Do You Truly Know Your Neighbors?

Tags

Backyard Bird Count, being a good neighbor, earthquake survivor needs, jama ecuador, meeting neighbors, perseverance

Jama Ecuador – Little-dog Candy barked and barked and barked at the Gringita, to the family’s amusement….

 “Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

How well do you know your neighbors; your neighborhood?  If you live in a petite town, you probably know them on a personal level.  Hopefully they are ‘good neighbors,’ ones who make you smile, and if they are lucky, your presence makes them smile as well!  Once when visiting a friend in a larger city (in Mississippi) I asked about the next-door neighbors.  He shrugged and said he didn’t know them.  In disbelief I made some general exclamation but kept my stonger reaction in check.  Just because a neighbor doesn’t extend the first token gesture — doesn’t mean that you cannot!

After meeting this gentleman, I was invited to the back of the house, where water was stored in a bucket;  they cooked on an old tree stump Even though the earthquake stripped them of their belongings, it did not rob them of their dignity and strong spirit.  He showed me this snake skin, and we discussed a little snake locally called, ‘.___-bejuco’ becuase it looks like a litte bejuco/vine.

Challenging neighbors have sometimes dotted my past, but I eventually realized they had extreme personal burdens or wounds, which had nothing to do with me.  By being neutral, many times I witnessed the softer side emerge.   We as humans often don’t take time to consider how uncomfortable the other person’s shoes might be.

After visiting the family with the dog, and the family that cooked on the tree stump, I saw this person across the street. With a pinch of guilt, I ‘only’ waved, but plan to go visit this person soon.

There are many people still in recovery mode on Ecuador’s earthquake-ravaged coastline.   I’ve had time to walk slowly through neighborhoods and talk with friends, talk with strangers, and to marvel (and laugh) at children’s natural gift of inner joy.  I realized that in good times we often don’t stop to exchange greetings with strangers, and in bad times, we’re so busy trying to survive, that we also forget that others are doing the same.  In good times or in bad, we sometimes forget to take time to listen – truly listen…

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Birds Birds Birds!

Tags

Backyard Bird Count, Mindo Ecuador, raptor with white head ecuador

“Goodness, someone left mystery flowers— are they for me?”

“Will you be my valentine?”

Birds, birds and more birds! This is the Backyard Birdcount Weekend! Give your feathered friends a voice and put your backyard on the map! Yesterday I counted a few, and today I’ve been in transit, but tomorrow will be dedicated not only to identifying each species, but also to counting howw many drop by to say, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

This one dropped by yesterday — Bird ID Please?

This is the Backyard Birdcount Weekend! I hope that many of you will give your feathered friends a voice and put your backyard on the map!

Thank you for your enthusiastic feedback on the last post! The Neotropical otter is called a “Nutria” here in Ecuador, and it visited for just that morning and has gone back into hiding. It must be playing tag with the cormorant, which returned and is again gobbling the tilapia! By combining photos, audio extractions of camera videos and music snippets, I found creative ways to tell the story via Windows Movie Maker 2012.

Rufous-tailed hummingbird and wild bromeliad – (Photo taken during yesterday’s bird count.)

Today I am in Quito, and sitting across the table from me is our very special friend “Hummingbird” Barbara, who arrived from Panama this morning! We are about to travel to Mindo, and tomorrow we’ll try to document as many birds as possible there on my friends’ property.

Here’s a bird that landed near the house yesterday. Can anyone help identify this raptor?

Raptor – Is this a Gray Hawk?

It will be fun to swap bird stories later this week!

Here’s the link to the “Get Started” page for the birdcount:

Get Started

Pacific-Coast Ecuador: Booby Count

Tags

Backyard Bird Count, Peruvian Boobies

Peruvian Boobies – References list the Peruvian Booby ‘as far as SW Ecuador,” but they now populate many areas up the coastline.

Last week I helped my Ecuador Expat Journeys friends on their Coastal Tour.  Near Salinas, we spotted flamingos and black-necked stilts wading the shallows of the salt ponds.  Upriver from Bahia de Caraquez, we toured Isla Corazon and marveled at thousands of magnificent frigates that shared the unique island with great egrets, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, tricolored herons, cormorants and cocoi herons.  Cute little saffron finches decorated Canoa Beach Hotel’s tropical gardens.

Isla Corazon – Rio Chone

On my way home on Thursday, I said, “Hello” to the Peruvian boobies in San Vicente and reached Casa Loca in time for the late-afternoon finale on the river.

Gasp! How does one count so many birds?!

This morning while reporting a thirty-minute bird-watching session on the Backyard Bird Count stats page, I scanned the online queue of species for Ecuador.   The Peruvian Boobies! Their presence along the Ecuadorian coast should be reported, but they are not in my backyard!

“What are you waiting for?” Please let the world know we’re alive and ready for Carnival!”

If any of you have boobies in your neighborhood, please take time to add them to the online form! BACKYARD BIRD COUNT/Get Started.

Let’s decorate that BirdCount map!   Thanks for speaking up for the birds!

Z