Into the Mists

About an hours trek south of Coban, we found the wonderful Biotopo Del Quetzal.  It's a reserve that has its roots connected to Mario Dary Rivera.  It was established in 1977 to protect Guatemala's quickly vanishing cloud forests.  He was murdered for his efforts and by his death, kept the logging companies out.  Today several of these reserves are run by a local university attracting birders from all around the world.  It's a wonderful park full of fantastic surprises.....and home to the rare Resplendent Quetzal.

My first trek to Guatemala back in 2006 didn't allow for a stay in Coban.  We had seen the city, but skipped it for the trip to Semuc Champey. I had wanted to visit the Biotopo Quetzal but I have to admit, I didn't like the area too much.  Many travelers will skip this spot and head straight to the much more popular Semuc.  As a birder, this was no longer an option.  The Resplendent Quetzal was found in this area and we had to stop. In fact, the Quetzal can be found in Coban, Semuc Champey, etc, but they are much more reliably seen near the Biotopo del Quetzal.


Rufous-collared Sparrow

Coban is still developing its tourism sensibilities and can be seen by some as "rough" compared to the much more accommodating services provided in Antigua or nearby Flores.  Many times birders are told that it's much easier to spot the Resplendent Quetzal in Costa Rica or Panama, but I was in Guatemala and wanted to try my hand again at this bird.


Fern Frond

The Biotopo is truly an exciting place full of botanical finds.  The paths are clear and steep but many times, we took it slow and stopped often to look at all the incredible vegetation found in the area.


Yellow and Red Thorn Spider

My friend asked me to go forward.  I quickly realized why.....spider webs!:)

Sneaky sneaky.  We had been the first ones to arrive at the reserve and I cleared the paths for all those who would hike later:)


Heliconia

It's also amazing how fast most people will walk up the trails.  We took our good natured time.  There was so much to see including a lovely waterfall and beautiful overlook!

Overall, the birds were very difficult to spot in this reserve.  There were a lot of birds here that were calling but overall, it was super difficult to find them.  I've heard and read several reports similar to this from other birders.  But it doesn't make the trek any less beautiful.  We still made unexpected discoveries....

A strange thing happened.  I believe that the bird I present today is probably our strangest find on this entire trip.  Not much information can be found on Unicolored Jays except that they live in the cloud forests.  And it was only by accident that we actually got a picture of this bird. A Montezuma Oropendula was moving around and caught my eye.  This is probably the most basic Jay I have seen. Apparently there are about 5 subspecies of this Jay resembling our Pinyon Jay in Northern Arizona. I enjoy reading about the birds discovered, but this one continues to make me raise an eyebrow! Fascinating!


Unicolored Jay

Of course, we spotted the bird below at Ranchitos Del Quetzal next door to the park.  While the birds actually live in the Biotopo del Quetzal, they are super difficult to find inside the canopy of the trees. Open from 6 AM to 4 PM, the Biotopo del Quetzal does not disappoint.  60 Q(around 8 US dollars) is the entrance fee. 

The Resplendent Quetzal

We had a successful day finding the target birds and the trip to Coban was well worth the stop.  We stayed at Hostal Luna and enjoyed our visit there.  The owner knows quite a bit about birds and has a list of them hanging on the wall.  There is a fantastic restaurant right across the street from the place.  And there are many more places to bird around the area.  We just hit the target spots as we were only there for a brief two nights. The journey to and from the Biotopo del Quetzal was an exhausting one.  There's nothing like finishing up a long hike and getting stuck on a crowded tiny bus back to Coban.  It's difficult to stay patient when I see a girl almost strangle a poor dog in a box(that has also gone to the bathroom) while trying to stand holding onto the bars with my neck crooked at an unnatural 90 degree angle because there were no seats available, and still keep an eye on my camera while sweating up a storm. Yeah it's a run on sentence.  What are you going to do about it?:)  That's exactly how we both felt.  When we arrived back at our hostel, we crashed onto our beds and took a nap! What we do to see these rare birds!!!  They certainly make for great stories, but at this point, I began to miss birding back home.  It seemed so much easier.  Our trip would only become much more difficult in the days that followed. 

But when it's all said and done, the bad things seem to be forgotten with the positive standing out.

And as you can see, we had some fun photo shoots to let the eyes relax a bit before searching for more birds. That's also a part of what birding is all about....enjoying the moment. Stay tuned for more.....

Jay Walking

Mexican Jay at Madera Canyon

Here is another series of birds I'd like to present from this year.   I have been extremely fascinated by the group of birds known as Jays.  They come in all shades of blue.....plus!  They are the easiest of birds to recognize by sight and call.  Many times they'll come to you if you just wait;)

Steller's Jay of Mt. Lemmon

Their size and color also make these birds an easy one to capture on film....most of the time.  The secret?  Nuts.  Lots and lots of peanuts!  Over the course of this year, I've discovered more of these birds both here in the US and in Guatemala.  There are so many more to discover yet, but here are a few I've had the privilege of getting to know:)

Brown Jay of Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Surprisingly, not all Jays are blue.  Some are brown, green, or gray!  Take for example the Brown Jay of Tikal, Guatemala.  They were all together in their typical group fashion chatting up a storm doing what Jays do best......chasing other birds away:)

Bushy-crested Jay at Finca Pilar near Antigua, Guatemala

In Guatemala, I found them difficult to capture on film.  Most people didn't have feeders out or places to quietly stalk the birds so I had to do the best that I could.  While not the best shot, this Bushy-crested Jay was a common sight during our travels.

Unicolored Jay, Biotopo del Quetzal near Coban, Guatemala

This Unicolored Jay above is the prototype for all Jays.  It was also the most secretive.  On Ebird, it was considered a rare bird for the cloud forest we were exploring.  It's location was revealed thanks to a loud Montezuma Oropendula.  This Jay is said to be closely linked to the Pinyon Jays below.

Pinyon Jays near Greer-Overgaard, Arizona

Everyone stops to look at Jays like they do with Cardinals and all colorful birds.  But did you know that they are related to Crows and Ravens?  They are part of the Corvidae family which includes Nutcrackers, Magpies, Jackdaws and Treepies.  They are generally called Corvids by the birder crowd.

Western Scrub-Jay at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

My challenge for this year is to find an Eastern Blue Jay back in Wisconsin.  I've seen them before as a child but technically do not have them on my lifelist.  We also have other Jays that I have yet to find....like Gray Jays!  They are indeed Gray.  In Texas, they have Green Jays! And there is a much larger list of them all around the world.  They are all just as colorful and full of character as their name suggests.

And dare I reveal a birder secret?  Sure:) The secret to finding owls can happen with the help of a Jay.  They love to bother other birds....especially Owls.  If you ever notice some sort of drama going on in the skies, tune your eyes into that area and you may just spot an owl or something rare:) Jays also have the opposite effect of chasing birds off.  Last week I was tracking a secretive Montezuma Quail and came upon a bunch of Jays quietly hanging out.  When they saw me, they all started to squack!  And the quail flew over my head!!! No pic! Bugger! Oh well, what am I to do:) This post is part of series on groups of birds I'm studying this year.  If you are interested, here is one on Trogons posted several weeks ago.  There is a lot of material to cover from this past summer and I'll have more coming up:)