A scant 5 hours or so south of Brownsville, Texas lies the "tip of the Neotropical avifaunal iceberg". Here in the Sierra Madre mountains of Tamiliapas, Mexico is found the northernmost cloudforest habitat in the Americas. Here the icy tentacles of winter never reach, and the trees are festooned with bromeliads. Here the birdlife has a distinctly tropical flavor, and numerous species widespread in the tropics find their nothernmost outposts. Each year for the past four or five, an easy, turn-key tour organized out of McAllen, Texas has been held to promote birding and butterflying tourism in the area. Billed as the "2008 El Cielo Bird and Butterfly Festival", 48 participants boarded two busses at the Texas border for a long weekend of field trips. Headquaters were at the Hotel Mante, in Mante, Tamiliapas, Mexico. Field trips were centered around the premier nature destination in these parts, the "El Cielo biosphere reserve". This gallery summarizes some of the birds, butterflies and other activities the visitors experienced. Additional details, along with a complete bird and butterfly list of species encountered can be found on the festival's website. Just search for "El Cielo Nature festival".

The event participants were divided into two groups; one seeking out birds and butterflies, and one focused solely on birds.

Included here also a a few shots from a couple of South Texas stops made enroute to the festival.

The vast majority of these shots are decidedly marginal in quality, but will serve to illustrate what species can be found, and hopefully bring back some pleasant memories for the participants!