East Cape Arts
Summertime in the Sub-Tropics
When traffic in downtown Los Barriles begins to slow down, when R.V.s with British Columbia, Oregon and Washington license plates start heading north on Highway #1, when airport vans loaded with fishermen arrive replacing the strong, fit group of north-bound wind and kite surfers, we know it’s the beginning of summertime in our little corner of the sub-tropics. Those of us who are “year-rounders” are left behind to enjoy the peace and quiet as the temperature climbs. We slow down to a crawl, finding shade where we can. Strenuous activity is “out”...speculating on how many hurricanes we’ll have this season is “in”. Resident curmudgeons arrive under the ramada at the Roadrunner Cafe every morning where they reminisce about the “good old days” and expound on the condition of the world today.
But, there are more subtle, signs of summer’s seasonal change. As April and May move into June and July, sub-tropical plants begin their steady metamorphous in a variety of ways. Although Cacti remain erect and stoic during this transition, closer examination will reveal buds at the tip of their arms heralding the beginning of the flowering season. Pitahaya Dulce, for example, produce cream colored flowers tipped with light purple through July. They open only at night, inviting the bats and insects to visit and pollinate the plant for another season. In late summer, red watermelon-flavored fruit appears, considered a local summer treat by man and bird! Although most sub-tropical trees have lost their leaves by early June and appear to be lifeless, two stand out as reminders that they are still kicking. Palo Zorillo take this opportunity to produce small yellow blossoms which decorate the tree through June to early July when small leaves appear. The Mauto, a tall dominate tree living throughout the La Laguna mountain range, puts out small puffy white blossoms in early summer, thus inviting swarms of bees to play tag throughout its branches.
As summer settles in, the activity of winter migrating birds slows down. Hooded and Bullocks Orioles have mated, nested and are now teaching their offspring to fly before they head north. The Varied Bunting, a small finch with a plum-colored body, a blued crown and a red nape patch are filling up on summer insects as they make plans to join them. Blood-red Cardinals, their look-alike Pyrrhuloxia and the Xantus’ Hummingbird, are year-round residents of southern Baja. If conscientious human beings put out a sugar-water container, the Xantus’ rewards them with an energetic side-show. As dominate males spend most of their time defending the feeder from other males and relentless females their captive audience (us) has to keep the feeder continuously filled.
Although we complain about the abundance of summertime insects; mosquitoes, wasps, click beetles, bobos, etc. there are a couple of harmless ones that we find very entertaining. Take for instance the Cicada. During the hot “dog days” of August, male Cicadas produce a buzzing whining “song” by vibrating membranes at the base of their abdomen. Some years the Cicada song is less abundant that others since it may take up to 13 years for a new hatch of Cicadas to emerge from their underground nursery. But, the champion insect of them all is the Phyllophaga, better known as the “June Bug”. This little critter is actually shock-resistant. When the male June Bug becomes an adult and is driven to attract a female, he flies clumsily about, slamming into window screens, noisily colliding with outdoor lights, ricocheting off porch walls and clattering across the floor. Since females of the species have smaller wings and cannot fly, they are forced to wait for one of these ardent aviators to make a crash landing nearby. We love the show! Since there are fewer humans around in East Cape during the summertime we’ve got to get our entertainment wherever we can find it!