DAY 5 WEDNESDAY

At 5:00 am, breakfast was earlier than the prior days. We had a bit of a drive to reach the volcanoes, so the guides got us going early with a picnic breakfast on the patio of the hotel office. They spread out a selection including coffee, tea, milk, juice, cereal, muffins, pan dulce, and bananas.

By 5:30 am we were on the road, continuing north on the Carretera de Cuota we had entered Colima on. While on 110, we crossed back into the state of Jalisco. About 45 to 50 minutes after leaving Colima, we exited 110 at the junction leading to Atenquique.

There was a Pemex station at the junction, where we refueled and used the restrooms. The junction at the station was a glorieta (roundabout), and a little confusing in the dark. The guides took a spin around the glorieta, back into the station, and then back onto the glorieta before we were pointed in the right direction.

The road leads past the paper mill town of Atenquique, then on to where an inconspicuous dirt road departs the main road. In the dark, the volcano road didn’t look obvious to me, but the guides found it without a problem. According to the guides, the volcano road was in pretty good shape, and can be much worse at times. Even so, low-clearance vehicles would have had a hard time with the dirt mounds that had been put in the road to control runoff. We scraped many of these mounds, but found all of them passable in the van and Suburban.

We headed up the volcano road as dawn began to break. By the time we could see well, we were high enough that the stunning vistas from the volcano road were becoming visible. The road climbs the north and east sides of Nevado de Colima, so we were able to see the sun rise in the distance.

Our first stop was to take the side road to the Microondas Cerro Alto. At the towers, soon after arriving, I saw my first lifer of the day. A group of Gray-barred Wrens hung around for a bit, scolding us while allowing many good views.

We left the towers and headed back down the cobblestone road. Chris had us on the lookout for Dwarf Vireos. These little birds add to the confusion between Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Hutton’s Vireo. As we birded down the road, on an eastward facing slope, Chris found a Dwarf Vireo in a mixed flock of birds. There was also at least one Hutton’s in the flock, and I wasn’t sure which of the two vireos I as seeing until Chris pointed out that there was more contrast on the underside of the Dwarf. I was then able to note that compared to the Dwarf, the Hutton’s had dingy, more green, and less contrasting underparts. Chris also pointed out that the birds had a slightly different facial pattern, but this was more difficult for me to note.

While walking down the road, I heard (and just missed seeing) a second life bird, the Long-tailed Wood-Partridge. We came upon the bird in a bend in the road. The first few in the group got a glimpse, but not the rest. We all heard the bird sing twice in response to the guides playing its song, then it was gone.

By the time we reached where the cobblestone road joined the main volcano road, it was time for a cool drink and snack. We then piled in and headed higher on the volcano road, stopping to bird along the way, until we reached a wide level spot where both vehicles could easily pull off the road. At one stop, we were able to attract a Mountain (Northern) Pygmy-Owl for great views.

We birded below our parking spot, getting our first views of the trip, of Red Warblers. These Red Warblers had a white circle on the side of the head, as apposed to the gray patch that the birds on the Durango Highway had. As we birded down the road we were in a large group of birds, and it became difficult to look at all the birds that were being pointed out.

While following and trying to see some Golden-browed Warblers, the guides pointed out a Russet Nightingale-Thrush that had ducked across the road. I was unable to spot the Nightingale-Thrush, but saw a medium to large sized warbler that was plain overall. This warbler was greenish brown, had an eye ring, a tawny patch on its rump, and tawny undertail coverts. I was unable to place this bird in my mind, until a little later I heard others talking about the Colima Warbler that had been in the flock. In reading for the trip, this warbler is described as being uncommon in Colima, even though the originally described bird was found there. So, I was happy to have been able to see this bird.

While birding the same flock, I saw a bird directly overhead in a tree. I could see the underside from the chin down. I noted the small size, upright posture, black chin, rufous underside, and notched tail. I consulted a field guide to confirm my suspicions that this was likely an Elegant Euphonia. This was a bird I had looked for while on the Durango Highway, and had high hopes of viewing on this trip. Unfortunately, this was all I got of this “elegant” bird; I did not see another.

In addition, I was able to find another vireo I thought was a good candidate for a Dwarf based on the higher contrast of the underparts. I pointed the bird out to Chris, who also thought the bird was a good candidate.

The guides left us to head back up to the vehicles to prepare lunch, and the rest of us birded our way back up the road. I was near the back of the group, and came upon several others viewing a White-eared Hummingbird on a nest on one side of the road, and an Amethyst-throated Hummingbird feeding sporadically on the other side of the road. I only got a glimpse of a large hummingbird on the one side, but was able to photograph the White-eared on her nest.

Lunch was chicken salad and assorted finger foods. While eating, Sandy noticed a hummingbird feeding on flowers in front of the Suburban. She pointed it out to me, and I saw glimpses as it came and went. Initially, I thought it was a White-eared because of its prominent white supercilium. However with better views it was obvious that it was much too large. After several trips in, the light on the bird’s throat was just right and I saw that it had a reddish-pink throat and I realized it was another Amethyst-throated Hummingbird. It continued to return, providing great views.

After lunch, we birded for a short time up the road from the vehicles. We immediately found a female Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer. John showed us the small nicks these birds make in the base of flowers, pointing out that almost all of the flowers in the area the bird was working were marked.

After finding our first Tufted Flycatchers of the trip, we headed back to the vehicles and began our drive back to Colima. We stopped several times to bird on the way back, including adding Gray Silky-flycatchers once we got back down to where agricultural fields began.

The Silky-flycatchers were near a spot where a ~3/4” pipe came vertically out of the ground. Many birds flying to the pipe, where they would cling to the side and feed off of it. It took me a few minutes to figure out that there was water running down the sides of the pipe, and that the birds were drinking. I would love to have been able to photograph the Acorn Woodpeckers, with up to three at a time clinging to the sides of the pipe.

We had a bit of a drive to return to our hotel, so we finally had to stop birding and move along. We returned to the Glorieta and Pemex station that we had visited in the dark of morning.

Bob had shown me a beautiful mechanical altimeter, that he had acquired in the seventies, on the drive the day before. Unfortunately, when we left the Pemex station he couldn’t find it, and worried that he had left it there. When we returned on our way back, he spoke with several of the employees who said they didn’t know where it was, but would ask the janitor when he returned to work. We hoped that it might be found on our return to the volcanoes on Day 7.

John passed around a menu, for the restaurant where we would eat dinner, on the drive back. When we returned to the hotel, he took orders so that the food would be ready shortly after we arrived. We ate at the restaurant at the hotel next door, the Las Guacamayas. The food was very good. I returned to the hotel and hit the sack, tired after a long and wonderful day.

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