Finding Wildlife in Mexico- Sooty terns, Howler Monkeys & Pelicans! 🇲🇽 Cancun, Rio Lagartos, Tulum

Welcome back to another episode of Diaries of a Wildlife Photographer. In this series I take you along my adventures photographing wildlife and in this episode I'm in Cancun, Mexico. I'm currently in a jungle near Tulum, Mexico and I've just spotted a family of three howler monkeys. My first day in Cancun and I headed to the edge of the Siang Khan Nature Reserve. The nature reserve is incredibly biodiverse with many endangered species and I was definitely not expecting to meet a family of howler monkeys. These primates can be shy but these howlers are used to tourists and are very calm. Photographing primates in the rainforest is always difficult. Rainforests have thick canopies and not a lot of light filters through the trees. Fortunately these howlers were on the edge of the forest and I was able to get a few shots I'm pleased with. That was so cool, almost eye level and they weren't bothered by me at all. One actually was hanging from its tail and had a good look and I got a few shots. I'm actually testing my new camera which is the Canon R5 and I'm having a bit of trouble with the video autofocus but I'll see how the footage looks when I put it on the computer. At the moment I'm pretty pleased with the camera but I think I need to mess around with the settings to really get the autofocus working but anyway very pleased to see the howler monkeys and the main mission I think of this trip is to see spider monkeys so we'll see how we get on. I'm here for two weeks so there should be enough time to find some wild spider monkeys. After six months in Mexico this is my final trip to photograph wildlife and I am most excited about finding the incredible spider monkey. I studied spider monkeys for my dissertation when I studied zoology. As I climbed up this wobbly watchtower with many loose steps I realised and remembered how vast and dense the rainforest really is. Today I am in Rio Lagartos which is a fishing village in the Yucatan peninsula and I'm hoping to go on a boat trip to see flamingos but at the moment I'm walking on a broad walk over these amazing mangroves and apparently there are crocodiles here so we'll see if I can find some. Whilst waiting for the conditions to improve I visited these mangroves and found these Mexican crocodiles. These crocodiles are super tame and they were very relaxed as I flew the drone over them. When I was in Oaxaca in Mexico a few months ago I watched a fisherman hand feed a crocodile and there were chunks of fish in the water near these crocs so I'm pretty sure they're fed too. These mangrove forests are very important in protecting the land from coastal storms and they're an incredible carbon sink. After a little walk I headed back to the town. The weather conditions continued to worsen. I'm usually not fussed about weather but I knew the vibrant pink colour of the flamingos would look best in good low light but it was dark, grey and cold. I didn't particularly want to sit on an exposed boat photographing soggy flamingos. Even the pelicans were shaking but it provided a good opportunity to photograph them. The next day I had a beach day on Isla Blanca. On one side of Isla Blanca is deep water that you can swim in and the other side is incredibly shallow which is perfect for wading birds. After a quick swim in the sea I started to stalk some birds. I was amazed at how approachable the birds were and I was able to get close to several species. I was surrounded by birds, egrets, herons, plovers, phalarope, gulls. The light was wonderful. There was some lovely soft golden light coming through the blue pastel clouds. On the way back to the ranch I was staying at there were literally hundreds of frogs on the road. I spent a good 10 minutes poking them out of the way. The next day I got the ferry to Isla Mujeres which is a large island with lots of hotels and gorgeous beaches. But whilst swimming in the sea I could see lots of terns flying around. I then walked into the garden of this hotel and discovered this incredible colony of sooty terns. Before I could even take my camera out I was asked to leave by security. This is a residence only hotel. They knew I wasn't staying at the hotel because I didn't have a hotel wristband. I returned several hours later, quickly rushed to the hotel and hid myself behind a hedge. I was actually surprised I was able to get so many of these photos and videos and no one kicked me out. I was actually really saddened by the response of the hotel. Not only are they preventing the public from seeing these amazing birds but they were even building a footpath through the colony. I imagine before the hotel was built this entire area was full of nesting terns. I'm finished with the terns. I managed 45 minutes and no one kicked me out which I was amazed with because when I came here this afternoon as soon as I walked in someone told me to leave and I had no option but to leave because it's a private hotel and they said residence only. I couldn't even get a drink in the hotel or some lunch. It's just for residents and so when I returned this evening I thought okay I probably can do about 10 minutes of photography before they kick me out and no one kicked me out. Strange. I guess when they see the lens they just don't bother talking to me. I don't know. So I'm now going to the port to take the ferry back to Cancun. I did enjoy Isla Mujeres. If you like white sandy beaches and bright blue sea then it's perfect for you but I was actually a bit disappointed with the lack of wildlife. The terns were definitely the highlight but I found them by accident. I could see them flying around the area so I knew they were probably nesting somewhere and I found the nesting colony. It was great to take photos. It's a real shame that they are at a private hotel because that means the general public can't enjoy these amazing terns and get close to wildlife and there's actually not much wildlife here so it is a shame that it is restricted for general people unless you do what I do. A good day in all. I mean look at that. That's pretty nice. But it's home time and dinner time. I hope you enjoyed following along my adventures in Cancun. Part two of this video will be up very soon and includes coatis, turtles and I also have a new video on urban squirrels coming out very soon and it's actually only a few weeks until I'm in Sweden so you can expect those videos very very soon. But for now thank you for watching and thank you to my incredible patrons who support my work.