Veracruz Hawkwatch

All calm............I went out early on my bicycle to do a survey of the sorrounding areas. As a result of tropical storm/hurricane Stan we had a few trees blown over, I noticed some branches broken off.....overall not much damage here considering what it could have been.

"Stan" continued to inflict damage as it moved south with 125 flood related deaths being reported, 6 in Chiapas and the rest in Guatemala and El Salvador.

Birding was good today (72 species observed in 5 hours ) My bird of the day was was a Golden-winged wabler Verimora chrysoptera LINK TO PHOTO....this is a very unusual transient, they winter from Guatemala south to Venezuela....I was able to get some nice views. I am wondering if this could fallout from "Stan"
Will I was out birding I kept glancing skyward for raptor traces.......nothing, no one single migrating raptor spotted today. Still lots of moisture around WaterVapor IMAGE I can´t wait to get back into raptor migration mode!

This Sunday October 9th is the 13 annual "Big Sit" I have picked out our "Cirlce" already here in Tlacotalpan and have been putting the team together. (This year it will be some of the students at the local CBETIS (high school with a vocational focus) these students are studying tourism. Hopefully the activity will awaken some interest in the students in ecotourism.

This sunday is the 13th annual "Big Sit". For those of you have never heard of it, it is a barrel of fun! It has been dubbed "birding´s most sendentary event"......here is the gist of it. You pick a location and in a circle 17 ft in diameter and you count all of the birds that you can see or hear for a 24 hour period, Starting at 12am Sunday October 9 til midnight. The rules, registration and general information can be found at the following link:

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/funbirds/bigsit/bigsit.aspx

I have participated for the last 4 years and it is a "kick"! You can approach it in ernest, or take a more laid back approach. The cool thing about the "big sit" is that it brings people together and makes them aware of just how many birds there are around them. The people at Birdwatchers Digest are doing a great job of sponsoring the event...the idea originated with the New Haven CT Birding Club.

This a worldwide event. Got for it! you can register you circle at the above link, and you might just have a good time doing it.