Birds between Mahahual & Xcalak

We fell asleep so early last night that we woke up before the sun rose this morning.

The cruise ships come into Costa Maya a couple of times a week.   We didn't want to be hanging around when all the tourists came to Mahahual, so we decided to take a drive down to Xcalak.   Xcalak seems to be the furthest south you can drive on the east coast of Mexico.    

We hit the road around 8:00 a.m., which was still early enough to see a couple of fox and quite a few birds.  

We had no idea what this beautiful creature was.   It looks like a cross between a turkey and a peacock.  I googled:  "cross between a turkey and a peacock" and found it right away.  It is the Oscellated Turkey.  The Mayans call it ucutz il chica.    It resides only in a 50,000 square mile area in the Yucatan Peninsula Range.   We saw two of them and are indeed fortunate to have seen any at all because it is considered an almost threatened species.   

It's going to take a while for me to identify this bird of prey.

Xcalak is a sleepy little fishing town an hour away from anything else.   Most houses are made from wood, and owned by Mexican.  Most of the ones with ocean front are not owned by Mexicans and most of them are for sale.   We ran into the woman who owns this house.   She wants 350,000 U.S. for it.   I think she is dreaming.    She also told us that a lot goes for 100,000 U.S., but when we stopped at the Real Estate office, the lots were 65,000  U.S.    

This house, presumably taken out by hurricane Dean is next door to the one above.   I wonder how long it has been for sale?

An odd looking seagull.   I haven't found it on the internet yet.

This fellow had a fish in his sights.

And he caught it!

We ran into a couple who were camped next to us in Bacalar for a night.   I didn't get their names, but their van is named Maggie...or something that starts with an M.  lol    They said they were going to have a peek at our blog, so perhaps they will weigh in here and let us know.   They found this empty lot for sale, and thought it would be a great place to boondock for the night.   Great idea! 

This is another bird of prey that I still have to identify, it appears to be some type of hawk to me.   

This beauty looked like an owl before I saw it through the telephoto lens.   

If anyone can identify these birds for me, please feel free.   I can see why so many people get into birding.   It could get addictive.       

Another bird of prey.   I love the markings on his chest. 

We saw a lot of these in huge flocks.   They were hard to capture on film because they flit around like crazy. I think they are parakeets.   Please correct me if I am wrong.

  We saw a lot of Plain Chacalaca.   

The best part about Xcalak was the drive there.   By the time we came back it was around 10:00 a.m., and there weren't near as many birds and no other wild life on the road.   

Of course our eyes are peeled for jaguar.   What are the chances we will get another experience like that, and actually be ready with the camera?