26 March 2002
Meals at the cafetal fit the climate and work
regime. At dawn we have coffee, excellent of course, then a hearty breakfast at 9:30
a.m. Our main meal is at 3:00 in the afternoon. At about 7:30 p.m., we
finish the day with a light snack. In the heat of the day I retreat to a hammock on
the second floor terrace for a short nap. Today I awaken to Masked Tityras feeding
on fruit of the trees around the cafetal. These odd-looking and odd-sounding birds
are cotingas, a diverse group unique to the American tropics. Tityras are generally
uncommon, but here they are one of the most frequently seen birds.
27 March 2002
Alvaro and I hike into the upper reaches of the
plantation, where the best birds are: Emerald Toucanet, Green Jay, Long-tailed
Wood-Partridge, Happy Wren, Golden-crowned Warbler, and Scrub Euphonia. Along the
way we snack on the sweet tangy coffee berries, whose taste bears no hint of
"coffee." The coffee at Monte Carlo is shade-grown and free of pesticides.
However, it is not certified as such. When international commissions come to
certify coffee as shade-grown, Alvaro says, they expect to be wined and dined like
royalty, and to stay in the finest hotels. It would cost a month's earnings just to
entertain them, so he, like many small growers, cannot afford it.
Later near the patio, the concrete area where beans are
dried, I find Baltimore Orioles 
snacking on fruit of the mandimbo
(Erhetia tinifolia) prior to their northward journey.
30 March 2002
A splendid bit of luck today. The Ricárdezes and I pack up and leave Monte Carlo
this morning, and are trundling down the mountain in his Chevy pickup. He, Martina,
and I are in the cab. Los ninos are in the back, along with luggage and
their refrigerator, which gave up the ghost on the second day of our stay. Suddenly
a Russet-crowned Motmot flies across the road and perches in a low limb. He remains
there, eyeing us suspicously, as I set up camera and flash. My tripod is in the
back, so I place the camera on the side window opening and shoot half a roll. All
week I had sought in vain to photograph the motmot. It's a peek-a-boo bird, usually
hiding behind several layers of limbs and foliage. Motmots, relatives of
kingfishers, are also unique to the American tropics. I am especially pleased to get
the Russet-crowned because it is another bird that is only found on the Pacific coast of
Mexico.