Guatemala Birding 11/6-8/2024

Guatemala Birding

11/6-8/2024

Day 1

We landed in Guatemala City at 6 AM and our bird guide was there waiting! We had talked to the guide Josue over WhatsApp about a month prior to our arrival and he told us he would get us an itinerary over the weekend and he did not until about the weekend before we left.  I was worried about it the whole time but Ross kept telling me, everyone is not as uptight as us American’s, and he was right.  Over our conversation we told Josue we wanted to see the Pink-headed Warbler and possibly a Quetzal and as many birds as we could see with the time we were allotting.  I do not think that we give ourselves a lot of credit as birders and we think we are just starting out.

Anyways, he picked us up from the airport and we went straight to our first spot in the “Highlands” outside of Tecpán at a restaurant called Restaurante Rincon Suizo.  He led us on a path behind the restaurant we were hearing a lot but the road so close was making things difficult for me.  We came to a clearing where Josue found a Guatemalan Northern Pygmy-Owl quickly.  It was nice enough to pose for a picture.  There were two Pink-headed Warblers that were hiding in the trees and we got a look but not a picture.  The hummingbirds were buzzing around and we also had some good looks at an Acorn Woodpecker and a Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer.  Link to bird list for this hot spot is here:  eBird Checklist – 6 Nov 2024 – Restaurante Rincón Suizo–sendero en bosque de pino-encino – 27 species

For some reason my brain thought we were going to do this one stop and then head straight to Lake Atitlan.  But Josue told us he was going to take us to another spot and we started driving.  We drove through the city of Tecpán where he stopped and got us water but directed us to stay in the car, not sure if that was because of us being white or just convenience, I always read too much into situations.  We literally started driving up a mountain, on a mountain road.  He called it finca el espinero for the hotspot but I was not quite sure where we were.  We pulled over at a spot where he was some pink flying around.  One thing that Josue did that was not my favorite thing was calling birds using his “tapes.”  I hired a guide and if this is how they bird then I am not going to tell them otherwise.  Pretty quickly we had two Pink-headed Warblers dancing around us and posing for pictures.  This is where I really got the impression that Ross and I undersold ourselves as birders Josue said that he only takes “hard core birders” up here and once he saw our cameras and our birding mentality, he knew what we wanted from then on. eBird Checklist – 6 Nov 2024 – Finca El Espinero (acceso restringido) – 9 species

Back in the car we started headed towards Lake Atitlan, I am pooped mentally and physically and so ready to go lay down!  We stopped somewhere that he said was close to his house.  The hotspot was called Godinez-Aldean Los Robles.  This area reminded me of at home birding, it was an overgrown road system which has some clearings and a low tree canopy in areas.  We had a lot of good looks at Swifts, Hummingbirds, Roufus-collared Robins, and a look at a Golden-olive Woodpecker as the sun was going down.  My brain was on massive overload at this point!  He told us that it was about an hour to our hotel at the Lake, whew!!! eBird Checklist – 6 Nov 2024 – Godinez–Aldea Los Robles – 37 species

Day 2

We woke up early to meet Josue at the hotel at 5:30. We were heading to Los Tarrales Natural Reserve to spend the whole day.  This place was way more overwhelming than yesterday, we were constantly seeing different birds flying around.  We started off with slow walking towards the bigger field where we saw White-bellied Chachalacas and Josue of course found a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, he also pointed out a Bat Falcon in a faraway tree.  He called the Collard Aracari and they came flying in to the bananas hung up by the people running the area.  These are amazing looking birds, I have not seen something quite like it before in real life, I ended up calling them day of the dead birds.  Ross wondered off to find the bathroom and started yelling “Motmot, motmot, motmot!” Josue and I both heard “Mama, mama, mama” and it was a running joke the rest of the trip and still at home.  I grabbed a picture of the Lesson’s Motmot (which turned out to be a bird around the bananas the rest of the day which made Ross yelling even funnier).  We headed out down the trail to the right and saw all sorts of things, my brain was so overwhelmed.  Some highlights were the Tody motmot (horrible picture), Rose-throated Becard, Yellow-naped Amazon, Groove-billed Ani, Long-Tailed Manakin… I don’t know why I’m listing everything, here is the 75 species bird list. eBird Checklist – 7 Nov 2024 – RNP Los Tarrales – 75 species

After we circled back around and had a seat by the bananas (my feet were starting to hurt). We headed the other direction to the lagoon in hopes of seeing a Violet Saberwing.  I was definitely starting to get hot and tired, Josue always told us “oh, just a kilometer or so” and it always ended up being more!  I wasn’t too annoyed with that but damn, my feet were hurting!  We walked around the lagoon with not much action until Josue showed us a Mottled Owl in the middle of the bamboo.  I thought this was fake because it did not move!  I was able to practice some manual focusing because there was no way the camera would focus at all, the picture turned out ok but still dark.  We had a sit on the bench and we got a glimps of the Violet Saberwing, its funny I was super excited to see this bird but towards the end of the trip it was no big deal after seeing it so many times at Hotel Bambu.  Leaving the lagoon, we walked around what looked like a little farm area.  We had a what Josue calls a “mix flock” which is a bunch of songbirds/warblers/tanagers and whatever smaller birds mixed, fly by.  The place we were at is not just a Natural Preserve but they have a hotel setup too.  We had a buffet style lunch here and chilled for an hour.  We did run into another birding group of older people; we chatted with them and they asked us what our favorite bird was so far and of course they had to show off their top birds.  A couple was from Olympia which was cool.  Ross looked up that they were part of a 10-day birding tour through a different company, but it was nice to run into people with the same hobby.  eBird Checklist – 7 Nov 2024 – RNP Los Tarrales – 52 species

In the afternoon Josue told us we were going on a 4 km hike, I was not thrilled cause I was sooo tired and hurting feet and HOT.  But he said it was for a good bird but would not tell us what it was.  As we got going my mood improved because moving was betting than just standing.  We kept going and started on some switchbacks up when it started raining, we also go a quick glance at some Crested Guans, I was able to see the read on its throat, I did not realize how big of a bird it was.  By the time we got where we wanted to be it was pouring Josue set up his scope and we briefly saw a Black-and-white Owl.  We got our rain jackets out and stood waiting for the rain to pass, probably for a half hour?  Eventually we got one more look and headed back down in the rain, by the time we got back to the entrance it was starting to clear.  We did not get back until after dark again, still had no idea what Hotel Bambu looked like besides the dining room and our room! eBird Checklist – 7 Nov 2024 – RNP Los Tarrales – 34 species

Day 3

We woke up even earlier today to get to the trail head for Volcan Atitlan at 4:30 AM.  It was a super clear and I managed to get a great picture of a little Milky Way.  We started at a decent pace up the trail and I was already worried about not making it.  The trail was pretty braided, rutted, worn and steep.  Pretty quickly Josue heard a Fulvous Owl call and we stopped and he called them and we had 3-4 surrounding us in no time.  I feel awful but I forget the other guides name that was with us, Josue said he specializes in specific species.  He also spoke no English, but with birding pointing and waving at birds is a universal “look over there” language. 

We kept going and at a fast pace for me of course as we were hiking my head did the “Why am I doing this?” “I can’t do this” “He’s going to turn us around because I’m too slow” “how and I going to hike climb Fuego?” Of course, I ended up being just fine and it started getting light out so we stopped for birds here and there.  Josue called a Highland Guan, I saw it flopping around somewhere in the distance and Ross ended up getting a great look.  Nighttime list eBird Checklist – 8 Nov 2024 – Mirador Rey Tepepul–sitio de observación de Black-crested Coquette – 5 species

Back to the steep ass hiking.  The Brown-backed Solitaire had the most amazing song, it reminded me of the Varied Thrush with the metallic sounding noise.  We had a great look at a Golden-browed Warbler, love warblers.  I really wish that it was lighter out for photos.  Eventually we got where we needed to go and it got cold when we stopped.  We left the main trail and followed some little goat trails, we were at about 8,500’ elevation.  The first look at the Horned Guan was amazing, what a freak of a bird!  We were all able to get a couple not so great photos.  We ended up going up and around so we could look down at the area where they have been.  They apparently like eating the fruit that are on the trees in the area.  Eventually we found a spot where a Guan was just posing (a little too far away for a great photo, but you can tell what it is!)

After a while we headed back towards the main trail, there is a tree that Josue and the other guide had seen the Resplendent Quetzal in the last week or so.  We ate our lunch listening for a half hour or so but nothing.  We decided to get heading back down the trail, we still have a good shot at seeing a Wine-throated Hummingbird.  As we were walking Josue whipped out his scope and put it on a Mountain Trogon, I was able to get a bad picture before it flew.  At this point, my feet are done, not to mention my poor overstimulated brain.  Of course, when I decided to just be done Josue hears the Quetzal and we hike ourselves back up to the tree.  Both Ross and Josue were looking one direction for about ten minutes and I have a feeling I should look in the opposite direction, and I got it. Just the back of this amazing bird, unmistakable bright green.  I am jumping and hitting Ross…. Anyways, Josue got us around to the other side so we could see the front, we all spent 20-30 minutes trying to get the best pictures we could.

On the way down we did get great looks at the Wine-throated Hummingbird, there were two that were just posing in an area that the other guide had scoped out before.  By this time my feet are so done.  We got back to the car it was the best!  It was sad saying bye to Josue, it was such a memorable experience for us, I hope that he felt the same too! But I do have to remember that it what he does every day with probably way more exciting people.  There is so much more I can say about these bird days, I will hopefully get better articulating the experiences.  I think I also need to work on notes or getting more down in writing earlier. eBird Checklist – 8 Nov 2024 – Mirador Rey Tepepul–sitio de observación de Black-crested Coquette – 28 species

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