Keep an eye out to the right for the vultures that may spiral up on the sun’s new thermals.”
I have never birded in town or in Ixtapa but I do have a very nice day trip to another beach, Playa Larga, to see a dozen and a half different birds.
To get there, either take a taxi or for more fun, take the combi bus. They are the maroon and white striped VW vans that go to the town of COACOYUL (look for Coacoyul or Aeropuerto with a symbol of a plane on the windshield), you catch them across from the main market in town, where there’s always a few lined up or any street corner en route. Tell the driver that you want to get off at Playa Larga. On the left side of the road that goes to the beach, you’ll see a pull off area where you wait for the blue combi bus that takes you there. (If that bus doesn’t run anymore, stick your thumb out and hitch a ride…it’s a good 3 kilometers walk to the beach.) While you’re waiting for the bus, if you’re there around 9:30 or so, keep an eye out to the right for the vultures that may spiral up on the sun’s new thermals. When we saw them, there were separate groups of Turkey and Black so I learned that they really don’t roost together at night. One day we also saw 6 WOOD STORKS rising on their own thermals.
We stay for the day at the restaurant, 4 Hermanos, at the end of the road, where both Armando and his wife, Kenya speak English very well, and her mama is one of the best cooks in the Zihuatanejo area. Especially on Thursdays when she makes a terrific Pozole–a pork soup that is the regional specialty of Guerrero, and traditional on Thursdays with tequila –but everything we’ve had there has been excellent.
A 20 minute walk to the north end of the beach takes you a small lagoon. I have seen GREAT BLUE HERON, LITTLE BLUE HERON, BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON, GREEN HERON, TRI-COLLARD HERON, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, ROSEATE SPOONBILL, RED KNOT, CRESTED CARACARA, (It looks like a chicken on steroids), BELTED KINGFISHER, SIMIPALMATED PLOVER, COMMON MOORHEN, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, BLACK NECKED STILT, CATTLE EGRET and of course, many of the same “beach” birds that you see on La Ropa: BROWN PELICAN, BROWN BOOBY, LAUGHING GULL, NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS. SNOWY EGRETS, FRIGATE BIRDS, WILLETS, SANDERLINGS, WHIMBRELS…
As an added treat we often see dolphins close to shore and last year, humpback whales gave us a 20-minute show. All in all, a great day trip with lots of wildlife and bird watching potential.
If you do some birding here and find other birds (or errors) I would love to have this information at lardor@voyager.net and lardor@yahoo.com .
-December 2000
