Rocco
Sosnovaya Polyana Rocco staring down intruders
Little Ninfa on the left
I call him Rocco, even though male and female Colibri Canelos, Cinnamon Hummingbirds, appear identical. I intuitively judge Rocco a male. He’s a tuffy, and he guards the feeder on our terraza against all invaders.
http://dnasab.net/project/video-art-12/ Starthroat
A relatively large Colibri Picuda, a Plain-capped Starthroat, is a frequent trespasser. When the Starthroat goes for the feeder, Rocco becomes so preoccupied with discouraging the bigger bird that tiny Ninfa Mexicanas, Mexican Woodnymphs, slip by Rocco and take a quick sip.
Together these speedy birds drive Rocco mad.
A Taste of Vanilla
Layer-cake Pyramid of the Niches at El Tajin
When visiting the archeological wonders at El Tajin in the state of Veracruz, we also explored the nearby city of Papantla. There we found many vendors selling vanilla on the streets in centro, downtown. The price of dried and cured vanilla beans was low—a pleasant surprise. Vanilla is very expensive in the US.
On many occasions we have found something we wanted in Mexico, deferred buying it and later when we returned to make the purchase, it was no longer available. So we try to be more opportunistic. We stocked up. Although it’s been several years since we were in Papantla, we still have a few vanilla beans from there in our larder.
Dried and Cured Vanilla Beans from Papantla
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To our great happiness we found vanilla orchids here in Puerto Vallarta growing at the Jardin Botanico Vallarta. In addition to their display of several varieties of vanilla orchids, they also sell cuttings and give workshops on their care.
The Rooster/El Gallo
Pesky Rooster at Dawn
It’s been a long, dry winter in Puerto Vallarta. I’ve been sick with gripe, flu. We’ve moved across town to a much quieter place—except for this rooster.
He’s a really little guy and has a harem of just one little hen, but he’s extremely vocal. He starts his quiquiriquí, crowing, at 4:30 am, then again at 5:30, 6:30 and finally signs off around 7:30 as daylight breaks.
My landlord tells me he is una mascota, a pet, of our next-door neighbor. He told me to get a slingshot and pelt the little strutter.
I’d be afraid to hit him with a rock as I might badly injure or kill him. So, I’ve decided to embrace this particular noise and the soul currently inhabiting this little rooster body. And I determined to learn to live with him.
Godzilla versus Big Red
Godzilla
Bits and Pieces of Iguana Life
The two huge iguanas charged out of the jungle from opposite directions—heads furiously bobbing, tongues flicking and dewlaps extended to create enlarged, intimidating appearances. Behind the two five-foot-plus male iguanas—looking for-all-the-world like dragons—were the armies of each of the Iguana Kings.
A pick-up truck full of vegetables had just arrived and two lizard teams from either side of the farm had come to compete for food.
From the east, Godzilla led his forces, and from the west, Big Red marshaled his unruly pack. There were iguanas everywhere! Little iguanas scurried over the backs of larger iguanas, joining the stand-off before the feed.
Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch
Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.
– Charles R. Swindoll
I suppose my first grade teacher deposited this one.
My son recently sent me a note with a couple of photos he took of Pawpaws he picked “in the wild” from an island in the Potomac River near Washington, DC.
When I looked at his pictures, a flood of memories from the public elementary school I attended hit me. And this song we sang magically reappeared:
Formal Attire
Black-necked Stilts
Candelero Mexicano
Picture a busy business executive dressed in a tuxedo while grabbing a bite in a sandwich shop at the beach. There’s no reason to wear dull clothing even when eating a mundane meal.
Yelapa, a small coastal village accessible by boat on Mexico’s Bahia de Banderas, is where we first found Black-necked Stilts. Then living in Guanajuato, we had fled a cold snap. After taking a bus to Puerto Vallarta, we traveled by shuttle boat across the bay to Yelapa. Our room overlooked the lagoon formed where a river, Rio Tuito, meets the ocean waters. This was our week to warm up.
On our first morning, as I prepared breakfast while looking out over the lagoon, I was delighted to spot a group of unfamiliar shorebirds. They appeared to be similar to the American Avocets we’d often seen in coastal North Carolina—both with a slight upturns to their thin bills. Watching them forage along the alluvial banks, we noted a most striking difference. These birds were wearing full formal attire.
American Avocet
Kiss of the Guacamaya
Guacamayas are the Mexican subspecies of the Military Macaw. They are green, as in an army uniform, yet display wild accent colors of red, yellow, blue and orange. They are large. Adults may reach three feet in length. And they are very intelligent.These birds are also gregarious and make a wide range of shrieking and kracking sounds whether their conversation is with other Macaws—or humans. They may live for sixty years in the wild and mate for life. Guacamayas nest in hollows of trees.
