Laguna de Sayula

Laguna de Sayula is dry for over half the year and once the rains start it doesn't take long to fill. The first foto is from two months ago before the rain on my way to Melaque via Colima. The second foto is from three weeks ago heading to Melaque again on highway 54. It had rained almost every day for three weeks before I left this last time. Once I hit Colima no more rain and everything was still brown. It did rain twice over my three week visit but lots more sun than the Chapala area

Dry lake a few months ago

An eerie view in the rain with lake getting full

Dos Mariposas

Two mariposas and a little sunshine today. My housekeeper pointed out the Monarch (Monarca) in the backyard just a few minutes ago. I don't see many here and I guess this is not one of the Canada to Mexico migrators because it's way past season.

The one below she calls a mariposa nocturna (of the night) and I've seen 3-4 different types of these. Obviously a moth and this guy was on his last legs (on the ground) ... but that's where I see most of them. I'll have to Google to see if I can find something on their life cycle.

Mariposa Monarca


Mariposa Nocturna

Rain Flower

I don't know what this is but it must be from a long lost bulb that the rain encouraged.   In the year I've lived here there has never been signs of life back in this patch of dirt.  The ground is totally saturated

Champiñones y Hongos

The rain also brings mushrooms  or in Mexico champiñones or hongos.  Talking to my house keeper she referes to them as 'venomous hongos'. If you search hongo fotos on Google you will mostly get hallucinogenic. If you search champiñones you will get the edible kind. A number of internet articles intermix the terms but in general use in Mexico hongos are not for cooking. I never did find a similar foto like the one above.

Winged Invasion

No bugs like the rain it seems, especially the heavy rains we've had for the last 4-5 days.  My house is crawling with sow bugs, flies and ants that were not to be seen a week ago.  Also some ants swarm with the first heavy rains - that is they grow wings and try to fly - by the thousands.  All the ones I've seen have not been very successful, they are just all over the yard and left behind wings flutter around like little kites.

Local gringo talk is they are termites but I've had a constant battle with leaf cutting ants.  I just asked my drinking water guy today and he says they are leaf cutters that get drowned out of their underground nests.  The termite story is some of the tribe are thrown out of the nest to go make a new colony.  I'll go with flooded leaf cutters.  In my back patio there were thousands of little ones, 20-30 wasp looking ones and a few beetle like creatures - all with wings. I did my best to end the lives of as many as I could with the rational of saving my garden.

Some of the small ants on my back patio


Termites but they look similar


Mine had the two part body is another reason I think leaf cutters