Site Report: La Bajada

La Bajada is a small village just outside of San Blas in Nayarit state. It is one of the sites mentioned in Howell's "A Bird Finding Guide To Mexico" The site consists of forest bordering on a banana/mango plantation. The hills surrounding the plantation were lush and appeared to be native forest. It was difficult to get beyond the forest edge due to the rough terrain. This area had a good variety of colorful forest birds such as elegant Trogons, Streak-backed Orioles, Western Tanagers, Yellow and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Mexican Parrotlets, Yellow-winged Caciques, Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Common Tufted Flycatchers, Migrant warblers and vireos, a San Blas Jay, and a Sinaloa Wren. At about 7:00 AM, we encountered an excellent mixed-species flock, and we barely moved for over an hour while checking out the various birds. There is an excellent waterfall near this location which I visited in December 2001, but I will warn that the road is poor, and the waterfall is not easy to find.