The Test of Time

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

    J.R.R. Tolkien-Lord of the Rings

As I explore the life around me, I begin to understand those innermost feelings tucked away deep inside.  Tikal National Park will do that to a person.

Slaty-tailed Trogon

Among the ancient trees with their dark shadows, I began to see.   Every drop of water, moving leaf....every vibration.  By this time on our trip, we were onto the secretive critters!

Spider Monkey.  As he put his back lazily on the branch, his tongue caught of drop of water from the leaves.  Incredible!

I was reminded of my own mortality as I walked among the great Mayan pyramids.  And it kept me present. How many people over the course of time have walked these trails and thought these same things?

Red-brocket Deer

We walked gently on the paths before us under the overcast skies.  So many things crept before our eyes. We were not alone.

Emerald Toucanet

The tour groups were still far off.  "Would we like a tour guide?", they asked. Never.  I am now trained in the way of scouting for wildlife thanks to birding.  We silently walked the ancient paths. And we saw life everywhere!  Will humanity ever learn from the mistakes of past civilizations?  The Mayan civilization collapsed under its own weight.  They didn't just disappear.  Overpopulation was the main reason for their downfall in Tikal.  The rain forest couldn't sustain this large city. It makes me think of today's increasing world population.

Montezuma Oropendula

But my mind was constantly distracted by all the life around us.....hidden in the dark canopy.  It was there!  My friend Lynda did some amazing spotting.  Together we found so many critters.  Meanwhile the tour groups were getting louder in the early morning hours. They were coming our way!

Howler Monkey

Above or below, the creatures of Tikal roamed about us silently.  This wasn't a zoo.  This was wild. And it felt real.

We are so fortunate to have these places preserved so that future generations may witness a piece of history with both its current and former inhabitants.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

We continued our treks into an area known as the "Lost World" or as we say in Spanish, "El Mundo Perdido"

The ruins were covered for centuries and today, archaeologists from around the world continue to excavate new areas.

The incredible part?  Every niche had a different group of birds and mammals!  As the tourists began to filter in more with their loud voices, we countered opposite into the silent corners of the park.

Crested Guan

Some birds silently stalked us like this Collared Aracari.  But a massive group of tourists came by with their loud voices and scared this bird away.  While viewing a Trogon only meters away, a woman and her posse spotted both Lynda and myself observing the birds up close.  She thought it would be fun to "CAW CAW!" at the male and communicate with the pair.  They flew away immediately and I threw the lady a look that could kill.

Collared Aracari

We headed towards the exit after a wonderful morning and afternoon at the park.  The pic below made me smile.

This is one of my favorite National Parks of the world. And it's Guatemala's number one tourist destination.

White-collared Seedeater

I had too many pics from our outing here and so I will break this up into two posts. The second will include a rare falcon sighting!

Social Flycatcher

In so many ways, the ancient Mayan culture was not so different from our own.  It certainly made for an exciting outing.   My friend Lynda introduced me to a new program on my cell phone known as Momentsia.

Ocellated Turkey

Here is a collage using that program with some of the work from Tikal.  My mother told me when I was young that I was the storyteller of the family.  I didn't know what she meant, but while in college, she did a crochet of me and framed it with the word "Storyteller" below. Today it hangs in our humble home. While I review Guatemala, I'll be continuing my adventures in Colorado, Arizona and Wisconsin. With migration happening this month and next, things will become very busy around Southern Arizona. So there's much more to report:)  Birders rarely get to sleep in these days:)

Today's post is linked with Wild Bird Wednesday!

Trogons

Elegant Trogon

Birders say that when one eventually finds their nemesis bird, the former nemesis will appear everywhere after that day.  For a year and a half, I chased this bird. I would dip and become frustrated every single time. If it's one bird I understand the most, it's the Trogon.  I suppose this summer has been much about Trogons as last summer was about Hummingbirds. 

Elegant Trogon nesting

The secret?  Getting up at the crack of dawn.......and listening.   It is very important to listen carefully for the various dog barking calls around canyon areas. And the other thing?  Do not let people know you are searching for the bird because it will screw up the sighting every single time. My experience with people and trogons has not been a good one.  People are too loud and do not listen. Yet they all want to see these colorful birds.  I had an experience in Patagonia this winter that made me want to cry.  Everyone was on the trail looking for the bird and before I knew it, a group attached themselves to me and I lost the bird.  Partners are okay.  People you don't know....not okay....keep it secret.

And my studies would pay off. My summer trek into Guatemala led me to more of the Trogons. Their calls are all variations of a theme except maybe the Resplendent Quetzal.

Slaty-tailed Trogon

In the darkness of Tikal National Park, I saw several of the Slaty-tailed Trogons calling.  We were alone until some loud and obnoxious tourists decided to rudely make their own bird calls.  One was a woman who just began laughing and shouting up random calls to the Trogon pair.  They flew off and I shook my head as I glared at her.  However, we had nice observations of these birds for 25 minutes prior to the first wave of tourists entering the park. I always opt out on the tour groups if I can. What attracted me to the dark leaves?  Their calls.  One must respect the privacy of the Trogon.  If you pay that respect, they will not leave you.

Black-headed Trogon

During our visit to Río Dulce in the pastures along rain forest area(away from people), I heard another Trogon-like call. This time I dealt with camera issues.....humidity on my lens!!!  The first time I saw the Black-headed Trogon, it flew above my head. My heart pounded and I missed the shot.  I followed the call until the bird had retreated too far into the forest.  So I went back the next day and continued to deal with humidity and rain.  But I heard the call again and found the bird.  We had a moment here and it was incredible!

The next bird below is the Gartered Trogon. I was sitting in my cabin outside of Antigua near an avocado farm when this bird silently flew in front of my window.  My heart beat quickly!  A Trogon!!!  This time the bird wasn't making any calls, but it quickly saw me and flew.  Luckily I had my camera ready and got this not so great shot through the window. For many years, this bird was considered a subspecies of the Violaceous Trogon, but they have since separated the species. This bird now goes by the Gartered Trogon name.  Plus their heads have a different shade of blue and their calls are different. The Gartered also has a greener back.  Hence the separation.  When I returned back to the office where we were staying, I told them about the sighting and they were shocked at the find!

Gartered Trogon

And then.......pay dirt!  That post is coming up on Birding is Fun!  on August 1st.  The lesson for me? Searching for the Elegant Trogon at home helped me track these birds down better.  With practice, time and patience, even the rarest bird can be found.  Now if those Montezuma Quail would just make an appearance:)  More soon.....

Resplendent Quetzal