More pics to come

The Raptors

Some think a Toronto NBA basketball team, we think Birds of Prey. Wikpedia says they are birds that hunt for food primarily using their talons. They display a characteristic curved tip to their beak and have superb vision.

Another characteristic is that they migrate only over land by soaring not flying. They pick up heat thermals during sunny days that take them to heights of 3-600 meters and then soar until they can find another thermal to take them further along their way. Hawks, Kites, Vultures, Eagles and Buzzards migrate in fall from as far north as Canada to resting places in Mexico and Central America before they return north to their spring nesting places. One of the most interesting aspects of their travel over Mexico is that the eastern Sierra mountain range forms a narrow funnel of land where the range reaches out to the Gulf of Mexico in the state of Veracruz. At this time of year, around the towns of Chichicaxtle and Cardel, Veracruz, millions of these birds can be spotted daily passing through this funnel on their journey south.

Just got back from a nice trip organized by the local Audobon Society in cooperation with Pro Natura, to the state of Veracruz. We were twelve altogether who met up in Xalapa – the capital of Veracruz. I, and others from SMA took a bus, (my first experience), from here to Mexico City and then on to Xalapa – a ride that took about nine hours total. Mexico’s buses and bus system are first class and I will definitely use it again. Once in Xalapa, Pro Natura took over a full package tour. The group was a very congenial mix and we had a good time.

This was a pretty serious birding trip but I had signed up mainly to see the countryside and get off the beaten track to some of the more remote places they planned for the trip in Veracruz state which I had not visited. I was not well equipped as it was my first experience and I had a pair of binoculars I had hurriedly secured at the Tuesday Market the day before. I got what I paid for. There were others not much better off but most had serious glasses and it does make a difference.

Xalapa is at about 1500 M altitude and prides itself as a city of flowers due to the very warm and humid climate. It is a large university town of over a million and is close to one of the major coffee growing regions in Mexico. Coatlepec coffee is some of the best and this town close to Xalapa is one we visited because it has a great waterfall and of course, lots of birds. We did a count of all the birds spotted on the trip and came up with over 140 species – humming birds, orioles, flycatchers, herons, pelicans, gulls, kingfishers, woodpeckers, warblers, tanagers, among others (even a keel-billed toucan), and of course many hawks, kites, falcons and vultures.

Pro Natura provided a couple of very knowledgeable guides who also chose the restaurant stops so we ate very well. Our leader was an enthusiastic young biologist with an absolutely amazing capacity to know all the birds on sight. His young apprentice could put them quickly into their powerful scope for all to see, so we got great close-up looks at most of the birds spotted.

We travelled from Xalapa to Cardel close to the Gulf coast where we did a boat trip to the mouth of the Antigua as well a several trips into the countryside on remote roads near sugarcane fields, cattle farms and irrigation ditches where we could stop and gawk at leisure. We stopped at the vine-entangled Cortes house ruin, (he is not a very popular guy in this country), which was the first he constructed on the mainland in 1574. Here, our young guides almost had heart attacks when they spotted a Grey Hawk – very rare apparently in this area.

We, of course, also visited the Pro Natura spotting stations where they have teams of young biologists counting raptors. When it is sunny and the birds can soar, the spotters try to keep track of each species as they fly over, recognizing them primarily from the shape of their wings. They are getting some funds from partner organizations in the US to help them do this. They were counting well over a million vultures alone since the migration began this fall. It is quite amazing to see these great birds in such numbers as they wend their way south.

Los animales were very glad to see I got back. Poor Greg had to go walking on his leash. It really interferes with his regularity I think. Mr. Z thinks I am his mom (weaned too early I suppose) so after the usual feline rebuff he has come around. I am still itching a bit from some nasty bug bites I got. Not sure what they were as I never did see the culprits but they do a number on you something akin (but worse) to the Ontario black fly although they seem to like coming in from the pant legs rather than the neck– you can’t feel when they bite but each one leaves a welt infection and it takes several days before the itching stops regardless of the potion you apply.

Won the nine-ball tournament last night so I can pay the electric bill. The universe is probably unfolding as it should.