400 Lifebirds

 Lifebirds are getting tricky. My camera abilities are strong but my reflexes aren't always the quickest.  I have come to accept that I may not get all lifebirds with a proper photo ID.  But I sure will try! As of July, I had crossed the 400 number on my life bird list.  The "list" is sacred to many.  Some use it to boast their egos.  Some keep it secret because it's very personal. And some don't mind sharing it at all with others....like me. When I began this bird journey, I wanted to be open and transparent about my finds from around the world. This is a great game of mind and physical exercise. Every morning I wake up asking myself, "Which bird will it be today?" If it's a rare visiting bird, I won't be able to sleep the night before. As I slowly tick off my Arizona list, I have moved into foreign and exotic landscapes which require a lot more research and investigation.  Every trip has a specific target list.  Every lifebird has a story.  And today I will share with you the journey that went into finding the birds from 300-400.   

At 300, the Zone-tailed Hawk is a bird with a disguise. It had probably flown over my head so many times while living in Arizona as a non-birder.  Many times it will fly among a kettle of Turkey Vultures.  Most people will look up, see the kettle and respond with, "Oh it's those ugly birds."  That's what this Zonie wants you to think and that's how they do so well in the wild.  But on this day near Phoenix with Gordon Karre and Kathie Brown, we stumbled upon a nest along a river.  Both hawks flew out of the tree screaming above our heads.  I would have walked passed them, but they scared the living hell out of me. Out of respect, we took our pictures and left ASAP.  These birds taught me on this very hot day to respect the wild.  There are birds on the world list that will kill or do serious damage if I do not pay attention to my surroundings better.

At 310, this drab little number flew in front of both Kathie and myself while birding at a truck stop. It's the Dusky Flycatcher.  Flycatchers in Arizona are difficult because there are so many kinds here.  I feel I have become stronger as a birder because of all the research these types of birds make me do.  Some look so similar that it comes down to sound and habitat or elevation.  I learned quickly that the easiest way for me to ID these birds is to listen to their calls and memorize them.  

At 320, I heard a strange call up on Mt. Lemmon.  It drove me insane.  It was new to my ears and I climbed and climbed up a steep hill to see who was making all that racket.  I forgot about my surroundings and found myself on a rock ledge staring at the Greater Pewee.  As I write this today, I will never forget that song.  On one particular outing, a park ranger whistled the tune note per note perfectly while having coffee with me on a bench.  I had a good laugh and shared the story of the Greater Pewee.....a Mexican migrant. Once you hear that tune, you won't forget it anytime soon:) 

This next bird at 330 doesn't need much introduction.  It's the crowning jewel of Southern Arizona.  I spent a year and a half searching for this bird without any success.  It sounds like a barking dog and calls mostly in the early hours of morning. Miss that call and you'll have a hard time finding this bird for the rest of the day. The research and time I put into this Trogon taught me many things.  Some birds operate on time tables (and they change daily).  It is therefore important to speak with locals and research the latest reports to find this bird. Since this write, I've discovered 4 different trogons while on my travels.  Sometimes patience and research pays off.

At 340, the Northern Pygmy Owls make a show that I'll never forget.  I was with my partner Pat when we noticed two little heads peeking out of a hole at us.  I am an owl man and forever will be.  There is nothing to gain or learn from this sighting other than I just love them.  They are the birds that make me smile and dance. Anytime I get to see one, even though I've seen them before, I smile.  Perhaps it's because they are intelligent creatures and very catlike?  I don't know but ever since I've been a kid, owls have held my fascination. Mr. Rogers always had his show of "Make Believe" where an owl would peer out of a hole.  Woodsy Owl would exclaim, "Help Keep America Looking Good!  Hoot! Hoot!" Or the Tootsie Roll Pops....just how many licks DOES it take to get to the center?  The owl says, "A one, a two, a three...." And CRUNCH! Never in my life did I expect to see all of these wonders in the wild. We sat on a log until dark watching these birds while on the trails of Miller Canyon.

Now we begin the strange and exotic.  Guatemala shot my list up over 100 birds.  I cannot afford bird guides....yet.  I speak Spanish and I know enough about birds to get to the places I need to be. Imagine waking up in a new world where the bird sounds are all foreign and alien sounding.  I couldn't sleep and like an alarm clock, these Band-backed Wrens woke me up sharply at 5 AM.  My friend, who traveled with me around Guatemala, asked me what I was doing up so early on our first day.  I said, "Can't you hear them??? There are new birds out there!!!!  And I have to find them!!!"  In my pajamas, I ran out the door to hear these loud bombastic birds. They were LOUD and over-the-top!  I hid in the outdoor shower and watched them as they ate bugs around the lights.  On the first day, I missed them but I figured out their daily routine which allowed me to capture them on the canopy of these trees.  When they fly, they call.  But they are silent when still.  These birds taught me about strategy and preparation for the photography bit.  At 350, the Band-backed Wren.

Number 360 goes to the rather plain Green-throated Mountain Gem.   Yes, it's a hummingbird and it was found near the only excellent truly birder friendly place in Antigua.  They actually had hummingbird feeders!!!    If you go to Antigua, check out the Finca Pilar.  Wonderful birds can be found on the trails and around the feeders here.   On this trek, I met a young Scottish man by the name of Justin who birded alone at one of the hostals near Antigua.  Several people kind of laughed at his obsession with birds.  When I came along, we teamed up and birded together.  My friend told me that we had a bromance going on.  Whatever the case, it was so much fun to bird with someone who knew the area.  We sat down over several days looking at his Central American bird books ID'ing the birds we had seen together.  We even took trails that I wouldn't have normally gone on.  I truly appreciated our time together searching for new birds.  And I was able to introduce him to Ebird which will be a fun new program for him to use. 

370 was a big one.  The Gold medal of this journey.  It was a gamble that I took in Coban.  This time it paid off big time.  My friend was able to share the moment with me and experience the glorious Resplendent Quetzal.  A lot of work and research went into finding this bird.  So much so that after we found 6 of them, my birding energy waned for awhile.  I began to drink Micheladas and enjoy the trip more as a tourist.  I had been to Guatemala before but never as a birder. If it wasn't for the experience and research behind the Elegant Trogon, I may have dipped on this near threatened bird.  It was an exciting moment in my life.  My friend Lynda said that I had a bird boner(highlight in front of the parentheses if you want to know).  I laughed and smiled.  She isn't a birder, but the event was spectacular.  One of the highlights of my birding adventures. 

At 380, the Swallow-tailed Kite flew among....swallows and swifts.  I had seen it twice and was in awe by it's grace and elegance.  My initial reactions were, "That's a big swallow!"  Then I saw the head on this bird and realized I was dealing with a Kite.  I checked my list and saw....Swallow-tailed Kite.  The lesson here?  Use resources like Ebird to help ID the birds found in the area.  I knew most of the bird body types(there were a few exceptions of course) and I focused on what physical features made them stand out.  In this case, the tail was unique to the Kite family.  When I looked it up on the internet for ID verification, I smiled and patted myself on the back.

We spent a day in Tikal which is one of my favorite places to search for wildlife.  And on this day, we saw more creatures than all the other tourists in the park.  Why?  We avoided the tours!!!  As a Spanish instructor, I've studied the Mayan histories many times over. When my friend asked a question, I gave her the information.   Had we been with the group, we would have missed this bird. We spied this Collared Aracari at number 390 before it flew off because of a noisy tour group.  My friend now understood why I dislike people on the trails.  She began to feel the same way as we discovered together Spider and Howler Monkeys, Deer, Coati, and gorgeous birds along the trail.  

Finally at 400, we end with a Trogon.  In fact, this post has been full of them. The Black-headed Trogon was incredible.  Every morning at 5 AM in Rio Dulce, near the Caribbean side of Guatemala, I would walk into a buggy open pasture along a stretch of untouched rain forest.  The bird, much like the Resplendent Quetzal or Elegant Trogon, moved in a similar fashion.  So why the bad shot?  Here's the story. We stayed in an A/C unit because travel was taking its toll on both of us. Well the A/C fogged up my lens every morning and by the time, I saw the Trogon in the rain and fog with my clouded lens, well.......it wasn't a great shot.  So I Instagramed it and added a little artsy look to the shot.  I am now working on my 500 list.  Life is wonderful.  So is the experience behind birding, travel and photography.  I hope you enjoyed this little jaunt back in time.  Until next time.......

Con Los Ojos Abiertos

Today I'm linking up with Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday.

What happens when the world is turned upside down?  And the familiar....gone. Not even Spanish would be of big use on this trip.  A new and empty canvas was upon me. And everyday a new bird was added to my life list, but it was a hard fought battle as both photographer and birder alike.

White-naped Brush-finch

Along the way, I met allies who would aide me in the battle behind these long windy named birds.  Take for example the White-naped Brush-finch.  4 words and one bird!  They were always mouthfuls to say during any birding outing. My first few days in Antigua, Guatemala would be overwhelming for many reasons.  Locating and recognizing calls became super difficult.  As the sun rose around the early 5 AM time, I would jump out of bed to chase the birds outside.  And they were everywhere!!!  No need for an alarm clock.

As the photographer, I had to deal with gray skies, rainy conditions and the dark woods.  I wasn't as successful my first few days with the photography bit as it was super challenging.  Manual focus and flash were a must in the dark conditions.

Blue-and-white Mockingbird

My ears would locate a call in the vast green and dark canopy.  Birds were skittish and moved off quickly.  Sometimes they would be staring right at me which brings up my 3rd issue........eyes adjusting to the greens instead of the browns of my desert.  By the time we left, I had gotten better at finding the birds, but I'm still not great at it yet.  If it weren't for my ears and patience, most of these birds would have escaped my radar!

The other issue was timing.  During our travels, I calculated staying over a several day period at each place so that I could sweep the areas properly. I'd go 4 or 5 times over the same route during a one day period. Again the birds would move around according to their own time tables......I just had to be ready for them. The unique part about this trip wasn't seeing as many places as we could but rather staying in one place and finding as much as we could in one area.   Each place had a different and common group of birds that hung around our cabins or hotel rooms. I just had to find them!

Our cabin

Many of the birds didn't respond to my pishing attempts which made me change my tune....literally.  After several weeks in Guatemala, my whistling would finally attract a few birds. Knowing the general body types would help me quickly locate a bird from my ID ap in the area. The nice thing about their long names is that they usually will include their prominent and physical features. My IPHONE, with the spotty Wifi service, helped out.  Towards the end of the trip, I began to play the calls electronically and pull the birds out.  I played the recordings only twice and never again. At that point, I had become physically and mentally exhausted searching for birds everyday. For most of them, it worked, but for some, I had to wait and return again the next day around the same time to get a photo.

Sometimes I hid in outdoor showers or toilets around light sources during the early morning.  Bugs were everywhere!!!  And so were the birds.......

White-eared Ground-sparrow

Some birds would cooperate while others fled at the slightest movement or sound.

Rufous-collared Sparrow

The early morning skies were many times gray.  On those first excursions, I would see so many birds but never be ready to capture them on film.  One such species was the Squirrel Cuckoo.  It avoided my lens 3 times!!!  The Cuckoos in general can be a secretive bunch.  Once, I had found them in the trees but they flew off into the dark canopy while I tried to focus my lens.  The second time, I was eating breakfast when one flew into a leafless tree.  I didn't have my camera with me.  And the last sighting came to me while swimming in a pool!  And I will admit, those are some of the most frustrating bits about birding. Sometimes it doesn't always work out and I had to be okay with that happening once and awhile.

Gray Silky-flycatcher

But with time and practice, the birds would begin to focus better.

Is it thrilling?  Yes.  It's like finding diamonds in a hidden treasure chest.  The difficult part about Guatemala came from the general public's lack of knowledge about birds in their area.  Generally in Panama or Costa Rica, I found people knowing much more about their local wildlife.  In Guatemala, it was patchy.  Sometimes I would luck out and find a fellow birder.  When I told others that I came to bird, they looked at me funny.  I changed my story to "wildlife photographer" and it was better received.

The shot from this post that made me happiest?  The Blue-throated Motmot.  It took me several days to finally get a picture that made me happy.  We stayed at Earth Lodge for 4 days.  It was a great place and difficult to leave because there were so many great birds.  But on my shower treks every morning at 5 AM, the Blue-throated Motmot would come to visit me.  It became semi-comfortable with my visits and allowed me to get closer.  Each day I tried getting pictures of this bird but they would turn out terrible due to the lack of lighting.  And then on my last day, I took the sports setting off and used the single picture option with flash.  Voila!

Blue-throated Motmot

And so it would go for the first week of photography practice.  As my posts will continue, you'll see an improvement in the shots.  It was definitely a learning curve.  In Arizona, we have to watch out for overexposure from the sun.  In the rain forest, it was all about lighting and quick camera focus.

Spot-crowned  Woodcreeper

The loudest calls came from these wrens below.  A lot of practice went into this one singular shot.  They flew over our cabin every morning with their loud "RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE!"  Imagine shaking an aluminum can full of pennies that owners use to shut poodles up and you've got their call:)

Band-backed Wren

When they flew, they called.  When they landed on a branch, they were silent.  These birds were difficult to capture until one morning I figured out their schedule and waited in our cabin to capture them out on top of the canopy of the trees.  My friend was very patient with me but she could also see that I had gone crazy over the years from the birds.

Meanwhile the views were stunning everyday as we drank micheladas(tomato juice and dark beer). You may say to yourself, "Nasty."  So did I until I took a sip of my friend's drink and then......Oh. My. Gods. I became a fan.

Female Rose-throated Becard

And while we were drinking, the Rose-throated Becard sat upon the bare tree.  It was my first introduction to the Becard family.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to see the male one day but it was still a cool encounter.

Bronzed Cowbird

I was always grateful for the birds I knew.  They were like gifts to me. While my friend did yoga on the hillside, I roamed around the property and searched for birds.

And when it was time to leave, I was saddened to go because I felt like I had become friends with these now familiar birds.  But there were so many more birds to discover. So many more challenges to be had.  Yet I am proud of my accomplishments as I have done all of this alone.  Many people hire guides to help them out, but I used the resources around me to help ID what I was observing out in the field.  As a quick learner into this exciting world, my advice to beginners is to just go out and explore and see what you see.  As time goes on, I am sure I will need to hire people to help me find those elusive birds around the world.   But for now, everything is new and exciting.  More posts to come......