Coexistence in the city

     This winter finds me back in Merida for the first time since 2020, my last Yucatan winter having been spent next to Progreso's western dunes. My winter travel companion, a serious wildlife photographer, and I opted for the city to facilitate bus travel to some of the parks in this area, but several Covid infections in our circle have caused some activity restrictions while we waited to complete post-exposure testing. So far, we are both Covid-free and remain grateful for vaccines, good masks, and CDC advice on precautions.

     We are also grateful for the AirBnB we found. While this is a busy neighborhood within walking distance of the even busier main plaza and several other areas popular with visitors, it is a neighborhood where homeowners have planted trees, making our front and back terraces good for birdwatching while sipping coffee in our nightwear. 

Yes, we had a "cold" spell--nights below 60 degrees.

And we are indeed seeing birds. White-fronted parrots fly over the house every morning, and great-tailed grackles and white-winged doves are ubiquitous. (Fortunately, we are fond of both, as they are extremely vocal birds.) Yellow-lored parrots occasionally check out a tree across the street. A pair of doves was building a nest in a tree adjacent to the back terrace, but that activity seems to have stopped when one of the pair vanished. A VERY enthusiastic pink-flowering vine is beginning to attract hummingbirds, and one day a motmot visited a neighbor's bamboo.

     Orioles are fairly frequent visitors. We think this handsome creature is an orange oriole, endemic to the Yucatan peninsula. 

Photo by Kate Fitzgerald

Every day brings woodpeckers checking for insects in nearby trees. In previous years, Yucatan has been entering its dry season when I have visited, but the rains continued through most of December, leaving lots of leaves, buds, flowers, and (unfortunately for some human sinuses) pollen. But the insects and insectivorous birds are happy.

Photo by Kate Fitzgerald

Despite the popularity of non-native ornamentals like the bougainvillea planted in every third yard and snagging unwary walkers on its thorns, we are finding Yucatecan native plants used in a number of city gardens. In front of the 18th-century Iglesia de San Juan Bautista (Church of St. John the Baptist, for those with even less Spanish than I), pollinators were all over a gorgeous pink-flowering bush,

which a little research revealed to be the native Ipomoea carnea, or bush morning glory. The plant, while toxic to cattle (which did not evolve in this part of the world anyway), was used in rituals, for pipemaking, and as medicine. Obviously, it is also important to insects, as this gall-covered leaf indicates. (Unfortunately, I have not yet discovered what species make use of this plant.)

     It always pleases me to see wildness in places long inhabited by humans. The church that was home to the Sanjuanista reform movement of the early 1800s is a latecomer to this area, but I find it beautiful anyway. We will be visiting again to see what other creatures make use of this small urban park.