Jim has decided he really does like birdwatching. I'm aftraid I lose patience trying to spot tiny things through binoculars and telescopes. Jim's not an addict (yet) but some of the people we go with are. They can hang out for five, six, seven hours peering through binoculars and telescopes. I like the outings, but me, I'd rather look at the trees and plants and the scenery or, if necessary, read a book. And take pictures of the birdwatchers instead of taking pictures of the birds.
My impression of our birdwatching friends is that they are much more friendly than birdwatchers in the US, less competitive. They share what they see with each other and maintain a joint tally. They all get excited together. That part I like. But as for the birdwatching, at this point, my favorite way to birdwatch is to sit on our balcony with my feet on the railing and a cup of coffee in one hand so I can say in a lazy voice, "Oh, look, a hawk." And I don't need binoculars to see it. Not to knock the quality of birdwatching from our balcony: without binoculars and with very little effort we see not just a variety of hawks but vultures which are glorious in flight and cattle egrets and humming birds and social flycatchers and of course grackles and on and on.
Last Saturday we went on a birdwalking hike up Cero de las Culebras, the hill of snakes, on the north side of Xico. It is an ecological preserve right in the town. Here is a list of the birds the group spotted in just an hour or so:
Here is a list of the names of some of the birds people saw on this trip:
Azure crowned humming bird, ruby-crowned kinglet, black throated green warbler, social flycatcher, blue-grey tanenger, grey cat bird, yellow throated euphonia, rufus crowned warbler, brown jay, lesser goldfinch, colibris, white winged tanenger, spot breasted wren, blue gray gnat chatcer, lesser goldfinch, baltimore oriole, kingbird, calandria, yellow olive flycatcher, banded black wren, yellow wingd tanenger, blackheaded saltavor, rosy sparrow, various buntings, red-headed gray bodied woodpecker, and roadside hawk.
The group has a ritual of sorts: a bird walk isn't considered really a good one if you don't see a roadside hawk.
Please forgive spellings and capitalization problems. Bird watchers have rules for capitalization in particular that I don't quite follow.
I have to add that I am not ho-humming birds. They are glorious. But so are the butterfllies, the bugs, the plants, the animals and everything else around here. A wonderful and I think the ultimate book of birds in Mexico is called "A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and North America" by Steve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb. Oxford University Press. It has stunning plates. ALMOST makes me want to be a better birdwatcher.
Below are some pictures not of birds but of birdwatchers and views from last Saturday's trip. You can spot Jim among them and by himself. Remember, you can click on them to make them bigger.
Here is a view of the Coàtepec Mercado from Cero de las Culebras:
Here is a view of the Cathedral and the Government Palace and a few other things around the plaza.
Here is a view of Xalapa in the distance.