Another small (4.9) earthquake last night as we sat in our favorite taco stand. Again a sharp jolt followed by a few seconds of everything rattling. Everyone pauses and looks around ... then when it stops making the corrugated roofing rattle everyone smiles and starts chewing again. Can't believe we are so causal about it now too. I guess we have really gotten laid back and have picked up the slow approach to most events. No worries, be happy!Today we took a trip about 10 miles away to Manialtepec Lagoon with a Ornithologist, Michael Malone who used to be with the Canadian Wildlife Service, but has been a winter resident down here for 30 years and is involved in working to preserve the lagoon. We spent the morning in a small launch in amongst the mangroves and exploring the shoreline and river in this unique area that has three separate aquatic ecosystems. This has been a really tremendous experience. This huge lagoon is surrounded mostly by jungle and mangrove forest and is also used by local subsistence fisherman, many still using hand made dug out canoes. This lagoon is cut off from the ocean during the winter/dry season by the ocean surf building a sand barrier so no water escapes, but it continues to be fed from the river. In the rainy season the water level rises until the exit breaches into the ocean and salt water pours in again for several months. The ecosystem is fascinating. We saw over 60 different species of birds, both tropical residents and migratory visitors. This lagoon is at the end of 4 different flyways from North America so the range of species was fantastic. Lots of shore birds, night hawks, kingbirds, woodpeckers, a large range of herons, wood storks, ospreys, ibis, egrets, parrots, and hawks. We also saw crocodiles and river otters and some
interesting water snakes. We don't have a very good camera for wildlife 
viewing but got a few usable shots. 
Click on any 
to 
enlarge.
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