Baja California - La Paz, downtown market and the Arts and Cultural Centre

Sitting with my coffee in the courtyard this morning, a hummingbird chirped and hovered at one of the flowering cacti. She then flew straight at me, hovered about 18 inches from my face and chirped at me before flitting away. I think I got told off. I think it is her private domain. It was a not a welcoming chirp, she was mad! At the other end of the spectrum I then saw a large brown bird fly into a tree behind the house next door. He was big enough for me to be curious and I went and got my camera.

This was taken with as much zoom as I can get out of my camera. My impression as he flew in, and later flew out, of the tree, was that he was entirely brown. I saw no indication of paler shades. He was not as large as a turkey vulture but bigger than a red tailed hawk.

Using the zoom on the computer too makes him a bit blurry but you can see his hooked beak. I have looked at various web sites but nothing really fits. A golden eagle is the only thing that comes close. Maybe a juvenile? I don't know. They winter in this area but not usually in town.
Thanks to my Simcoe birding friends (usually its the Paris birders who take up the challenge), he has been identified as an immature, dark morph Swainson's Hawk.

Enough courtyard birding, after my lazy day yesterday it was a day for some exercise. I walked towards the centro using a different route and came across the municipal market.

There was a small section at the back with lunch counters, fish, meat and produce but

most of it was clothes, shoes, hats and this lovely guitar booth (I guess if you play guitar you have to wear a cowboy hat)

It wasn't much further to the central plaza where I got a coffee (I needed to use the servicio) and sat and did a quick sketch of the Catedral.

Across the square from the Cathedral is this building, The Arts and Cultural Centre. The door was open and the man at the desk waved me in and opened the door to another room for me.

It was a display of the costumes and accessories used for folk dances across Mexico. Someones private collection.

I love falling into things like this especially when they have linkages to other places I have traveled. George and I saw a display like this in Merida of local huipiles worn in that area.

Just like this one, which is from the Yucatan.

Each one was identified in terms of materials and location used.

Sequins,

ribbons and

and lace. All so lovely.

Walking out the gentleman gestured to another room and held the door for me. "No flash" he said.

This was a display of sarapes, Mexican blanket like shawls, usually worn by men, that had been made in the early 1900s and either depicted the flag or used the flags colours.

This time the information was in Spanish and English. The pattern was described, the flag depiction and what it was made of (usually warp and weft were wool but sometimes one was cotton and one wool). The flag helped with identification of the age of the piece as the depiction of the eagle defeating the snake has changed over the years.

Many originated in the Oaxaca region, where George, the kids and I holidayed with  Mum and Dad about 25 years ago.

The colours are amazingly vivid, especially as they were using natural dyes.

Dyed wool, frame looms, and various other pieces of weaving equipment were displayed

including a foot pedal loom.

From here I walked down to the malecon, found a tour operator and booked a trip to snorkel with Whale Sharks on Thursday. Hungry, hot and tired, I took a taxi home and spent the rest of the afternoon reading.