I’ll continue with stories of our travels in Turkey in the next post, but
What I’m juiced about right now:
are the birds of La Manzanilla, Mexico.
We moved from San Miguel de Allende to La Manzanilla three days ago. Every day I sit on the patio entertained by the birds. Who needs the Internet or Netflix when there is a constant display of colour and sound right on your doorstep?
The front wall of our casita opens up onto a patio and swimming pool surrounded by lush tropical forest with a view of the ocean in the distance. The trees are full of birds. They especially love feeding on some berries hanging off the palm just beyond the pool. The chachalacas live up to their name. They are a kind of wild turkey with a raucous cry that sounds like starting a sick car on a cold morning, only louder. Much louder. The plain black grackles have the sweetest song.
Next post: Back to Istanbul in all its clamorous glory.
All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2016.
Adventures in Wonderland 
Loved seeing these flashes of color and imagining the (mostly) cheerful sounds. I hope your casita is everything you remembered and more!
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Thanks Lexie. The chachalacas are just plain noisy! But the others make a great variety of lovely sounds. Yes, the casita is everything as wonderful as I remembered. I’m so happy to be here. Don too!
Alison
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Hi Alison. We were so pleased to see your post and photos on the birds at your La Manzanilla casita. It sounds wonderful. We often spend hours each morning just watching and listening. We’re off to Costa Rica on Monday and that will be our morning entertainment. All the best. Tim & Anne
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I love being in the tropics for the birds (and for many other reasons!). Hope you have a wonderful time in Costa Rica. How long are you going for? I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Happy travels.
Alison
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We just got in yesterday afternoon and are already loving it. We have a nice little condo two minutes from the beach in Playas del Coco, Guanacaste. We’re here until July 8th!
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Sounds fabulous! Enjoy.
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Hi! in my country (Guatemala) we use to say “chachalaquear” it´s mean speak to fast and loud in a group of people, specialy women, that is because the sound of de chachalacas… great birds by the way… jajajaja 🙂
regards!
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Hi Laritos. One day we will get to Guatemala! Chachalaquear is a great word, and exactly right to describe loud people who speak too fast. It’s a very loud and easily recognizable noise that the birds make. Yeah, they are fabulous birds. We love them.
Alison
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So glad you are in a warm and beautiful place. Beautiful photos!
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Thanks Angeline. Oh we are soooooo happy to be here. It is every bit as wonderful as we remembered. Hope all is well with you back home.
Alison
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noisy?
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The chachalacas sure are. The rest not so much – more like melodious chatter.
Alison
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They’re all beautiful …so much colour!!! Thanks for sharing this beauty with us!
Divya
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Thanks Divya. I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s wonderful to see them all, flying around and feeding off the palm berries.
Alison
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amazing super awesome …
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Thank you so much Sanjeet.
Alison
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Outstanding photos! I love the chachalacas; cool name too.
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Thanks Caroline. The chachalacas are fabulous, and there are a lot of them around. Last time we were here three years ago there were lots of the caciques, but since then a hurricane caused the loss of a lot of trees so now there’s few caciques but loads of chachalacas.
Alison
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How wonderful to wake up to these lovely birds and joyful singing!
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Yes indeed it is wonderful. We are back in heaven.
Alison
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So lucky Alison! I bet it is wonderful waking up to the singsong of all these birds and to be somewhere warm right now sounds amazing!
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Thanks Nicole. We are so happy to be here. And, yes it is wonderful to wake up to this beauty and warmth every morning. Inddeed, we are *very* lucky.
Alison
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Excellent photos! So fun! I love the birds here, too. Great to know some of the names as well. 🙂
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Thanks Karen! The birds were always one of my favourite things here. I got a few good shots from last time too. It’s all changed because of the hurricane. Last time we hardly saw chachalacas, but there were heaps of caciques. This time it’s the opposite.
Alison
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A paradise, certainly. What a surprising photo-list of beauty and color. Bet you are enjoying that pool, too!
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Thanks Marsha. It *is* paradise. We’re very lucky to be able to rent our favourite casita. And yes, the pool is wonderful.
Alison
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What lovely photos! So glad you made it to the sea. How were the mountains? I think you must have left me a message but gmail is acting up. I never made it to SM, ended up going to La Paz… my bones needed the sun for a few weeks. Have you been to La Manzanilla before? How is it?
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Thanks Donnae. Yes, we finally made it to the sea. The mountains were cold, but we needed to be there and much healing happened. Now it’s time to relax and enjoy being in the heat. We spent four months in La Manzanilla three years ago. It’s a dusty fishing village with a beautiful beach, and we stay in a gorgeous casita that we rent from friends. We love it here.
Maybe we’ll be able to get together when we return to Van at the end of May.
Alison
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That would be most splendid!
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Love the chachalacas. I remember them from the Ecuadorian Amazon where they were everywhere. Again great photos – again curious about your camera gear.
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Thanks Helen. There are many more chachalacas than last time we were here three years ago. They’re so noisy! but fun to watch. I answered about the camera gear on the other post. I have a friend who’s selling a Fuji mirrorless (APS-C sensor) for a very reasonable price and I might buy it. It would be lighter than the Panasonic, but I need to check into what lenses are available.
Alison
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Love the photos and imagining listening and watching. I love watching the birds at my place, too. Enjoy the pool!
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Thanks Kay. It’s really wonderful to see so many different birds. And yes, the pool is fabulous!
Alison
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Ahh I always love watching colorful birds in the wild. My fascination towards them grew as I travel more often in the last five years. Yucatan jay particularly caught my attention the most.
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I think I’ve always been drawn to colourful birds – they’re so exotic. I never photograph the plain brown or black ones, though they are sometimes the ones that have the most beautiful songs. The Yucatan jay is quite common here – I see several every day. They don’t keep still long enough to get a really good shot but it’s lovely to have them around.
Alison
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Gorgeous photos (as usual!) and I love to think of you sitting outside your casita in the warmth with the ocean view watching and listening to the birds. There can’t be much better in life plus the time to enjoy it all! Anita
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Thanks so much Anita. I do believe you’re right – there’s not much better in life than this. I always feel so deeply blessed when we are here.
Alison
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My friend Linda over at Shoreacres wrote a humorous piece on Grackles a few days ago. We don’t have them in Oregon but they are sure hanging out in Texas where we are now. I chuckled over “sweetest song,” Alison. The boys here are in full voice with their tails furled out, desperately trying to woo their lady loves. It is humorous, but oh is it noisy! 🙂
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Okay “sweetest song” is a bit of a stretch. Chuckle. I love the grackles because they have such a huge variety of noises – *some* of which are sweet 🙂
How long you in Texas for?
Alison
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🙂 I think I was in Texas for six months when I rode my bike across it, Alison. (grin) We are here for 2-3 more days. –Curt
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Stunning photos as always. Thank you so much.
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Thank you so much Ros. I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Alison
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Nice avian interlude. Just curious – did you re-decorate your previous rental with the disturbing art before departing?
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Thanks Pam. And no, we didn’t redecorate. During the first month of our stay every time our host came over to do a little courtyard sweeping and watering he would leave with some of the contents of the cupboard. When we said it wasn’t bothering us he said something about cleaning up the mess. He also made some passing remark at one point about me helping him decorate. It makes me suspect he read my blog post.
Alison
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Love the birds. Am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your time in San Miguel de Allende before your move back to La Manzanilla.
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Thanks Amanda. We are sure enjoying the birdlife here. I usually write chronologically (except for the “What I’m juiced about right now” posts) so San Miguel will be a while coming. Two more posts to finish off Turkey, then all of Jordan and Egypt to cover. I have soooooo much material to write about I can never get caught up.
Alison
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So…you moved from SMdeA. Was that always the plan, or was there something missing there? You had mentioned the house with the pool in a previous post. You’re going to have to give me the info on that place…in case I end up in Mexico next year some time??
Love the pale vinetting around the outsides of your photos, cool effect. I don’t understand how you can get such good shots of birds. I NEVER get a good shot of a bird. In Bhutan, I saw a white-breasted kingfisher, supposedly a rare site. I shot it, but it was so far away…
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The move to La Manzanilla from SMA was very last minute. We finally got it that we were finished with SMA, that what we needed to be there for was complete. It was a long dark tunnel for me. I am so relieved, and so happy to be back in La Manz. Don is also very happy to be here. What’s not to love? – we have a beautiful casita with a private pool, in a tropical paradise by the sea. We’re here ’til the end of May.
Thanks re the photos. I have a 25-400 zoom which helps A LOT! Also I use very high shutter speed. Also I miss more shots than I get, but it’s fun trying.
Alison
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Yeah, I remember when you first moved in to SMA, and you didn’t seem quite enamored with it. Good to know all is well in your world now. A pool can make a big difference in your aura, you know. And a sea nearby. Is your casita on VRBO or some site?
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It’s a garden-level apartment of a house that belongs to long-time friends. We get a discount 🙂
A.
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If I go back to Mexico, you’ll have to give me her info…you make it sound like a great place to hang.
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Wow !!! The Chachalacas are so beautiful. Will follow your blog now, your photos are really beautiful.
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Thanks so much Ellada. I love to watch the chachalacas. They’re so noisy and pushy. I’d like to get a photo of one in flight – but not so far.
Thank you for following. Your own blog is wonderful – especially your macro photography. Fabulous!
Alison
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You really got some gorgeous shots–the color and detail are wonderful!
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Thanks Naomi. I hang out on the patio and wait for the action. If I’m lucky I have the camera on the right settings, and I’m fast enough. Those darn birds just don’t like to keep still and pose for very long. You’d think they’d have better manners. 🙂
Alison
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I went out and scoured the world wide interweb for possible audio recordings of the great chachalaca, and was able to confirm immediately that your metaphor of the chachalaca call to a car that won’t turn over was pretty darn apt. Uncannily so. I suppose it is nature’s payback for the industrial revolution and the age of the automobile. After putting two and two together, I became nervous contemplating the sound and the fury of the creature who will arise to return the favor of the jet engine. At first I was thinking of a lion with a biologically-powered amplifier or something whose roar would knock small trees over, but I think nature is more subtle than that. I’ve settled on a picture of beautiful birds that travel in great packs and all talk at once, like a flock of disgruntled travelers and flight attendants all in a cloud. And whenever they go anywhere they get in a single file line a mile long and walk really slow.
We’ve been seeing wild turkeys move through the trees near our home, and they have a more traditional warble. I tried to copy it and we had a few rounds of call and response, but he or she figured out quickly I was not your standard turkey and moved along…
Beautiful pictures once again. I particularly like the chachalaca looking out from the foliage.
Peace
Michael
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Chuckle chuckle chuckle. Nature’s payback for the industrial revolution – I hardly dare think of what nature would send to challenge the noise of the jet engine. I love the image of the great packs of noisy birds though. That seems apt.
Thanks Michael. It was especially fun photographing the chachalacas as they were so obliging in their poses.
Love, Alison
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Wonderful pics
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Thank you! I’m glad you like them.
Alison
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