Cuernavaca

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I had a good time in Cuernavaca. It's a beautiful city, surrounded by spectacular mountains and with great weather year-round.

Unfortunately, though, I wasn't able to rent a car for my one free day (Saturday) and so couldn't fit in any birding trips. Instead I had to settle for looking for birds in the neighborhood where I was staying and in the city's botanical gardens, the Jardin Borda.

Although there were lots of birds around, they were mainly species that are also common in Texas. The street outside my hotel was always busy with House Sparrows, Inca Doves and House Finches.

House Finches

Great-tailed Grackles were everywhere.


For some reason, I had real problems getting my camera to focus well, as you can see from this photos of a pair of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers.


In the mornings and evenings, flocks of incredibly noisy Red-lored Parrots filled the treetops but they were always too far away for photos.

The hotel gardens were surprisingly empty of birds. The only large bird was a very shy Rufous-backed Robin.


I spent a lot of time trying to photograph a pair of Violet-crowned Hummingbirds that hung out mainly in a pomegranate tree, but I could never manage a good photo.




I did a little better with the Barn Swallows that populated the nearby ruins of an ancient pyramid.


While the botanical gardens were very picturesque, the only birds I saw there were Great Kiskadees. One of the Kiskadees seemed puzzled, not to say upset, by its reflection in the gardens' lake.




So, not a good trip as regards birds. However, the Mexicans' love of gardening at least insured that there were plenty of of plants and flowers to look at!







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