Nevado de Toluca

A group of us from Victoria scaled the 4680 metre high extinct volcano Nevado de Toluca yesterday. It was a fantastic challenge, requiring a 4-hour drive and a 6-hour hike with some tricky ascents and a thrilling scree scramble - all made harder by the extreme altitude.

Most of the group were simply focussing on getting up and down again. I was trying to add to my Mexico list. Unfortunately there wasn't much life up here. I'd read a trip report from October, when someone found 7 different species above the tree line. Good effort. Two months later, two months colder, and I found even less. Was there anything up here? This American Kestrel obviously had its eye on some prey.

Encouraged, I searched the rocks more diligently. Soon I was into some sparrow-like birds. Got them in the bins - Yellow-eyed Juncos, or, as one member of our party called them, Yellow-eyed Junkies.

In fact, as the air got thinner, we were all beginning to feel and look like Yellow-eyed Junkies. At the summit, we were all suffering from pounding headaches.

Mountain Birder...

I still had enough about me, though, to pick up a Yellow-rumped Warbler hopping around the boulders at 4600m. What on earth was it doing here? A croak from up above drew my attention to another species, 2 Northern Ravens riding the mountain ridge.

Unfortunately that was to be it in terms of birds! Luckily we all made it back safely. Here's a relieved bunch of mountaineers back at the van.