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Weekly Observations
Jun 26 - Jul 2, 2005

Just a sprinkle of rain Sunday night, then nothing until Wednesday night, so temperatures began to climb a little, into the upper 80°s F. Wednesday. It was very cloudy Wednesday evening, with just a sprinkle of rain about 7:00 PM, then a good hard rain around midnight, and a strong thunderstorm about 6:00 AM, leaving about 3/4 inch rain in all. No rain Thursday, then Friday it got cloudy in mid-afternoon, keeping temps down to upper 70°s F., but it was not until pre-dawn Saturday morning that a thunderstorm came through and dropped about half an inch of rain.

I've noticed hummingbirds pecking at the spiderwebs on the outside of the house. Hummingbirds do eat insects, but in this case I suspect they are gathering spider web for use in building their nests.

We climbed up into the mountains on Sunday, following trails up a canyon between Mezcala and Ojo de Agua. Locals have built a fine trail, putting the larger rocks on each side, forming low walls. Several plots on the hillsides have been cleared of their native brush and planted with ciruela a kind of wild plum of the species Spondias Purpurea that is native to this area. The fruit are harvested and sold in local markets, and come in two varieties, a purplish-red and a yellow type.

We saw several kinds of epiphytic plants growing on trees in the upper canyon, including one type with beautiful bright red flowers. I assumed at first it was some kind of orchid, though I couldn't get close enough to get a good look at the flowers, which were high in the trees or overhanging steep cliffs. Then we found one of the same plants (without any flowers) growing on a tree branch that had been cut down, apparently to clear the path. Taking it home (branch and plant together) and searching the Internet, I see it is no orchid, but a bromelid, Tillandsia erubescens, a relative of Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides which is very common around the Lake), though it bears not much physical resemblance. I found this note on Tillandsia erubescens while searching the net:

In Mexico, the plant is reduced to a soup in water, mixed with 50% alcohol as a preservative, then taken one teaspoonful each morning for anaemia and kidney trouble. Local names are hierba de pajaro, lichen de enchino, and mescalito.

Another epiphytic we saw had leaves like the top of a pineapple (to which they are related) and a flower stalk, but no flowers. From looking at pictures it most closely resembles Tillandsia aguascalientensis.