Dec 31 2008
Hello and Happy New Year!
I’m in the middle of leading a tour with Chris Benesh for Field Guides, Inc., to Oaxaca, in southwest Mexico. I don’t have much time to write, but here are a few pictures you might enjoy:
The main plaza at the ruins of Monte Alban, above. Below, the ball court there.
Overhead, a [...]
Dec 23 2008
This is my last post in a series of four on the endemic birds of Northeast Mexico. That doesn’t mean I’ve run through the entire list of species, not hardly. But I hope I’ve given you a taste of some of what makes the area unique.
I’m ending on a chromatically appropriate note with Red-crowned Parrot [...]
Dec 20 2008
OK, here is where the American Ornithologist’s Union and I part company. They still officially consider the green, Red-bellied Woodpecker-sized woodpeckers that occur in Northeastern Mexico to be a distinctive subspecies of the Golden-Olive Woodpecker Colaptes rubiginosus, a wide-ranging neotropical species. They designate these birds as Colaptes r. aeruginosus, the “Bronze-winged Woodpecker.” I say–and this is hardly a [...]
Dec 18 2008
I’ve got a thing for yellowthroats. I always thought they were cute and had lots of personality–everyone thinks that. Otherwise, they weren’t especially on my radar. But traveling into Mexico at the dawn of the 1990’s really turned my head around. Of course, there was the opportunity to see Gray-crowned Yellowthroat (click that link for [...]
Dec 17 2008
Ever throw a really cool party, then go into semi-hibernation until you recovered? That’s pretty much what’s happened to me since hosting I and the Bird #90 last week. My sincere thanks to all who showed up, both bloggers and readers. It was really nice having you all stop by.
Getting back to the Mexico series, [...]
Dec 11 2008
Winter Dunes, Gordons Pond, Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, USA
For this edition of I and the Bird, I’ve imagined that a hardy collection of bird bloggers has all gotten together for a Christmas Bird Count. Now the hard work of the day is done, and we’re all gathered together to share our observations. Pour yourself [...]
Dec 09 2008
Calling all bird bloggers, especially those that may not have participated in a blog carnival before! Don’t miss the ninetieth edition of I & the Bird, the premier birdblog carnival. Just send me a link to a recent blog post of yours that you’d like to see included. Please get it to me sometime today, [...]
Dec 04 2008
I have to admit, this Skywatch Friday business is pretty addictive. Pretty pictures, not too many words, lots of friendly visitors…I’m enjoying it. Hope you are, too.
Above is a photo from April of 2008 taken from the boat ramp at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park near Mission, Texas, U.S.A. Liz and I were there leading a team [...]
Dec 04 2008
We set off for a 4-night trip to northeast Mexico on Halloween. After an uneventful border crossing and about 4 hours of driving south through the ranch lands, we arrived at the Hacienda Santa Engracia, pictured above. A favorite lodging of our friend and hostess, Marci Fuller, the Hacienda was indeed charming–you could spend many [...]
Dec 01 2008
Marci, Liz, & Me at El Nacimiento del Rio Sabinas, photo © Jim White
El Nacimiento means birth, but it’s also used to denote a spring where a river rises. There are a couple of nacimientos in the El Cielo area, but the one that is closest to my heart is that of the Rio Sabinas. [...]
