Birds of San Juan Ermita

Wednesday turned out to be the best birding yet. We took a bus to San Juan Ermita, a municipio west of Jocotan, and hiked about 5 miles straight up a mountain above the caserío Miramundo. Great looks at a family of Bushy-crested Jays at a spring near Miramundo. We hiked around in the milpas and the lower reaches of the forest, and didn't have a lot of luck. Then we hiked up even higher along the road to where the road meets a creek. Here we finally found some interesting birds, including Prevost's Ground Sparrow, Grayish Saltator, Rusty Sparrow, and Yellow-faced Grassquit. Hiking back down the mountain, I ran out of water, tripped and lost my sunglasses, and was pretty parched by the time we reached the bottom at about 4pm. A long day, about 30 species. Note to self--carry more water!