Day 11 How to start a day with birds

This morning I set my alarm for 5:30 to make sure I was out on the street by 6am. The fruit and vegetable truck comes through this area between 6:00 and 7:00 and if you flag Marvin down you can buy from the back of his truck. When I heard that he might have fresh passionfruit and hearts of palm, I wanted to make sure I did not miss him, though the refrigerator here is far from bare.
I went down the driveway with my book and a cup of coffee along with a bird guide and camera just in case, not knowing how long I might wait. Before I even got comfortable in a chair I dragged out from the bodega and positioned next to the road, I saw a pair of one of my favorite birds, the White-throated Magpie Jay, land in a tree nearby. Delighted since I had only seen one so far on this trip, I managed to get a decent picture of one before they continued on their way.

I then noticed movement behind me and discovered a squirrel cuckoo in the hibiscus, These long tailed birds hop along branches much like a squirrel, hence their name.

Next a pair of noisy orange-chinned parakeets started feeding on blossoms on a tree across the road. They stayed there long enough for me to get a few good photos and positively id them in Marie’s comprehensive bird guide.

The parakeets were replaced by a large parrot I had not seen before which turned out to be a white-fronted parrot. I watched it tear the flowers apart as it ate them with apparent relish.

This went on and on, I photographed a Hoffmann’s woodpecker, some sort of orange and yellow oriole, and any number of hummingbirds. I finished my coffee, waved at the neighbors as they drove past and id’d more birds. I looked at my watch: 7:30, hmmmm.
Then I looked up higher in the sky to see a wood stork soar past and at a lower level a single black hawk circled. A mourning dove cooed over and over again from the telephone line stretched along the road. Another hummingbird, a new type to me and impossible to identify, buzzed past.
It was now 7:55. I decided to give Marvin five more minutes. At 8:00, I headed up the driveway, coffee cup empty, unopened book under my arm. I had no vegetables but I did have a camera full of great photos and the memory of an exquisite day that unfolded in front of me in the form of the lives
of the birds that live here.
I’ll wait for that vegetable truck anyday!