Written on March 2nd, 2015

Last year I’d mentioned the phenomena of moth wings on our hacienda’s veranda every morning. For those who weren’t following the blog then I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes. Geckos and bats love the palapa roofs here, and at night you can hear and sometimes see them on the walls of the house under the palapa. They are hanging out waiting for the huge, beautiful hummingbird moths to swing by, and then it’s lights out for the moth. Wings are, shall we say, too crunchy, and are therefore discarded. So in the morning, as I’m usually the first one up, I put water on for tea and grab a broom to sweep up the remains. It’s good to have a routine.

We named one lizard Ramon last year. He was a returning guest every afternoon at the birdfeeder in the yard. We have a similar guest this year, but I’m pretty sure Ramon outgrew the cactus skeleton he called home. Perhaps he has a new condo by the beach.

Today I had a couple of surprises. First, what looked to be a newborn gecko – kind of pale and rubbery with just a stump of a tail – was on the floor with the moth wings. He wasn’t moving and I was pretty sure he was dead. Bummer. I started to sweep and when I touched him he rolled over and did a frantic wiggle. I grabbed him with a tissue, placed him in the garden and wished him well. I told Steve about it and showed him where I’d put him, but he was gone.

“Either he made it or something ate him,” I mused. Oh, well.

Click on image to view full size

My next chore is to put a new orange half out on the bird feeder to keep my beautiful feathered friends close by. The walkway through the garden has a spectacular anthill in the middle, and this day those industrious little buggers had dragged the remains of a hummingbird moth down into it. All that was sticking out was about an inch of the wing. I kept an eye on it and sure enough they managed to disappear the whole enchilada by early afternoon. It makes me wonder about the size of the subterranean complex.

Click on image to view full size

The winds were too strong today, making the chop too rough for snorkeling, so I walked north on the beach to the Cabo Pulmo weather station. The curve of the beach and the high headland make this spot calm and inviting on a north wind day. I watched pelicans diving for breakfast and either a Hawk Eagle or a Crested Caracara fishing nearby. There is an abandoned property there that could make a fabulous abode. But that’s a “what-would-I-do-with-my-Powerball-winnings” fantasy.

Click on image to view full size

There is an interesting stonewall along the road back up to our rental hacienda from the beach. The wall is encased in chicken wire for structural rigidity, I’m guessing, as horses and bulls aren’t terribly gentle on the infrastructure. Neither are crazy ass drunk touristas in rental cars. Or crazy ass drunk Mexicans, for that matter. Anyway, these stonewalls are like one big lizard condo. As I approached the sun was high and everyone was out catching a few rays, eleven of them, some pretty big. I caught a few pics before they all disappeared. We named one lizard Ramon last year. He was a returning guest every afternoon at the birdfeeder in the yard. We have a similar guest this year, but I’m pretty sure Ramon outgrew the cactus skeleton he called home. Perhaps he has a new condo by the beach.

Click on image to view full size

Deborah