Forrest and other guides from Rockjumpers on. our pelagic tour 2019

Mark Rauson from 

Pacific Seabird Group 2018

in 2017 , we lead our friends from ABA and Carefree Birding 

Maria Elena Muriel is a Keen  professional Birder , she shared  along the tour not only the birds but also the ecology and culture 

BRim- Birding sierra la laguna 

Pamela Rasmussen  from Cornell in 2016 , recording the Sierra la laguna endemics with birding los cabos - 2016 

BRim- Birding Sierra la laguna 

160 Species, 6 endemics (Belding's Yellowthroat, Xantus' Hummingbird, Gray Thrasher, Cape Pygmy Owl, Baird's Yellow-eyed Junco and San Lucas Robin), 15 life birds.

The highlight, the Rim trip to the ski island biosphere Sierre de la Laguna was a 6 hour moderate to strenuous horse back ride up and down with easy hikes in between for an overnight camping trip in a magical place. Maria Muriel is an excellent birder who knows the region and logistics very well, and provides fantastic guiding to the locations where birds can be found. She is particularly good at guiding you to difficult destinations that would be otherwise unreachable. The birds were great, the guiding was excellent and experienced, the food and service exceptional.

We would like to say a huge thank-you to Maria Elena Muriel from Birding-Los Cabos for arranging a day for our family that was a highlight from our stay in Los Cabos. Maria Elena picked us up early from our resort in Los Cabos and drove us to swim with the Whale Sharks & for some bird watching to keep my husband happy.

We stopped at a local road side restaurant for a traditional Mexican breakfast, which was fabulous & also a local family restaurant in La Paz for lunch, which was equally as good.Swimming with the whale sharks was incredible, also Maria Elena went out of her way to make sure we were always comfortable & she looked after us so well.

 She has a huge knowledge of the history of the whole area and her commentary on the drive kept us well informed and entertained and made our journey go very fast. Her extensive birding knowledge and their locations kept my husband, who is a very keen birder, very happy & he also went out with Maria Elena the next morning for some intensive birding. We cannot recommend Maria Elena enough for those who want to enjoy the very best of the fauna & flora that Los Cabos & La Paz has to offer.

Visited May 2015 

Hola Maria Elena,

Thanks again for the great birding when we were in Los Cabos.  If you send me some information on the types of trips you can arrange for birding groups from LA, I'll ask my Audubon chapter if there is any interest in trying to put a trip together.  

We went back to the estuary the day after our outing with you, and saw Least Bittern and Verdin.  Near our hotel, we also saw Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Purple Martin, and Ash-throated Flycatcher.  I added 18 species to my life list!

Thanks,

Jane Beseda

We were very fortunate and blessed to have been able to secure four (4) excellent birding guides for various ports of call on our Panama Canal Cruise (Celebrity Century).  Some ports of call were half-days (Mexico) and others were full days of birding (Costa Rica and Panama).   The birding adventures made this Cruise very memorable and the birding were the highlights of our trip.  Not only we were able to get off the beaten path and see the Natural Beauty of our ports of call, but we learned more about the areas we visited and gained a greater appreciation for the diversity of this wonderful world, known as Gaia.

Cabo San Lucas – December 23, 2013

We contacted Maria Elena Muriel of “Birding Los Cabos” through her Cruiser friendly web site.  She normally does earlier tours for land tourists, but was very willing to adjust her own personal schedule to accommodate late arriving “Cruisers”.   Our ship arrived in Cabo San Lucas at 11:30 am, but as we have to tender in Cabo – it wasn’t until 12:30 pm until we reached the shoreline.  Maria Elena Muriel was super patient and waited for us for over an hour, until we reached the port.

As we were greeted, she immediately pointed out a yellow-crowned night heron that was roosting beneath the tender wharf.  From there we knew we were going to have a great time, as Maria Elena Muriel’s passion for Los Cabos and the birds were quite evident upon our first greeting and sighting.  From the port, we were taken to a small park within Cabo where we searched for the endemic Xantus’ Hummingbird.  Although the Xantus did not make an appearance, we saw many different species (many of them lifers), including the very beautiful Costa’s Hummingbird which perched quite near us, offering us a lovely photo session.  From the park, we went to a small inlet off the beach which is blocked from public access.  However, Maria Elena Muriel was able to get us in and we were on the look out for the White Ibis.  Unfortunately, no Ibis’ this trek, but several shorebirds were identified including the Western Sandpiper – a migratory from Alaska.   From the inlet, we ventured off to San Jose to track down the endemics, Gray Thrasher and Belting’s Yellowthroat.  The San Jose Estuary was a really nice park-like setting, easy walking and many, many birds!    We did see the Gray Thrasher (gorgeous bird!) and we heard the Belting’s Yellowthroat singing his song, although he did not come out for a visual identification.

The entire afternoon was very well spent and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Maria Elena Muriel.  We hope to return to Los Cabos one day and for sure, would recommend and contact her again for more birding!

Heather & Anthony Baskey

Visit her web site at:  http://www.birding-loscabos.com/

This is ecotourism, not some drink-and-snorkel-and-drink-some-more or party-boat-to-the-arches or big-jeep-"adventures." I mean those things can be fun, but, this is birdwatching.

I went on the "birding endemics and mini-palagic 5 hour tour" which was great. Maria Elena Muriel picked me up about 6:45 from my hotel - a couple of other birdwatchers had already been picked up. There was just the three of us. (I believe they hold tours to less than 10 people, and usually less than six.)

We went in a small rental van to a couple of different locations at the estuary in San Jose and saw a couple of endemics (Belding's Yellowthroat, Gray Thrasher), plus a bunch of other birds, naturally. Maria brings a scope and extra binoculars for anyone without.

On the drive to San Lucas, Maria told us a lot about the history of Los Cabos - she is from Los Cabos and used to be a tour guide for cultural tours.

The "mini pelagic" part of the tour was a quick boat ride from the Marina to the Arches. Magnificent frigate birds, brown and blue-footed boobys.

The whole thing was $120 with tip and the best money I spent in Los Cabos. I'll probably go back next year for one of their multi-day birding (and maybe whale whatching) tours.

Visited July 2015

My wife and I are now making the effort of planning a birding trip on most all of our vacations. Today was a huge enjoyment with Maria Elena and her assistant Joanna. The "extra" on top of the expert birding knowledge was the lessons in the local history, culture and ecology ... as well as the influences that the rapid resort development is having on the environment. Great catches ... Gray Thrasher, Cactus Wren and Belding Yellow-throat warbler were tops. We would recommend Maria's trip for anyone ... do your family a favor and take the kids!

Visited October 2015

We had a great trip into the desert with Maria of Birding Los Cabos. She was incredibly kind and a pleasure to bird with. She picked us up from our hotel and drove us to an area of desert . We found many Caracaras, Roadrunners, Thrashers and several other fantastic desert specialties. She had snacks and cold water for us as well. She is working for a great cause and does a fantastic job doing it! If you enjoy birds or just want to escape the craziness of Cabo San Lucas, give her a try.