Today we went up into the Sierra Madre mountains north of town to tromp around in the forest and find birds. About 25% of Mexico is forested, with the Sierra Madre mountain running north to south like a spine in the middle of the country. Oaks and pines are the dominant species and there are than 50 kinds of pines and more than 100 kinds of oaks. In addition there are lots of Ajaves in the forests which look strangely out of place to my eye. We’d been warned to wear all the layers we brought, but luckily it was a beautiful day and not so cold even early. On the way up, we stopped and walked up a dirt road looking for the Oaxaca sparrow. We found a pair of them plus a couple of other species. I was interested to see a couple of neatly stacked and tied bundles of firewood, obviously gathered by a local to use for their cooking. Back to the van and up the mountain we went. We spent the rest of the day high up at 9000-9700 feet. We walked along a beautiful path in an eco-reserve forest. There were lots of wildflowers along the path which was somewhat surprising since it hasn’t rained for many months. Some are common in U.S., like lupine, Indian paintbrush, thistles, but by far the most common were Salvias (Mexico has more than 300 species). The trees were dotted with epiphytes - bromeliads, mosses, lichens. I spent a lot of time looking at the flowers because seeing the birds was so hard in the forest. If you’re not standing in the right stop, it’s hard if not impossible to see the bird being observed and it’s always challenging for me to focus on a bird hopping in and out of the thick branches. Birding teaches one forbearance and patience. Considering we had not done much birding in the past recent years, we are doing remarkably well, I’d say. I did get some great views of the slate-throated redstart (a beautiful bird with a red breast and a slate gray back and a gray tail with white side feathers) and a couple of others. I was very happy to admire the huge diversity of mosses, lichens and ferns. Once again, I remembered the importance of having a search image in your mind. I noticed a succulent and dry fern on a road bank and took a photo of it. Surprisingly to me, immediately after that I must have noticed 20 more succulents after that because my brain knew what to look for.
The high point of the day for me was lunch at a beautifully situated restaurant called Colibri (hummingbird in Spanish) overlooking the forest. There were hummingbird feeders hanging all around and lots of hummingbirds zipping in and out of the nearby flowering bushes. The walls were open to the forest. As we arrived, there were pitchers of freshly squeezed juices, one of passion fruit and the other of guava. Most of us had chili rellenos which were absolutely delicious (a Passia chili stuffed with shredded chicken, raisins, onions, and almonds, then dipped in batter and fried). After the lunch, I ordered a Mexican hot chocolate made with water. Chilis and chocolate are really good together and made me very happy. We took our time over lunch and after nearly two hours, most of us got into the van. Everyone except the driver, Benito, and one guy. We waited and waited, too relaxed to see what they were intently looking at. Finally one came and got us all. There was a warbler bird party. We all got amazing looks at a beautiful bird, the olive warbler, which isn’t olive and not a warbler. Recently it has been put into a bird family all its own because it has such different physiology and behavior and presumably its DNA is different from warblers. There were at least 7 different species of warbler there, which is a good and very exciting experience for a birder. All the way back, we found wonderful birds wherever we stopped. It was a good day, fun to spend time walking in a beautiful forest together with others who enjoy the same thing. Tomorrow I’’ be sad to
leave our little hotel here in the old part of Oaxaca and head up to the mountains in the south.
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