Dusted off the kayak today.
Heat was the name of the game today 95F (35C) I grew up in Washington state and it would get up into the 90's in the summer, but the tropics heat is a different beast. It's the humidity. 95 F here in Tlacotalpan is a heat that lays siege on your mind, it messes with your head. My way of dealing with the heat is prioritize, I ask myself do I really need to do it? If the answer is no then it goes on the "manaña" shelf.
I fooled around in the morning with the new layout on the weblogs. (I like what they have done.)
Around 1:00p.m. I deal with the urge to 'hawkwatch' (Any hawk watch addicts out there know what I am talking about.) Having just spent a month (200+hours) observing migrating raptors,(you can see a photo/journal account of the spring hawk watch at my weblog http://veracruzhawkwatch.blogspot.com you can't just stop 'cold turkey'.
Seeing the flight profiles of migrating raptors is a pleasantly addictive experience. So I have to "wean" myself gradually, TODAY...two hours of hawk watch. I counted a total of 53 raptors in blue hazy skies...Turkey vulture, Swainson's hawk, Broad-winged hawk, Mississippi Kite, Osprey.
The afternoon breeze had few cooling properities as it felt more like a blast furnace. I decided that it might be a good idea to dust off the kayak. It has been a year since I last used the kayak. I have a professional style inflateable kayak, the brand is Aire. It is not swift in the water but it is stable (self bailing) and very easy to transport. The Papaloapan river is located a mere block and a half from the house, so after inflating the kayak, donning my binoculars and vest, I balance the kayak and paddle on my head and move out for cooler domains. I spent the remainder of the afternoon on the water. The breeze had created some nice swells on the river. I crossed the river and entered a small tributaries of the river that connects with several lagoons.
I had a great birding afternoon, in two hours I observed 47 species of birds and 2 brown basilisk "Jesus Christ lizards"