TRAVEL | Wildlife Spotted at The TRS Yucatan, Maya Riviera, Mexico

September 28, 2018 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

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One of the things I love most about travel is natural wildlife encounters. Before arriving at the TRS Yucatan hotel in Quintana Roo in Mexico, I did my homework and expected to come across a lot of Coatis and Iguanas. On the Iguana front I wasn’t disappointed and came to lovingly refer to them as ‘Mexican Pigeons’ as they are so numerous and such a common sight.

Grounds of the TRS Yucatan Hotel Palladium Hotels Mexico — *The beautiful grounds of the Palladium hotels complex on the Maya Riviera*

Having spoken to Mexican friends, I was assured I’d see lots of Coatis, cute little critters that look like a Lemur crossed with a Racoon, but during my week away, I only spotted one, and sadly it was gone too soon for me to be able to grab my camera. Lack of Coati sightings aside, I did get to see a variety of different birds and lizards, so I thought it would be nice to share some of my favourite wildlife photographs.

In terms of identification, I’m no expert, so if anyone spots errors in my identification, corrections would be greatly appreciated.

TRS Yucatan Hotel Grounds, Mexico — *The grounds of the TRS Yucatan*

Agouti

This little fella was very friendly and made frequent visits to our suite, we’d often be sat in the plunge pool and would see it sniffing around looking for fallen fruit. Native to Middle America, northern and central South America, the Agouti is a rodent and is related to the Guinea Pig, though it’s much larger. When watching them I thought they resembled a cross between of Hare, Guinea Pig and a Squirrel.

Mexican Spinytail Iguana

We saw Iguanas very frequently, most often sat still during the day in an exposed spot basking in the sunhine. Capable of growing up to 1.3m in size, the ones we spotted ranged in size greatly with some very large ones of around a metre as well as much smaller ones spotted. It was the larger ones that were the least skittish and most likely to hold their ground no matter how close you got to them.

Black Vultures

I was very excited to spot these 3 black Vultures, perched high atop a building in the grounds of the TRS Yucatan hotel. This new world Vulture is a very common sight in southeastern United States to southern America.

Tropical Mockingbird

This beautiful little bird was a frequent visitor to the shaded area just behind the beach at the Collonial hotel, part of the larger Palladium hotel complex that we stayed in. The Tropical Mockingbird is a resident breeding bird native to southern Mexico, common in Brazil, the Lesser Antilles and other Caribbean islands.

Yucatan Jay

This was one of the most frequent birds spotted out and about at the TRS Yucatan with stunning bright blue plumage. As you can tell from the beak, it’s a member of the Corvidae family and is native to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Brown Pelican

Since getting up close to Pelicans during a feeding encounter many years ago in Florida, I’ve always loved them and I saw lots flying close to the shore. Watching them dive was comical, graceful they are not! They seemed to just radomly dive and smash their huge beaks under water before bobbing back up to float on the surface.

Land Crab

I’m not sure what kind of crab this is, as he was very shy and as soon as he heard us approaching he scuttled down into his very deep sandy burrow. He was a lovely bright vibrant yellow/orange colour and although I sat and quietly waited for 10 minutes hoping he’d emerge for a better shot, this was the best I could do.

Frigatebirds

The graceful Frigatebird was a common sight, swooping high above the shallows of the sea. Rarely seen flapping, they just glide on thermals. Their distinctive wings are long and pointed and can span up to a whopping 2.3m.

Green Lizard

I only spotted a couple of these, as they were generally much more skittish than the far larger Iguanas, but its beautiful colouring makes it exceptionally eye catching.

Small lizard — *Above: Another small lizard spotted, though I’m not sure what kind*

Laughing Gull

I think this is a Mexican Laughing Gull, I only spotted a few, but with their black faces and wing tips, they were very distinctive against the blue sky.

Parrots

Sadly these birds weren’t spotted in the wild, they were being carried around by a photographer on the beach but they appeared exceptionally calm and happy. Given they are such intelligent birds and crave stimulation, it felt like they relished hopping onto the heads of willing tourists.

Flamingos

Again, not spotted in the wild, but in a large aviary inside the grounds of the Palladium hotel complex. These beautiful birds are however native to the Yucatan, with tens of thousands of flamingos living in the Yucatan peninsula.

Mangrove Turtle

This little turtle was spotted in the mangrove swamps that ran all through the grounds of the TRS Yucatan.

Land Crab

Walking back to our suite one evening, this little fella was waiting for us outside the door, which we found rather amusing. After speaking to our Butler he said, that he once found a crab on the third floor!

Mexican Crow

We saw lots of these slightly unkempt and disheveled looking crows all over the place.

Cormorants

I’m not sure what type of Cormorant this is as it was much smaller than others I’ve seen, possibly a Neotropic cormorant but I’m not certain.

For nature lovers, I can thoroughly recommend this region of Mexico. The TRS Yucatan provided ample grounds and natural habitats for native species and it was a joy spotting so much in the hotel grounds and along the beach front. All over the TRS there were information boards like the ones below, telling you more about the local ecology and wildlife.

I’ll be blogging again about the marine life I saw whilst snorkeling and diving in the stunning marine nature reserve of Cozumel and a detailed feature on the hotel will also be added soon. I traveled to Mexico with Blue Bay Travel and stayed at the luxurious 5-star, adult-only TRS Yucatan hotel.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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