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Along the Natchez Trace

Saturday, February 11, 2017

A Typical Saturday....

One thing we really want to do with the small yard that is both in back and in front of our house here in Mexico is to make it attractive to birds and butterflies.  We are constantly buying flowers and sometimes trees to plant what they like.  Water is also important...  the small fountain we put in beside the front wall gurgles and bubbles all day long.
It took a while, but now several species of birds visit it off and on throughout the day.  Early evening seems to be their favorite time...

This pair of Painted Buntings are enjoying the water...

The male spent quite a while bathing...  splashing water everywhere!

He's beautiful at any time, but his bath made his feathers stand out in all their glory! 

 I'm not sure of this bird's species...  he/she flies down to the fountain...  will spend some time taking a bath.. fly into the nearby bush and preen...  then back to the fountain, back to the bush... back and forth several times before it's done for the day.  There are other birds... probably the females who come around the same time...  they are fairly nondescript, although they have yellowish bodies.

We have our dinner out on the patio each evening, then often just sit and enjoy the flowers, fountain...  and birds.

Several times each week we walk the River Road...  we're always interested in the progress being made on the bridge...
The workers have gotten used to me walking along...  and taking pictures of their progress.  Now some of them wave or shout a greeting.  There has never been a bridge at this location...  I just hope all this work holds up when the summer rains come and the river runs wild.

While the birding along the river doesn't seem as abundant as it did last year, we're never disappointed as we always see something... 
 Today this Black Hawk was perched on a branch hanging over the river....  watching for something below that might be dinner later.

 And this little Green Kingfisher stayed still long enough for me to snap this shot.
The kingfishers are very illusive... flying off when anyone walks by even hundreds of yards away.
This is a tiny little guy...  and look...  his head is almost as big as the rest of his body!

We walked along the river....
There was fog today...  it's hard to see the mountains...

To the ocean...  
So overcast you can barely see the shrimp boats...  out there past the rafts of sea gulls...
Then turned and headed towards the plaza.  We stopped and I checked on Pirate, my favorite dog, who was recently in a dog fight...  I'll write more about Pirate later....  From the plaza we headed to the Tianguis...  the outdoor market held in Lo de Marcos on Saturdays.
I've posted photos before of the various stalls...  all the artwork, jewelry, pottery, glasswear, clothing, food ...  and more....  in the past.  Today my favorite photo is of this group of kids (probably belong to various vendors) playing a game near one of the booths.  It was kind of chilly this morning so most of these kids have on long pants and sweaters.  When I say "chilly"... it was probably 80 degrees.

Bill & I had lunch at the tianguis...  stopped and bought some veggies from Letty's Market...  then headed on home...
Bill looks like a pack horse, doesn't he?
He's wearing one of the shirts sold at the tianguis....  
Bill is always looking for long-sleeved tee shirts, which are really hard to find here.  The folks in the tee shirt booth got some the next time they ordered.  How about that!  People here are just fantastic!

I've written about our little neighbor kids.  Well, the family with 3 kids moved to a nearby town last week.  Now we just have one little girl come to play.  I miss those other kids, but am glad we still have Angelina to work puzzles with or play tic-tac-toe or the like.  Maybe some others will move into the neighborhood....

It's not likely we'll head back into town this evening.  We're kind of homebodies...  even on a Saturday night.  There is always activity in the Plaza, but we are happy being on our patio... watching folks go by in the street...  or birds in the fountain.

It may be quiet, but it's never boring!

That's All For Today!

8 comments:

  1. Love the birdbath fountain!!!! Reminds me of the old saying " build it they will come " etc..... who can imagine a better Saturday night than being among the flowers, the birds and the passerby population?
    You all have such a crazy spot !

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  2. Wonderful Bunting photos....and that Kingfisher.....so cool...
    thanks for posting those. Kelly

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  3. More birds in the fountain, please. And, thanks to you, I knew that was a kingfisher as I scrolled across his picture. You caption only confirmed it.

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  4. How do you get anything done? I would be sitting there in front of the fountain just watching those gorgeous creatures. What fun!
    Those kids are so adorable! But this may be the first time I have ever seen people wearing long-sleeve shirts in 80 degree weather. lol

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  5. Those birds are amazing!! Great pictures and especially those of the Bunting!! Beautiful birds!!

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  6. So fun to watch the birds taking a bath--do you also feed the birds Sharon. I am hesitant to feed the birds in Arizona as I'm told it attracts pack rats???

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  7. Looks like the birds appreciate your efforts. Bill looks happy as a pack horse!

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  8. Must be a little different than life on the road. You sound so happy there.

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