In Isla Mujeres, a beautiful island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the Green Jay Mayan Birding Club organized a wonderful event. The event primarily included the participation of women and children of the area. For the first activity, the participants and the organizers came together very early in the morning in an hacienda in the island. When they were all together, the participants learned how to use binoculars, and in smaller groups led by Green Jay Mayan Birding, they took a walk to observe local birds. The walk was truly wonderful as the participants were able to observe birds such as the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Magnificent Frigatebird, Black Vulture, Black-necked stilt, Great Kiskadee, White-winged dove, and the Groove-billed ani!
When they returned from the walk, the participants received their educational kits from Celebrate Urban Birds to learn more about citizen science and the birds of the project. They also received art materials to draw the birds that they found most interesting during the walk. In addition, they shared beautiful photos of some birds native to the Yucatan Peninsula. The majority of the participants loved the colorful diversity of the local birds so much that they wanted to draw them!
After getting to express themselves so colorfully, everyone enjoyed a nice breakfast of scrumptious cheese and ground beef empanadas and drank homemade orange soda provided by one of the women of the island. Breakfast ended up providing some energy for the next outdoor activity! The participants, after being divided into teams, planted grosella, ciricote, and palm trees. They discussed the importance of these native trees to humans and birds and they were invited to plant in their own homes while being conscious of how birds are affected.
For many, it was their first experience with binoculars and bird watching in general.
It was very inspiring to see the youth so motivated and with hopes to have more opportunities such as these relating to bird observation and conservation!
Check this gallery of photos of the fantastic event in Isla Mujeres!
Photo by Green Jay Mayan Birding
Photo by Green Jay Mayan Birding
Photo by Green Jay Mayan Birding
This wonderful event was made possible with the collaboration of the Isla Contoy Friends Association, the Hacienda Mundaca, and of course with the support of our Celebrate Urban Birds mini-grants for the Green Jay Mayan Birding Club.