it was a cloudy day so our photos lacked good color. But this morning the sky was blue and the colors were excellent. We walked rapidly to the choice spots where we could photograph the various structures to best utilize the morning sunlight. As we approached one of my favorite temples, the sound of the Howler Monkeys was being drowned out by the sound of electrical generator motors. Some Mexican TV station was present with cameras and was sending a live TV signal via satellite. Apparently, they were doing some kind of documentary on the native Mexican people and using the Palenque Ruins as a backdrop. They could not have found a nicer day for their production. Sure, the loud generators disturbed the birds and monkeys, but we got to photograph lots of Mexicans in their colorful outfits.
But we soon tired of all the noise and headed for quieter parts of the park. In a large, open area, we searched the sky to see what was flying around. A very large, black bird soared on some updraft of wind -- maybe caused by wind flowing over the mountains. We could both see the bird fairly well as it circled over us. At first, it appeared to have a rope tied to its leg so that it dangled below the bird as it flew. But then I noticed that the “rope” was really a tree branch. My first thought was that maybe this bird was the Common or Great Black Hawk. But, it had only one broad, white band on the tail and no white spots on the wing. We concluded that the description fit the Solitary Eagle – a fairly rare bird and a new bird for our list. About then, the eagle dropped the branch and we watched it fall to earth. We wondered if this might be some sort of mating behavior – except that we saw no airborne second eagle that would be attracted by this behavior. Then, I wondered how the Mayan Priests would have interpreted this sign. The eagle soon drifted out of sight, but it had turned our attention to the skies. So I scanned the mountain ridge and found two King Vultures soaring along the ridgeline. Now, this was exciting stuff for amateur birders like us.
Pat noticed a small raptor in a nearby tree and we quickly identified it as a Bat Falcon. As we watched, a second Bat Falcon landed beside the first one and offered it a very large dragonfly. For me, it is a little difficult to imagine a bird with such flying skills that it can pluck a dragonfly or a bat from the sky. But, we had just seen the very convincing evidence.
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| Bat Falcon |
By now, it was time for old folks to take a meal and a nap, so we drove back down the mountain. It had been a very rewarding morning and we enjoyed a great sense of satisfaction. This morning will be difficult to duplicate elsewhere.
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