Birding Oaxaca 2004 - Gulf Coastal Plain - 06 Feb

06 Feb 04 Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
We were up at 6:30 AM for the drive back to Oaxaca City. Gas station junk food for breakfast, and then the long drive back across the mountains to Oaxaca City. There was intermittent fog and rain until we reached 2,500 meters, climbed out of the clouds and into blue sky.

Not a lot of birding along the way. We made 3-4 stops, but with one exception, didn't see a lot. Just a lot of twisty roads. We did stop briefly at a genuine shade-grown coffee plantation. It's easy to see why this approach is so much easier on the native flora and fauna. Basically, coffee shrubs are planted in the understory and the habitat is otherwise left undisturbed.

About halfway down the southerly part of the mountains, we stopped at a small village and birded an hour or so. As was characteristic of most birding in the Valles Centrale, it was slow until a large mixed flock of birds came through. It would be incredibly busy for 15 minutes, with a lot of good birds, and then quiet back down.

Very strange to see a Common Raven - Interior Alaska's most common winter bird - in the mountains of Oaxaca. The ravens in Oaxaca are a little smaller than our variety, but otherwise the same bird.

Random notes from the drive: a thatched hut, bamboo walls and dirt floor, with a satellite dish outside; a burro tied to a 2004 Mercedes Benz; ancient beater trucks, VW Beetles and farm tractors racing along the roads with late model luxury cars. Fancy houses and primitive huts perched side-by-side on ridgetops. Slow moving, farm-tractor towed trains of sugar cane with kerosene-burning lamps for road lights. Dogs barking at Black Vultures feeding on a road-killed dog.

We reached Hotel Victoria in late afternoon. We did some light birding on the hotel grounds, and then had an excellent dinner with Ram, Ruth, Josh and Kerry at Restaurante del Naranjo. Kerry Wilcox is Ram's volunteer at Ram's mist netting stations. We planned the trip to the Pacific Coast.

Shade-grown coffee plantation Highway 175, Oaxaca	The coffee plants are visible in the more orderly rows at the forest margin. The plants continue up under the taller trees. It's an alteration of the understory, but otherwise the vegetation appeared to be mostly normal. This small plantation was at about 1,200 meters elevation The coffee itself is Antigua, and quite good.
Jim and Nancy near El Cumbre Highway 175, Oaxaca	This is dry pine habitat, near El Cumbre, at an outdoor restaurant north of El Cumbre. Oaxacan food is a delight. We missed a lot of breakfasts on this trip, but made up for it with excellent dinners.