Hello-

A sad time at the Navopatia Field Station and the area as a whole.  On February 22, 2008 Ruben Mendivil Cota passed away. 

Everyone who came to the station was touched by Ruben. He was a teacher with endless patience and skills that could never be counted.  He became much more than a friend to many of us.  All who tried his world famous ceviche went back for more.  He built every building at the field station and performed all the maintenance every year.

Ruben is survived By his wife Lupita, son Rubencito, daughter Bianka, and his granddaughter Mariana.  We would like to start a fund to help the family through the difficult years ahead.  Please donate on the AWA website under the support us tab and say your donation is for Ruben. 

The Station closes with Semana Santa and will reopen in December.  Nothing will ever be the same but we will continue.    

Check back here later for updates of the last few months of activity at the field station. 

January was a busy month at the field station this year.  The 2008 interns arrived and quickly got to work at a dizzying pace.  Bird surveys and vegetation sampling have been proceeding well with new species of plants and birds recorded for the area.  Including, Cassin’s Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, and a Parasitic Jaeger.  Boa Constrictors have been around the station brightening our days, and there have been some amazing swims and paddles with the Dolphins.  

The field station has had visits from people from the Huatabampo municipio, Pronatura Noroeste, and CONANP (Commision Nacional de las Areas Natuarales Protejidas), in order to discuss the proposed reserve with the people of Agiabampo.

Thank you to everyone who has helped support AWA through the program- “ one percent for the planet.”  If you are not familiar with this fantastic program visit our website under the ” Support us” page.  Personal donations such as these are what helps keep our organization work going.

It has been getting busy at the NAvopatia Field Station recently.  We have had a fair number of guests ejnoying the birds and frequent dolphin encounters.  Or staff Biologist, Lydia Lozano, has arrived from Culiacan and is getting things ready for the field season.  It has been chilly over xmas and New Years but we expect things to warm up.  Stay tuned for more news. 

The first pulse of the 2007-08 MoSI (Monitoreo Sobrevivencia Invernal) bird banding program went well.  We banded 47 birds of 14 species, up slightly from last year.  There were even a few recaptures from last winter.  The species banded this week were:

Orange-Crowned Warbler

Bell’s Vireo

Verdin

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Northern Cardinal

Northern Mockingbird

White-crowned Sparrow

Brewer’s Sparrow

Rufous-Winged Sparrow

Cactus Wren

Broad-billed Hummingbird

Ladderbacked Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker

The Field Station will be ready for guests in December.   January will be busy and mostly booked so come down now.  For availability call  647-108-3712  (from a land line in Mexico you must dial 044 first, from the states use the prefix – 011521 then the number)  Our phone issues should be solved soon allowing us to once again check messages and (sometimes) get to the phone in time to answer it.  You can also email navopatia@gmail.com , please give us a little time to respond.  The weather and water are beautiful, we hope to see you soon.