Author Archives: makielb

Having lunch at a restaurant in the mountains named Colibri seemed exciting – which it was. The view from the road might not seem very exciting, but it was deceptive. As soon as we were out of the van we were alreading seeing Mountain-gems. Our table for lunch with the openings facing the forest linedContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-2, Colibre lunch”

Here we are exiting the van on a mountain road in Ixtapeji. I found the high altitude (10,000+ feet) natural history to be the most interesting. I was especially excited to see the tremendous variety of lichens. Yes, I am still working on identifying them. Eric was always on the look out or listening forContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-2, Ixtapeji”

Around lunch on our first day in Oaxaca we visited a weaving shop in Teotitlan. What a wondrful experience. This is one of the weavers who told us about every aspect of the shop from getting the wool from sheep, the different colors of sheep’s wool, cleaning the wool, spinning the wool and coloring theContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-1, Teotitlan weavers”

Our days always started with wonderful breakfasts. Our typical breakfast was at 5:30 AM. Then we headed out for birds. Our first day took us to Yagul, a nature area with ruins. Our driver dropped us off at the entrance to the site where we birded the road to where he parked. I would describeContinue reading “Oaxaca, day-1 Yagul”

Just home after ten wonderful day in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. This was a Washtenaw Audubon Society sponsored trip that my friend Bryn put together. It’s not often that I can go to Mexico and add over 60 birds to my Mexican list of birds which is now over 660. Some of the birdsContinue reading “Just home from Oaxaca”

Over the years I have traveled extensively in Mexico visiting all of the states east of Oaxaca, north to Veracruz and Tamaulipas, as well as Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan in the west. But, this will be my first time in Oaxaca. To say that I am excited is an understatement. As a result of beingContinue reading “Heading off to Mexico”

What started out as a scary day in Ohio turned into quite a good one. At least for now the situation concerning abortions in Ohio seem to be protected. However, Republicans are already trying to subvert the will of the people and figure out another way to ban them. The other day I wrote aboutContinue reading “The good, the bad and the pretty”

Fine balance indeed. I seem to have lost the balance and now accept what happens, such s napping whenever I want, or in some cases need to. Sleeping, on the other hand requires some assistance. Melatonin helps. I still wake in the middle of the night, but can usually manage to get back to sleep.Continue reading “Thoughts for the day”

We headed over to Portage Michigan in order to look for orange-fringed orchids at Bishop’s Bog. Bishop’s Bog had an excellent board walk and lots of interesting plants. We probably walk a mile along the board walk looking for orchids. Button bush is a common shrub and can attract many insects. The one here isContinue reading “Finding an orchid in the rain”

Seventy-seven years ago today the United states turned World War II into the first nuclear war when a nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. In my youth, perhaps high school I remember reading Hiroshima, the book. I can also remember bombing drills in elementary school when we would all hide under our desks. All-in-all aContinue reading “A sad piece of history”