Size Does Matter…(Oaxaca, Mexico): 20 March 2009

Just a few days after our “Nava’s Experience” we were back in some more limestone karst forest, looking for another “well-endowed” wren, the cock-tailed Sumichrast’s Wren. Balancing on a jagged limestone outcrop within the humid lowland forest while a wren crept through dark crevices beneath us was for me one of the trip highlights. Take away the long bill and the wren becomes just another LBJ (little brown job), but the bill changes everything. It also exists in this weird rocky limestone forest that also adds to the allure. Great bird. Also in the area was a pair of very noisy Rufous Pihas, that made all kinds of weird sounds in the treetops above us. As far as the town of Tuxtepec goes though it was not a thriller. Huge vats of beer spewing polluting fumes on the edge of town are not a welcoming environment. Being a big fan of Mexican beer I guess I am guilty of encouraging this practice though, as it doesn’t half feel good to sink a dark Bohemia down your neck after a day in the humid, sweaty jungle!