Feb. 9, 2006 - Somewhere in the Sierra Madres, Zacatecas, Mex.
North American Crane Conference field trip...
The conference organizers had a great idea--break up the monotony of scientific presentations by inserting field trips to actually view wildlife on the middle day of the conference. The choices were tough to choose among--visit a distant wetland in the late afternoon to view waterbirds and cranes arriving at dusk; visit nearby wetlands, along with the famous artwork of the Virgen de Guadalupe Museum; visit a historic mine which is now the site of a wildlife sanctuary and zoo; or hike in some of the highlands with a chance to glimpse breeding golden eagles. I chose the highlands, with a hope of seeing both eagles and and a more remote hope of seeing horned lizards in the late winter.
The location was not too distant from Zacatecas, and we made great time while traveling on some of the newer highways. One could almost feel confident about negotiating a tour of Mexico on your own using those roads; however, when we dropped off the main highway to wander our way through a town perched along the edges of a canyon and then found ourselves traveling a dusty gravel road through the yucca and grasses of the Central Highlands, I sobered up a bit on the thought of leading the family on a road trip off the beaten path (especially with my toddler-level Spanish!)
The starting point for our hike was just outside a small settlement of cinderblock and adobe houses. There were "gardens" of prickly pear planted near the homes, and animals were everywhere--small horses (ponies, really), goats, chickens, thin dogs, burros. The homes and people were quite different from the quite affluent and relatively modern population of Zacatecas, though the residents were welcoming and even tolerated my broken attempts at conversation.
Our hike began over some gravelly slopes that were obviously heavily used by the local livestock, but as we climbed higher, more native plants and grasses appeared. Our guides, who included some university students, state wildlife officials, and another fellow who seemed to be a local resident hired to study the eagles, pointed out several distant crevices where golden eagle nests had been found, and then we spotted an eagle soaring high over the ridge of the sierra. Or at least it must have been an eagle--it was large and it was soaring in the place where the eagles were supposed to be...
However, my dreams were realized when someone shouted "here's a horned lizard!" It was a female Mexican Plateau Horned Lizard who might have been venturing out for some of her first sunshine of the year. !
She was probably willing her body temperature to rise and release her from her sluggishness as she found herself surrounded by 20 gringos with digital cameras. However, she held true to the horned lizards' reputation for a placid nature and endured quite a lot of handling and photography. The plateau on which we found her was covered with harvester ant beds. From that point I ignored eagles and kept my eyes on the ground, hoping to spot another, but a single spiny lizard was the only other reptile we saw. Never mind--that one camaleon coronado convinced me that I had chosen the right field trip
The conference organizers had a great idea--break up the monotony of scientific presentations by inserting field trips to actually view wildlife on the middle day of the conference. The choices were tough to choose among--visit a distant wetland in the late afternoon to view waterbirds and cranes arriving at dusk; visit nearby wetlands, along with the famous artwork of the Virgen de Guadalupe Museum; visit a historic mine which is now the site of a wildlife sanctuary and zoo; or hike in some of the highlands with a chance to glimpse breeding golden eagles. I chose the highlands, with a hope of seeing both eagles and and a more remote hope of seeing horned lizards in the late winter.
The location was not too distant from Zacatecas, and we made great time while traveling on some of the newer highways. One could almost feel confident about negotiating a tour of Mexico on your own using those roads; however, when we dropped off the main highway to wander our way through a town perched along the edges of a canyon and then found ourselves traveling a dusty gravel road through the yucca and grasses of the Central Highlands, I sobered up a bit on the thought of leading the family on a road trip off the beaten path (especially with my toddler-level Spanish!)
The starting point for our hike was just outside a small settlement of cinderblock and adobe houses. There were "gardens" of prickly pear planted near the homes, and animals were everywhere--small horses (ponies, really), goats, chickens, thin dogs, burros. The homes and people were quite different from the quite affluent and relatively modern population of Zacatecas, though the residents were welcoming and even tolerated my broken attempts at conversation.
Our hike began over some gravelly slopes that were obviously heavily used by the local livestock, but as we climbed higher, more native plants and grasses appeared. Our guides, who included some university students, state wildlife officials, and another fellow who seemed to be a local resident hired to study the eagles, pointed out several distant crevices where golden eagle nests had been found, and then we spotted an eagle soaring high over the ridge of the sierra. Or at least it must have been an eagle--it was large and it was soaring in the place where the eagles were supposed to be...
However, my dreams were realized when someone shouted "here's a horned lizard!" It was a female Mexican Plateau Horned Lizard who might have been venturing out for some of her first sunshine of the year. !
She was probably willing her body temperature to rise and release her from her sluggishness as she found herself surrounded by 20 gringos with digital cameras. However, she held true to the horned lizards' reputation for a placid nature and endured quite a lot of handling and photography. The plateau on which we found her was covered with harvester ant beds. From that point I ignored eagles and kept my eyes on the ground, hoping to spot another, but a single spiny lizard was the only other reptile we saw. Never mind--that one camaleon coronado convinced me that I had chosen the right field trip
posted by Linam updates | 8:47 PM
1 Comments:
Hey Lee Ann, I finally looked more closely at your Zacatecas trip blog. Sounded great! Some very nice pictures too. Reminded me of my couple of hours there - small, clean, stone roads, lots of old stone buildings.
I'm thinking I will start my own blog :)
Post a Comment
<< Home