A little update from the NAOC. I'll start with a little non-academic
activity we (husband is with me) did on Wednesday. After morning talks, we
decided to take the opportunity to go out to the small town of 
Cardel, the main
count site for Pronatura's
Veracruz River of Raptors project. A huge portion, if not the majority, of
North America's raptors migrate through Mexico, squeezed here in Veracruz
between the mountains and the sea. Four or five million raptors can be counted
here in a fall season.
Cardel, the main
count site for Pronatura's
Veracruz River of Raptors project. A huge portion, if not the majority, of
North America's raptors migrate through Mexico, squeezed here in Veracruz
between the mountains and the sea. Four or five million raptors can be counted
here in a fall season. 
In Cardel, birds are counted from the rooftop of the Hotel Bienvenido, seen here (click to enlarge). Counting there is best in the morning, and with the very strong northerly winds yesterday, the count had petered out by our arrival. A board posted on the wall shows the totals counted the previous day, and the cumulative season total.
We went to their secondary count site about 9 km away, in the even smaller
town of Chichicaxtle. Pronatura is has built a concrete structure from which to
count from, an upgrade from the scaffolding apparatus, which is on a road
between two futbol (soccer) fields. 
This site is often better between 3 and 5
PM. Sure enough, among the ubiquitous mobs of Black Vultures were big groups of
mostly Broad-winged Hawks, peppered with an occasional Swainson's Hawk or
Mississippi Kite. A flock of several hundred birds would swirl in a rising
thermal of air, and once the birds reached the top, they flew off in a line
until they found the next rising column of air. At times, the birds stretched
from horizon to horizon -- truly a river of raptors . We saw
several other species as well: Cooper's Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Crested
Caracara, and Aplomado Falcon.
This site is often better between 3 and 5
PM. Sure enough, among the ubiquitous mobs of Black Vultures were big groups of
mostly Broad-winged Hawks, peppered with an occasional Swainson's Hawk or
Mississippi Kite. A flock of several hundred birds would swirl in a rising
thermal of air, and once the birds reached the top, they flew off in a line
until they found the next rising column of air. At times, the birds stretched
from horizon to horizon -- truly a river of raptors . We saw
several other species as well: Cooper's Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Crested
Caracara, and Aplomado Falcon.We also walked the edges of the soccer fields, and found a few birds which
were new for me. Four Band-backed
Wrens were in a tamarind tree, preening and being shy. The endemic Mexican
Sheartail but on a nice show, feeding on low red flowers and perching in a
bare tree. This hummingbird's range is primarily the tip of the Yucatan, but
there is a small population here. And a beautiful Scrub Euphonia was singing a
soft and sweet song from a hedgerow.
I urge you to support Pronatura. They are doing great work here,
monitoring the migration, educating the public, and preserving the forested
foothills, which are under threat from agriculture, ranching, and development.
Without these critical conservation efforts, North America's breeding hawks
would be in grave danger. This is the route to their wintering
grounds. It must remain safe and sound.
More later...
More later...
Sorry we never connected down here in Veracruz. Don't know when you're flying back, but I'm here until Tuesday at the Crowne Plaza down the street.
Posted by: Rob | 07 October 2006 at 07:45 PM