This UN recognized biosphere in the northeast Yucatán is also a tentative world heritage site, and in the winter it has thousands of flamingos! A short drive from Mérida, I bought my ticket at the Parador Turístico and waited 5 minutes for four more tourists to join my boat, and we zoomed off to see the beautiful birds. After watching flocks of flamingos flying and feeding in the shallow estuary—ría—, we went off to see more birds. In the mangrove tunnel, I spotted the bare throated tiger heron below with his neck stretched up to look like a stick, but when we got close he realized his cover was blown.
We also walked a boardwalk to a freshwater spring-fed lagoon and saw a baby crocodile, lots of pelicans, great & snowy egrets, wood storks, and a roseate spoonbill. But for me, the surprise was seeing flamingos in flight. I’ve seen a few flamingos in zoos, but I’ve never seen so many gathered together honking, chattering, flapping, bowing and preening. Instead of looking silly or awkward, here their displays look natural and beautiful, especially flying in formation. One of my favorite stops in Mexico.
