Flamingos & Celestun Bird Sanctuary
by Anne Kiehl & Dave Krieg
The four of us arrived in the early afternoon at the Celestun Biosphere Reserve on the Gulf of Mexico in Yucatan, a 90-minute drive west from Merida. A guide convinced us that it would be a perfect time to see birds and we were on our way in a fairly new boat with a sun roof. This is one of the best breeding areas in the northern hemisphere for the American Flamingo, and there are also hundreds of other birds and waterfowl that breed in the wetlands and mangrove forests. We saw several groups with hundreds of flamingos; mostly wading in the water and a few in flight. Their colors ranged from pale coral to flame red with black wing tips. The vivid colors of the birds and their reflections in the water was truly an amazing sight.
There were many herons, flocks of egrets, cormorants and even wood storks. We had close views of Magnificent Frigate-birds, with their brilliant red, inflated throat pouches. Our guide took us to a mangrove swamp with a wooden walkway around a pretty little pond. Our most exciting sightings were a Pygmy Kingfisher 5" long in green, yellow and orange and a Bare-Throated Tiger Heron, 30" high. Both of these were new birds for Anne and Dave.
Dave had taken some wonderful photos of the birds, but they were among those we lost.
The day ended with a fine dinner, a specialty of the area -- fish stuffed with shellfish -- and camping over-night at the boat dock.
