Coba fauna
Although
the army
ant column and its camp follower birds were the highlight of my
visit to Coba, dozens of other types of
animals caught my eye. As you can see in the top photo, my old
friends the
leaf-cutter
ants
were out in force, carrying
leaves and even immature fruits along paths they'd cleared through the
woods.
Nearby, termite mounds
hung from branches. More properly known as
termitaries, these nests are made of a combination of digested wood
pulp and merely chewed and regurgitated wood pulp, which together make
a cardboard-like wall. Later, I read that trogons like to hollow
out old termitaries to make their own nests, and I couldn't help
thinking that the half-digested wood pulp would make a good garden
mulch.
Speaking of trogons, I
was lucky enough to catch a view of this
perching insect-hunter. I didn't catch enough
details to tell whether my beauty was a Violaceous Trogon or a
Black-headed Trogon, but I did get to see it foray out from the branch
in search of flying prey. These photos don't do the bird
justice --- its breast is brilliant yellow.
One
of our most amazing sightings occurred right at the beginning. As
we poked around the Coba group (near the entrance), a rustling in the
undergrowth caught my attention. We crept closer and peered
through the leaves to see a huge turkey with a blue head. The
Ocellated Turkey was too quick for me, as you can see from this photo,
but that's probably a good thing since Mayan legend holds that the
Giant Turkey Spirit is one of the Lords of the Forest which takes
revenge on folks who kill more turkeys than they need. Maybe
snapping too many photos would also incur his wrath?
Then
there were all of my old friends who had flown south for the winter to
Coba. This waterthrush bobbed along the ground just like it does
along the edges of our creeks, although it seemed content to spend the
winter away from a burbling brook. Later, I saw several
warblers and vireos who were
far too fast for my
camera, but who looked awfully familiar as well.
Beside
the trail, a brilliant Blue Bunting stripped grass seeds. Later,
as we ate our own lunch overlooking the lake, we were treated to a
flock of
grackles bathing in the shallow water, several Great Egrets, and a pair
of grebes who continually ducked under the surface, only to pop back up
moments later. Oh, and did I mention
the beautiful little lizard (maybe a Ghost Anole?) that was so sure of
its camouflage that I was able to poke my camera lens nearly down onto
its back?
In fact, between the
lucky viewing of the army
ants' camp followers
and the other very tame wildlife, I have to say that Coba is the best
spot I've been too for birding and wildlife viewing in years.
