Birds (and other beasties) of Monterrey
It's spring and bird-love is in the air. We have regular coo-fests and squabbles among the doves. I've heard the clay-colored robins (this site has the distinctive call they term the "mono-duet" that I hear frequently) this year, and seen a few, but apparently they've elected not to nest in my yard, which is fine by me. (See last year's problems here, under "critter updates.") I've heard, but not seen, what I believe to be Great Kiskadees, which we saw and heard last year. We also have what appear to be Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, or a very similar species. They don't nest in our yard, but do in our neighborhood somewhere. I also saw what I think was a pair of crows this morning, which is very unusual. I see plenty of great-tailed grackles, which are black, and buzzards, but no crows. Perhaps they're migrating?

We see a gecko on our front porch nearly every night and we've spotted several anoles this season (one in our yard, one in our neighbor's, and one the neighbor found on a plant in their house - they moved him outside).

In a case of extremely poor timing, a little hummingbird started building a nest in a tree in my yard last Thursday, while I was discussing tree trimming with the gardeners the landlord sent. I asked him not to cut that particular branch, but I guess all the trimming and activity was enough to scare it away. I saw it pop by a few times when things were quiet, but I've only seen a hummer back feeding on our lantana since. The few tiny twigs and bit of windblown insulation are the only signs that a nest was imminent. I tried to get a picture of the hummer on the branch, but it was too skittish. Here's the best picture of the (barely-started) nest I could get:



Today I spotted what appeared to be a Yellow-tailed Oriole in our neighbor's Jacaranda tree and also perched on a power line outside our bedroom window. It was feeding amongst the numerous purple blossoms. It would make a great picture, if only the bird wasn't so skittish and/or I had a better camera. (Note: if anyone has any digital camera recommendations, please let me know.) Nice pallet: light green foliage, light gray-brown bark, purple blossoms, and a bright yellow and black bird. You'll have to settle for a shot of a jacaranda branch, followed by two partial shots where I've circled the bird in red.




I also spotted one of the local hummingbirds (probably a broad-billed) and the local bumble and honey bees in the same tree. I'll try to get a shot of the bumblebees one day. They're large and solid black, unlike the black and gold we have back in the States.

I also spotted a migrant in our yard: Danaus plexippus, a Monarch Butterfly. Here's a picture I managed to catch of it feeding on our lantana bush.