A short day trip to an archaeological site

 We went to the Copalita river to view an archaeological site, where there happened to be a lot of birds too.  I got to see a few birds I've never seen before!  I don't know all their names, but I found this on; An Orange Breasted Bunting!

 And there was a peregrine falcon that was roaming around the beach.

More about the turtles (and a video)

Here is a baby turtle video I made.  La liberation de tortugitas!

The coast of Oaxaca

 I've taken a short vacation down to see Lindsay, who was spending a month in Puerto Escondito, in Oaxaca, southern Mexico.  I flew in and then we have spent a few days traveleing around the area.  My first view of Escondito was not the best, I found it to be larger than I had first thought.  And quite hot.  The next day we went for a long walk down the beach, to a place called Barra de Navidad, where there is a river that flows down to the ocean.  We had to traverse a cliffy beach where the waves crashed up against the cliffs and threatened to soak us.  Afterwards we got to a long steep beach with lots of heavy waves and quite a few dead turtles.  We met a man on the beach who had a baby turtle and was releasing it, and who told us that a type of jellyfish was making the turtles die, and that we could come back that evening to see the release of a bunch of baby turtles.  Then we got to the estuary, where there were tons of birds.  We saw Snowy Plovers, Black Skimmers, a White Pelican, American Avocets, and the more commonly seen Black Necked Stilts.  Also we saw the Black Winged Whistling Duck.  It was really neat to sneak around in the reeds and water looking at all the species of birds.  We also found a dead snake, which was a Yellow Bellied Sea Snake, an uncommon sight in these waters.
On our way out we found a cute calf.  We returned later in the day to see the turtles, bringing a friend from the sanctuary, the place where Lindsay was doing the retreat.  There were tons and tons of turtles (micro turtles) and we got to see them learn how to move, a few climbed out of the shells, and then watch them all go out to sea.  Unfortunately, when arriving at the ocean, a bunch of terns were waiting for them and gobbled them up.  I was thinking about how the human interaction to help the babies out could have been different and let me describe my thoughts.  The eggs are protected from predators by the humans; they dig up the eggs right after they are layed, take them to a safe spot and rebury them, saving turtles.  The turtles naturally would come out of the eggs underground, then have to dig themselves to the surface, and some might not make it, so at this place the humans dig the babies up, resulting in more turtles living.  Then, the turtles would have to make a long trek across the sand to the beach, where many night herons and egrets and sea gulls would be patrolling, chomping them up.  We carried the turtles to the beach in a basket, saving turtles.
When we released them, we let them crawl down the beach to the breaking waves, where many probably drowned and many were probably less tired than before because of the less distance they had to go, so we probably saved turtles that way.  But still, tons of them were eaten while in the water by gulls and terns and pelicans, because they are conspicuous.  It is a difficult problem.  If they were to take the turtles and drop them in small bunches off of a boat driving along out at sea at night, I feel more of the turtles would be saved because there would be no concentration, and therefore harder for the birds to find them.  The flip side is that the turtles are given less tests, and so the genetic toughness is lowered.  But I think they are already doing that with all the assistance.  Turtles are a significant species here, so many people want to try to save them.  I also like them.

A super fast trimaran stopped by...

 This is Mighty Merloe.  I saw it coming into the marina and I skiffed over to say hi and they invited me aboard.
It is a beautiful boat, 60 ft by 60 ft, a true square trimaran.

Travels to Ticla

 Ticla is pronounced TEA-CLAW.  Imagine a capitol letter T, then imagine that a river is flowing down the upright portion, and a large crashing wave is clawing down the outer corners of the top of the T.  It is a wonderful place to find yourself.  My friend Wes (pictured with the yellow board) and I drove down for a short trip of four days to visit this place and surf it up during the last swell.  We got up early and took off away from Puerto Vallarta, up into the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental.  This is the mountain range that protects Puerto Vallarta from the hurricanes from the south, and as we climbed up the windy road, we found forests of pine trees growing near the top.  A very different view than the sweaty jungles down near the water.  I took the GPS out and got a height of 2900 ft at one point.  Then we descended back down to the water, working our way near places that I had been before when I sailed down in 2011.  As we got near Chemela we found the evidence of Hurricane Patricia, the strongest of storms EVER, and lots of broken brances and torn roofs, even 6 months later.  We kept on driving, until we got past Manzanillo, which is the furthest south I had been before on the coast, and then got to a place where the mountains come to the sea, just like in Big Sur or in Chuckanut drive.  It was really beautiful, with some views down to the water and not much traffic.  Shortly after that we arrived at a river and followed it down to the town of Ticla.  It is mostly white people, tourists who come to surf, living in Cabanas and camping out.
The river is full of birds and fish and an Otter, I wasn't sure the species and didn't get a picture.  I saw a new duck for me, the Blue winged Teal.  I think I want to go back.  The wave is a better wave than pretty much any wave in Bandaras bay, and I felt way safer, despite the large size, because the bottom is all cobbles and no urchins.  In Bandaras Bay (puerto Vallarta) the bay doesn't get big waves all the time, so things grow on the rocks and those things hurt the feet.  Surfing in larger waves is really good for building confidence, because there is so much power available to make speed with, and also because the water is deeper.  I hurt my rib everytime I went out, but it heals very quickly, or I can recover at least.  I intend to rest for the next week, now.  

A Crested Caracara...

 Some Black Legged Stilts...

 Surf-side view from the river...

 The Blue-Winged Teal...

 And a new bird, not sure the species, a Chachara or something....

 And a few shots of me surfing...

 And from the kite in the morning offshore breeze

Surf Observer

 I've been trying to be a surf observer.  To watch and document, but not participate.  It is very hard.  Sometimes I feel like this iguana, all old and broken down with a bunch of spikes all over my head, and a saggy neck and scales.  And the inability to surf.  (see note on last post about ribs)
Here are some of my photos...