Watching Flamingos

West of Mérida, the estuary of Ría Celestún turns pink each winter as tens of thousands of American flamingos settle into the shallows. Small boats drift among the flocks close enough to hear the murmur of thousands of birds feeding head down in the water. At takeoff the whole flock lifts in a wash of pink and black that fills the sky. December through February is the peak, when the wintering flocks are at their largest. Ría Lagartos covers spring and summer on the peninsula's other side, Laguna Colorada in Bolivia holds resident flocks year round, Bonaire's Pekelmeer sanctuary hosts a huge Caribbean breeding colony, and the Camargue in southern France is Europe's classic flamingo wetland.