Archeology

One of my favorite parts of my job is when I actually have a free moment to explore. Sometimes I am just so busy conducting the bird census that I can't stop and check anything out. One of the nice things about having Neil here as an intern is that he has taken over the osprey project for me, allowing me more time for the other surveys. Normally he conducts his nest searches alone, but sometimes it is better with 2 people. There is one really tricky spot to get to in the middle of Santa Cruz estuary that we call the "island" because it is a desert bit surrounded by water. The first time we tried to get out there we walked at low tide, which ended up taking 2 hours of trudging through knee deep thick mud, and by the time we got there, we didn't have time for the survey! This time, we kayaked over at high tide, which was much more effective. While Neil checked the island for active osprey nests, I was free to explore.


The Comca'ac (Seri Indians) lived a nomadic existence from the areas now called Guaymas all the way up to Puerto Penasco. A few people have told me about the cool things you can find in their old camps like pottery and arrowheads. The easiest way to find a camp is to go to a piece of higher ground, and usually there are tons of shells around. This signifies an area where they camped, living off the oysters and clams of one spot before moving onto another. Since clay is abundant here and so is high heat, they were able to make a lot of pottery. It is actually really pretty easy to find pieces of pottery that the Comca'ac left behind. However, this part of the estuary is very rarely visited, so I was able to find tons of it!


Another discovery was this huge den. The entrance was at least a foot high, but thin, and it seemed to tunnel way down into the ground. There were no fresh tracks around the entrance (except small lizard tracks), so I can only guess what might have lived there. Or it's possible that something still does; I was a little worried taking pictures that some creature was going to come flying out of the den!

Neil taking the coordinates of an non-active osprey nest in a Cardon cactus

Cardon cactus flower

Pieces of Comca'ac pottery among shells

shards of pottery

Den of the unknown

Las Islas Del Golfo

As the breeding season is in full swing, I have been out in the field about 4 days a week. There are so many birds to survey in so many areas that you really need 4 people working full time to cover it all! I try to get to all my sites once a week which can be challenging due to weather and the fact we only have one working car right now. However, every time I do get out, I am amazed. A few weeks ago I noticed that the Brown Pelicans were hovering slightly off their nests, not quite in their usual incubation position. I kept the scope on one nest for a few minutes during my usual fast count, and was rewarded by seeing a tiny grey head poke up from under the pelican's wings. I jumped with excitement when I realized I was staring at a newly hatched pelican chick. After that, I spotted them all over the colony. Most nests had 2 or 3 chicks, or a parent still incubating. The chicks are so funny looking because the are featherless, round, and wobbly. To me they resemble a plucked chicken about to go into the oven (hope that makes you not want to eat chicken!). The best part is that despite being so small, they have their big beak with the pouch. Unfortunately, they were too small to capture on camera the first week, but the pictures below show them at a few weeks old. 

Brown Pelican Colony

Pelican chicks, roughly 2 weeks old

chicks and parent

Also present on Isla Alcatraz are Reddish Egrets which are an endangered species. They are in their breeding plumage now and will start nesting soon!

Two Reddish Egrets and a Yellow footed gull

 The ospreys here nest in Cardon cactus, but also on the cliffs of the islands.

Cliff nesting osprey on Isla Datil

Yesterday I went out with the marine bio class to visit Isla Tiburon. I love getting off the boat and being able to explore uninhabited islands. As I walked the wrack line, I found all sorts of cool creatures dried up like various kinds of starfish, shells, and bones. We also visited this site where a Sperm whale skeleton was found a few months ago. We collected some bones to bring back to the center for an educational display we are working on. Despite our group of 17 people attempting to lift up the skull, we weren't even able to get it off the ground!

Sperm Whale skill: isla tiburon

Neil and a section of vertebra

At 5"5, I fit inside the height of a rib with room to spare

The Albatross 

Legal Tools for Conservation Workshop

This weekend was the culmination of months of planning and work on everyone’s behalf to host the “Legal Tools for Conservation” Workshop at the Kino Center. The focus of the meeting was getting people together from as many different backgrounds as possible to come up with a conservation action plan for Estero Santa Cruz. In total there were about 50 local community members, ecology club students, scientists from the university, fisherman, conservation groups, and government officials. The meeting lasted the whole day and consisted of various presentations and round table discussions.

For a little background, Santa Cruz is a negative estuary (no fresh water input) of over 5,000 hectares that borders the town of Bahia de Kino. It is one of the areas of study for the Waterbird Monitoring Program, so I am getting to know it well. It is home to at least 84 different species of waterbirds (many endangered species), has 19 nesting waterbird species, and is composed of halophytic vegetation including black and red mangroves (both endangered species). In Mexico, there is no one government agency that is in charge of maintaining wetlands. Over the Last 10 years, there has been a gigantic boom in shrimp aquaculture development along the coasts. In the state of Sonora alone 25,000 plus hectares are developed for aquaculture. There is very little regulation of the industry as a whole, and there are many detrimental impacts on the environment, people, and flora and fauna. (DON”T EAT SHRIMP!!! That will be another blog, but it’s horrible farmed or ocean caught)

For the workshop I presented a 15 minute talk about the birds of the estuary. It was my first time presenting formally in Spanish. I stuttered over some words, but I think overall people could at least understand what I was saying! As pretty much the only group studying birds in the estuary, Prescott has the majority of data collected (thanks Abram!) which is going to be very important for pursuing legal protection. While we came to many conclusions during the meeting, it seems that the main thing we can do is apply the site for protection under Ramsar (The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance). While the site in fact already applies for 3 different bird based international recognitions, Ramsar is the one with the most teeth. We will be applying this summer with the goal of being internationally recognized next year. This would be a major step in the protection of this important area. 

On the Home Front

With just over a week until the big taller (workshop) that Prescott is hosting on "Legal Tools for Conservation," I have been running around like crazy to get everything done. I will be presenting a short talk on the birds of Estero Santa Cruz (and need to brush up on my spanish a bit!), and will be helping facilitate the round table discussions. Between that and my surveys I have been keeping  pretty busy, but I have had chance to start a small garden!


I love planting seeds and watching them turn into something you can eat! At first I was a bit skeptical of trying to grow veggies in the desert, but I've learned that it can be done. One of the more ambitious students from last semester planted a nice little garden at the station. When she returned to Prescott, she asked me to take care of it for her. I'm glad I did because it has provided me with many tasty salads (you can't buy much good lettuce here). Some of the other plants didn't do as well, but I think that has to do with the soil. Once these lettuce plants finish for the season, I will be fertilizing the soil, etc. so I can replant. I decided to start container gardening at my casita and transplant the vegetables to the bigger garden at the station once they are ready. It is really nice to use recycled materials (yogurt containers, bottles, etc.) that otherwise would be thrown out here  for growing plants. I have started beans, tomatoes, spinach, swiss chard, cucumber, and a bunch of herbs. Just last week they started to emerge.

On a quick Ocotillo note, the dog continues to be a source of  many frustrations, but also joy, and much entertainment. Here is just one example of him being himself... In these pictures he wanted to be near us so much, but with our little table there is no room for him next to our feet. He decided to crawl under the table

and slept up against the wall. Classic. 

Bird Eats Bird

The high count for the Double-Crested Cormorants was 1,594 active nests in December, which means there is a population of roughly 3,100 using the island (incredible for an area of roughly 1km)! Currently there are only about 100 birds still with nests and chicks. As the cormorants are winding down their nesting, the mixed wading bird colony is taking over the bottom of the cliffs. Right now there are about 500 Brown Pelicans nesting and 12 Great Blue Herons. The pelicans either nest in shrubs or grasses on the ground, while the herons believe it or not, are nesting up high in the Cárdon Cactus! It is so weird to see such a large and awkward bird nesting in cactus, but that is how they do it here. The pelicans have a beautiful red or orange gular sack that really stands out. Both adults take turns incubating the nests. I have seen them flying in twigs and other materials to form their nests and even feed each other.

Despite the beauty of life, this place never lets you forget the role death plays in the cycle. While conducting my survey the other day on Isla Alcatraz, I caught a glimpse of a falcon eating something. As I got a better look, it turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon ripping apart what I think was an Eared Grebe. Standing nearby was a Black Vulture just waiting for the falcon to turn over the scraps of its meal. 

Brown Pelican flies in to relieve mate

Pelicans at their nests

2 white Ibis feeding on Alcatraz

Peregrine Falcon rips apart what looks like an Eared Grebe

From the Whale's Mouth

I never thought I would get a glimpse inside a whale’s mouth, but that is exactly what happened this week. Every opportunity to tag along on visiting classes’ boat trips provides a chance to see something amazing. This week I joined the Coastal Ecology Class and Héctor, our Marine Mammal fellow, out in the bay to look for whales. Héctor is conducting a photo identification project mostly focused on Fin Whales and Sperm Whales to monitor populations and use of this area (the Gulf of CA is a crucial feeding ground for resident and migratory marine mammals). We were wrapped up in scarves and hats as the wind whipped off the water, but the day did not disappoint. Arriving to shallow waters off San Nicolas, we spotted a pod of Fin Whales feeding. Since they are baleen whales, they eat mostly krill by filtering large amounts of water through their mouths. To do this they sort of roll on their side with a fin out while taking in tons of water through their mouths and then pushing it back out. Not only did we get to see this incredible behavior, but we were even close enough to look inside the whale’s mouth and see the baleen! 

The other highlight was seeing about 20 Blue Whales throughout the day. Blue whales are the largest living mammal and are also baleen whales. Their skin looks more like a speckled grey and blue color, and their sheer size is jaw dropping. Many of these whales were also feeding. They do what’s called “lunge feeding” where they push forward really fast and take in the water. The whales were very calm and were coming very close to the boats. At one point a Blue Whale surfaced just past the bottom of our boat, allowing for a great view of its massive white silhouette. 

The other boat and a Fin Whale

The Blue Whale from underneath

Blue Whale Dorsal Fin

Blue Whale skin

Inside a Fin Whale's Mouth!!!! baleen!!!

Fin Whale Dorsal Fin

ALAMOS

This past weekend I took a trip with the other fellows to the small city of Alamos to experience part of their two week long cultural festival. This is where Elena, the lovely woman who works on the Indigenous Partnership Program, lives with her family. The city was built in the Spanish Colonial style and the architecture is stunning with arches on almost every building. Most of the mansions have beautiful courtyards in the center of their grounds with large trees and gardens (you can sneak a peek through the gates). I would love to live in such a house where you could have the culture of the city, but also the tranquility of nature right in your house. The population in Alamos is about 8,000 during the peak season, but drops off in the summer when temperatures rise (and the rich North Americans and Europeans go back to their other houses). 

After a grueling 11 hour travel period of multiple busses and stops, we made it to Alamos at about 5 pm on Saturday. We had planned to stay at Elena’s house, but she also had other family visiting and we were worried it would be a lot for her. As we were walking by, one of her neighbors noticed us, and offered up his empty apartment for us to stay in. I can’t imagine anyone in the U.S. just offering up a free place to stay for seven strangers! Not only that, but he cleaned it (Mexico is very dusty) before we came over and even gave us his cell phone number to call if we needed anything during the night (he had a small aborrotes, or corner store). The generosity of some people astounds me.

Over the next day and a half we walked around the city, saw dances, listened to music, and went to artisanal fairs (Albeit there was a lot of standing around for me as someone who likes to stick to a schedule!). There were at least 4 different stages were various acts were scheduled throughout the day and evening. Almost everything was free to the public. We decided to pay 60 pesos (roughly $4.50) to see an Opera in the evening, because when else could I pay that little to see opera performed? My favorite part was really how amazing the people were. Despite there being lots of people and crowds, everyone was very tranquilo (calm) and polite. Unlike some other places that I have travelled where people push you over the smallest things, no one here was aggressive. For example, a Mexican group was performing songs in the street at night. They would stop to sing and then move onto another location. Everyone just followed them almost like a parade while singing along. Even when there were some men giving out free wine, no one pushed! It was a really pretty city, and I hope to get the chance to spend more time there in the future.

the girls: Laura, Yutsul, Alumine, Marlu

Yutsul & I overlooking Alamos

Local crafts

Central Plaza

Opera house

Birds eye view of the houses with courtyards inside

Back to the Desert

I am always perplexed how sometimes life moves by at such a slow pace that you can almost count each day in minutes passed, while at other times it moves so quickly it’s as if it never happened. For me, the month of December was an intricate combination of the two. After the students went back to Prescott early in the month and the fellows returned to having the station to themselves, it felt oddly quiet. Shortly after, the fellows began heading home in rapid succession. Despite having a bit of field work left to do, I was struggling to stay on track as I eagerly awaited my turn to spend my first Christmas at home in three years.

Finally my day came and I made it back to the Cape. There were even some welcoming flurries on our drive to remind me what snow looks like. My time at home was a blur of yummy food, spending time with family, catching up with friends, and of course, seeing my dog Finn. I couldn’t believe how small he looks in comparison to Ocotillo (my Mexican pup) who is over 40 lbs now!

Next up I jetted back to Phoenix to meet Neil for a whirlwind tour of Arizona. The red rocks of Sedona were stunning, as was the Grand Canyon as inspiring as I could have imagined. The trip sped by and before I knew it we were on the bus heading back to Kino Bay… however, this part was pretty brutal as the already long journey was extended by many hours due to our bus breaking down.

I’ve been back at the station for almost 2 weeks now but in that time I’ve already moved and started various new projects including grant writing and there are Brown Pelican nest’s to monitor. I now live in a small house attached to a boat storage facility due to a huge influx of students this quarter. It’s simple, yet very comfortable. Ocotillo is enjoying his new bed I lugged with me all the way from Phoenix, and I am enjoying having a little more independence. My commute to work is a three minute walk and I even have an ocean view if I sit at the dining table just right. Muy tranquilo. 

nueva casita

living area with Ocotillo enjoying his new bed

cocina

Sedona AZ

Grand Canyon

Montezuma's Castle AZ