Mexican Animals

When my sweetheart and I took a vacation in Mexico, I expected to see butterflies and maybe some spiders, if we went hiking. In the summer (rainy season) in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, it's very wet and extremely humid. You see a lot more insects at this time of year. However, we were so lucky to see hummingbirds and iguanas this year!

Buff bellied hummingbird

 I'm pretty sure this was the buff-bellied hummingbird. I researched a few types, and this came closest in description, and it's in the right geographical location. They were zipping around from one hibiscus flower to another! We'd hear their calls and look around, and sure enough, see a tiny form darting amongst the flowers. The last time I saw a hummingbird in Mexico, it was the broad-billed hummingbird. I didn't get a good picture of it, though. I had a different camera, and it was too slow to take photos of hummers!

Young iguana in the coconut palm tree.

 We saw three or four iguanas, also. Very exciting, as they were all on the resort grounds! They were a beautiful bright green, and quite shy. As soon as they were spotted, they took off for the bushes, or up into the trees.

Not only did we see land and air creatures, but we saw creatures of the sea, as well. The spinner dolphins were in a pod, far ahead of the boat we were on, so I didn't get a photo of them. However, there were these crazy blue jellyfish that we got photos of. They had washed up onto the beach, which made it easy to photograph them. I don't think they were still alive, but they were still so pretty!

Blue button jellyfish

The blue button jellyfish is not a true jelly, but it can still cause irritation if you come into contact with it. It just won't sting you like a jellyfish, as it's a Chondrophore, which is a colony of cooperative polyps, which have various "jobs" in the colony. What you see here are many different types of animals working together to form what looks like a jellyfish!

The last time I was there, I saw these little flashes of blue luminescence in the surf... I never really figured out what that was. In fact, you could isolate the flash of blue in a handful of sand once you'd see one, but you STILL couldn't see where it was coming from. If anyone knows what this was, I'd LOVE to know. For now, it's still a lovely mystery.