Birding with Rafa

For my birthday in March, Sheryl got me to most fantastic new pair of binoculars. It is a completely different experience. I can see EVERYTHING! The birds magically appear in my binoculars and the colours are clear and vibrant. It makes birding so much easier and a real pleasure.

I scheduled a six-hour birding trip to see birds of the forest and lakes with this organization IHUITL (pronunciation: EE-weetl) a word of Náhuatl origin meaning "feather." The organization combines science, art and culture - including birding tours. I do love the idea of supporting this kind of group. Here is the link if you are interested - it can be in English or Spanish. https://www.ihuitl.com

Rafael picked me up at 6am just as Gail’s taxi arrived to take her to the airport for her next adventure in Guatemala. I will miss her. As I was in Spanish mode, I just started talking with Rafa in Spanish and continued for the whole of the tour. With a few vocabulary words, constant mis-gendering, and probably some stumbling verb conjugations, it was easy to communicate. This is why I have spent so much time studying. There is a sense of freedom and connection that I feel I have speaking Spanish here.

We went south to the Bosque de Tlalpan (Tlalpan Forest). The park was busy with runners and folks out enjoying some exercise to start their Mother’s Day. The parkland, like everything south, is made up of volcanic rock. It makes for some interesting tree and shrub cover as well as nice birding habitat. The altitude and hilly terrain made for some huffing and puffing - but I was able to keep up.

Next, we went to Xochimilco Ecological Park. Here we saw all kinds of water birds, herons, egrets, ducks and even some pelicans. They also had a nice demonstration garden showing how the indigenous peoples farmed the land back in the day. I like water birds - they don’t flit from branch to branch, and they are generally pretty big. IDing them is much easier.

Rafa got me back to my apartment just after noon. He was off to go to his brother’s house to celebrate Mother’s Day with his family. Rafa let me know how wonderful it was for him to be able to do the tour in Spanish. Usually he does them in English - being able to speak in his own language, gave him (and me) the opportunity to converse beyond just pointing, identifying and talking “bird” the whole time. It was a wonderful way to enjoy my last day in Mexico City.

I added 25 new birds to my “life list” - birds that I hadn’t IDed before. Here are the birds we saw (and heard):

American Coot
American Robin
American White Pelican
Barn Swallow
Berylline Hummingbird
Bewick's Wren (mexicanus Group)
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-backed Oriole
Black-crowned Night Heron (American)
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Mockingbird
Broad-billed Hummingbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Bushtit (melanotis Group)
Canyon Towhee
Canyon Wren
Cassin's Kingbird
Chipping Sparrow
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
Common Gallinule
Common Yellowthroat
Curve-billed Thrasher
Elegant Euphonia
Great Egret
Great-tailed Grackle
Green Heron
Hepatic Tanager
Hooded Yellowthroat
House Finch
House Sparrow
Inca Dove
Killdeer
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Laughing Gull
Lesser Goldfinch
Mexican Duck
Monk Parakeet
Mourning Dove
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Olive Warbler
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-winged Blackbird
Rivoli's Hummingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Ruddy Duck
Rufous-backed Robin
Rufous-capped Warbler
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow
Snowy Egret
Song Sparrow (mexicana Group)
Tricolored Heron
Vermilion Flycatcher
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Warbling Vireo
Western Flycatcher (Cordilleran)
Western Wood-Pewee
White-eared Hummingbird
White-faced Ibis
White-winged Dove
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow Warblerもっと詳しく