Caboversary

Even though this year's winter was not nearly as brutal as 2014, it was still nice to get out of town after a hectic Christmas season. Although we have been to Mexico several times, we have never been to the Baja peninsula. So off to San Jose del Cabo (the non-party Cabo) we went to enjoy some balmy weather and also to see if we could make one of the local endemic birds our thousandth. 

In spite of a bit of bother with the reservations, we actually ended up adjacent to the estuary, where we spotted 87 different bird species, including the endemic Xantus' hummingbird (thanks to a random tip from a fellow birder we ran into at the hotel). 

Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was our pelagic bird tour, which (as you can see below) turned into a fishing trip. We also saw grey and humpback whales-- oh yeah, and maybe a bird or two. Many thanks to our excellent guide Maria Elena, who made the trip fun and rewarding.

Although we didn't get to 1000 birds, we disd see all 3 endemic and added several other life listers as well. This trip definitely earned a seal of approval!

As a bonus, the following week, we traveled back to Charleston (hard to believe it's been 7 years), where the food, shopping and charm remain intact in spite of a lot of growth. We also spent a couple of days in Savannah, which has a great energy as well, and plenty of good birding (including the black skimmer, our 999th--so close!). We also stopped to do a bit of birding on the otherwise incredibly banal Hilton Head, and capped of the trip sharing breakfast with Dick Christiansen, whose passion for psychiatry as social justice has been an inspiration to us both.