I was very pumped when a paper that I submitted to REPAL1 got accepted, because not only would it be a good opportunity to get feedback, but I also had never been to Mexico City. And I had heard good things! But for some reasons two other conferences were scheduled in the same week: NEWEPS2 and a climate conference in Columbia. REPAL was the first one I applied to, and the other two I sent papers assuming that I would not get into at least one of them. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess), I got into all three. So suddenly I faced an insane week: I had to be in Baltimore on Monday for NEWEPS, Mexico City on Tuesday and Wednesday for REPAL, and New York City on Thursday and Friday for the Columbia conference. I thought about rescinding one of the acceptances, but I thought it would be nice if I could get my name out there in all three. I am going to be applying for academic jobs in the Fall, and even though the payoff is uncertain it does not hurt to get people reading your stuff. So I decided to power through it and make the best I could with non-ideal circumstances.
When I originally got accepted to REPAL I began planning a five day trip that would give me enough time to hit the most popular birding areas in and around Mexico City. But under the new circumstances I was forced to adjust. I would have for all intents and purposes a day and a half, including my conference attendance.
Canal Nacional
Bosque de Chapultepec
Bonus: park in Baltimore
I was in Baltimore for about 24 hours. I got there on Sunday evening, and left for Mexico City late on Monday. A big chunk of the time I spent in the city was eaten up by sleeping in the hotel and by the workshop itself. But I managed two squeeze around an hour and a half of birding before the event started on Monday morning. Hey, I already had the camera with me! And also I liked the idea of adding Maryland to the list of states that I’ve done birdwatching. I think the list includes 15 US states? Maybe I’m miscounting. Anyway, I ended up taking an uber from the hotel to the park at around 8am on a very ugly day. It was drizzling the entire time, and the colors were muted and lacked contrast. But even under these conditions the park ended up being a pretty cool place!
At first I was underwhelmed because it seemed like it was just a big park with some fields for playing sports. I have nothing against that type of urban park, but grass and a couple of trees does not really a good birdwatching site make. But soon I realized that there was a lot more than meets the eye. It turns out that the park was a local hotspot for a reason, as it had a nice little water feature with some wetlands-style vegetation around it. The boardwalk that surrounded the water also helped get different views of the waterfowl that congregated in there, as well as various flycatchers and kingbirds. Overall I had a pretty productive morning there.
eBird checklists:
- AAA
- AAA
- AAA