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.......

A Gem in the Rough

One of the roughest rides of our Guatemalan trip came from a day visit to Semuc Champey.  It's an unusual land feature with lagoons created by a river that plunges into the Earth.  It's a bit of real life fantasy. One could imagine being in the movie Avatar on the planet Pandora.  But getting there would prove to be a real challenge.

I didn't remember it being so difficult to visit.  In fact, I wasn't alone.  Several other people had been to Semuc Champey 6 years previous as I had been.  We had a smooth ride on a paved road, but on this trip, it was a crowded and rocky ride.  To make matters worse, we had the ugliest kind of tourists.....the obnoxious ones!  So on this trip, I went to a happy space in my head and blocked the annoying chatter out.  Once we arrived at our destination, we again left the tour group and hiked alone into the park.

Chestnut-headed Oropendula

It was great.  We were alone and the critters were out in full force.  For some reason, I was super thirsty on this day and drank all of my water from my pack!  We were half way up a very muddy trail that was rather dangerous and slippery when I ran out! Anxiety attack!  But to get the first shot for this post, we had to climb nearly a mile up! There was no going back.  The railings were sketchy as was our footing.  In these situations, walking sticks will not work very well.  You need both hands to maneuver the poorly maintained areas.  It was hot, muggy and overcast.  And birding was a real challenge on this day!

It's tricky doing photography while birding and walking. Perhaps it was the reason why I wasn't paying attention to my water consumption.  As soon as the water went in; it was sweat out!  But on the Mirador(Look Out) trail, we observed 50 Oropendulas fly up into the canopy of a tree.  Their brilliant yellows were incredible as they fluidly glided from one tree to the next.  It looked like there were acrobats all around us.

Along the way, brilliantly colored creatures crossed our paths.

Royal Flycatcher

And new birds!  Several yellowish birds caught my attention as they gathered twigs for nesting.  What in the world were they?  One female.  The other male.

Yellow-throated Euphonia(female)

It took me forever to get several decent shots of these Euphonias.  I had crossed a rickety bridge that had holes through the wooden boards.  Below, the raging green river roared as I hobbled across the firmer beams.  On the shore of the Cahabon River, the Euphonias flitted in such a fast manner that I almost missed them.  Almost.  Something caught the corner of my eye as a tiny bird flew into a tiny nest that looked like it was part of the tree. I stood still and waited for them to come out and I'm glad I did.

Yellow-throated Euphonia(male)

It is overwhelming to see so many new birds.  I studied them.  I really did, but there were too many to remember.  So I made mental notes and just observed them until I could ID them later on. I would write my observations in my notebook.  When we arrived back to our place at night, I would sit and ID these birds before I slept.

Swallow-tailed Kite

I walked near the edge of this river as it plummeted into the Earth below.  It was extremely dangerous.  I wondered if anyone had slipped and met their fates in this dark powerful black hole.  While the river was swallowed into nothingness, hundreds of swifts flew in and out of the caverns below.  I had to ID these birds as they were not ones I had seen before.  I slowly neared the edge and morbidly thought about what death would be like in the great massive abyss below. There are miles of undiscovered wet caves that still hold ancient Mayan secrets.  Once I had my ID shot, I quickly left the area. 

One foot in front of the other.  Always slowly and never quickly.....that's when mistakes happen.

I couldn't believe how many swifts we had seen.  Here is the shot that allowed me to ID them.  I magnified it and was able to determine that we were witnessing White-collared Swifts in the hundreds!

White-collared Swift

The worst part about exploration is the thought of returning back home after an exhausting hike.  People say we should find the little joys amid the chaos.  We did.

After our extreme hike, we relaxed in the lagoons.  Thankfully I wore my water shoes to maneuver around the slippery rocks.  I submerged myself into the water and washed the dirt and sweat off of my body as did my friend.  A Black Phoebe reminded me to keep an eye out for the children of the forest.  They wait until the tourists are in the waters and then run and steal their items on shore.  So Lynda kept watch while I swam.  And vice versa.

We were alone in this paradise.  My friend was shocked by the tiny brown fish that nibbled around her feet.  They swarm the legs and for free, clean all the dead skin off of your body whether you want it or not:) It oddly feels good:)

Our ride back would prove to be a nightmare.  The driver, greedy for money, took another group back to town.  We were stuck for two hours in the rain as we waited for this guy to come back.  The ugly tourists got uglier and more annoying.  On the ride from hell, we would have to stand back to back or front to back like sardines in a truck.  Thankfully, my camera was in a water proof  bag.  At one point, our truck didn't make it up the hill and we all had to get out so that the truck could speed up to the top of the hill. Guatemala is not Costa Rica:)

Guatemala is certainly a challenge for many people. It's always work to get to and from the destinations.  But the views were incredible.  And what was that thing I wrote about previously?  Oh yeah....finding the joy amid the chaos.  As I stood in the back of the truck with my whole body aching, I was reminded why we were there.  Several Common Pauraques flew around us. And I ended my evening with another lifebird.  However, it made think.  How much else will I have to endure to find those rare lifebirds?  So many people think that birding is sitting by feeders with your binoculars eating sandwiches.  For me, that is birding on a break.  But the real action happens out in the field and much of it is not easy.  Nothing is ever easy, but the payoffs are awesome.  Over 100 different kinds of birds can be found in this biologically diverse area.

Jesus Christ lizard

While our day wasn't full of many birds, many were lifebirds. And that was a day well spent:)  Plus it was a good workout;)  More to come.....

Muscovy Duck  2-lifebird

Black Vulture  2

Swallow-tailed Kite  1-lifebird

Common Black-Hawk (Common)  1

Common Pauraque  3-lifebird

White-collared Swift  300 -lifebird

Royal Flycatcher  1-lifebird

Black Phoebe  1

Clay-colored Thrush  3

Yellow-winged Tanager  1

Melodious Blackbird  8

Great-tailed Grackle  5

Chestnut-headed Oropendola  2-lifebird

Montezuma Oropendola  50

Yellow-throated Euphonia  2-lifebird