Rene Valdes 3 Testimonials
About me:
Rene Valdes is a field ornithologist specializing in endangered species conservation and research, and a Mexican birder for many years. He is based in Mazatlan, and performs wildlife surveys, leads birding tours, and does wildlife photography.
Rene guides custom birding trips in western Mexico, in the Mazatlán-Durango hwy and the San Blas area, one of the best birding sites in Mexico; aso the Northeast (Monterrey and adjacent areas, and El Cielo Biosphere preserve); . Also covers other great birding sites like Oaxaca, Chiapas, the Yucatan Peninsula, and also other short trips are covered to record target species as in Baja, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Jalisco, Guerrero, Veracruz, etc.
When not birding (rarely happens), Rene reviews eBird records and hotspots for many states in Mexico, organizes the 'eBird-Mexico', 'Mexico Rare Bird Alert', and '¿Cual es esta Ave?' Facebook groups.
As wildlife photographer, you can check his work here: https://instagram.com/guacamayero?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU=
See my contributions to site descriptions
Website:
www.mexicobirdingtours.com.mx
Connect with me
I am happy to guide you at the following sites:
Testimonials
Written by FRANK MONTGOMERY
While vacationing for a week in Mazatlan my wife and I, who are average birders, wanted to see some of the common and also rarities in the area. After doing some research on ebird as we were planning our trip, I settled on Rene and contacted him about taking us guiding us for 2 days. I asked that one day could be in the general Mazatlan area and the other up in the mountains to see the Tufted Jay and other higher elevation birds. We were not disappointed with our choice of a guide. Rene is very familiar with the sites we visited, expecting to find birds where we visited. Other excellent skills that you want in a guide he offered: identifying birds by their calls; after hearing them, spotting the birds; assisting us in seeing the birds, if needed with a pointer light; using his own voice or playback to call birds in. In addition, he was knowledgeable about the area, and we enjoyed general conversations with him as his English was excellent. He was also flexible and accommodating as my wife injured herself the night of our first day with him and had to pause our trip with him the next day. However he agreed to take us out the next day even though that resulted in very tight scheduling for him personally.
Written by Bob McGuire
I would like to endorse Rachel’s comments 100%! This was my second trip with René as organizer/guide, and I cannot recommend him highly enough. He is a wonderful person, did a great job of finding our target birds, arranged comfortable accommodations and delicious meals. The overnight stay on Isla Isabel (with its colonies of seabirds and offshore display of whales) was a brilliant finale to an unforgettable trip.
Written by Rachel Lodder
I just spent a 12-day birding tour of Northwest Mexico with Rene. He arranged a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime trip, and we visited a large variety of habitats and beautiful and special places. Rene is very knowledgeable, especially about Mexican endemics, and wanted to show us as many as he could, which produced a huge number of lifers for me. He is talented at finding birds, and took great care to make sure we got good looks (and listens!). He took over keeping eBird lists, which was a lot of work, and very much appreciated because that left us more time to experience the birds. He took very care of us, as well; the accommodations were good, as was the plentiful food. He's a very nice guy and I enjoyed his company. I would highly recommend Rene, and hope to be able to go on another birding trip with him again soon.