In our own back yard

      Yesterday, two birder friends and I explored an area I had not known was there, a tidal flat returning to mangroves. Obviously, we knew the land existed, as the Merida-to-Progreso highway runs right alongside it, but the idea that this nondescript space a few hundred feet from a big-box store was a biodiversity hotspot had not occurred to us.

     Home to a restaurant (highly recommended but unfortunately not open yesterday morning), Progreso's Longboat and Canoe Track (fenced off and blocking our way to what looked like a mirador), and a lot of mangroves and mud, the area was one where our taxi driver was reluctant to leave two sixty-something women. We of course assured him that all was well, and he left us his cell phone number just in case we felt stranded. He need not have worried; the friend who joined us by bicycle had discovered that the path behind the restaurant led directly to downtown.

     And all was more than well. The parking lot mangroves hosted migrating warblers, and a semi-hidden trail led to this hidden paradise.

     Most of the wading and shore birds were beyond my camera's range, but the day's species list was cause for delight: besides the usual gulls, terns, and cormorants, the ria was hosting white pelicans, great and reddish egrets, tricolor and great blue herons, and even a wood stork. Roseate spoonbills and a dozen flamingos chose the morning to fly overhead, the flamingos' raucous noises so out of character with their graceful appearance in flight. A prehistoric-sounding racket and a burst of flight revealed at least one yellow-crowned night heron, the behavior of which led to speculation that there may be heron nests in the mangroves. We can hope.

Photo courtesy of Kate Fitzgerald

     The presence of so many birds of course indicates the presence of insects and other creatures that serve as bird food. We were unplagued by mosquitoes, due in part to a healthy dragonfly population.

Photograph courtesy of Kate Fitzgerald

     Besides the mangroves colonizing the flats (cue celebratory noises), this little plant was spreading enthusiastically.

A photograph sent to some plant experts revealed it as a Salicornia species, a genus of plants sometimes called pickleweeds or saltworts. Most are edible, and some have traditionally been applied externally as painkillers for arthritis. Perhaps next time we will sample some.

     And there will definitely be a next time. This much biodiversity within walking distance of downtown Progreso is a treasure to be appreciated--repeatedly.