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| Atitlán Volcano |
December 4, 2021. Day 4 of our trip we were headed away from the coast and up to Lake Atitlán in the highlands. But first, a stop at a beautiful private farm where the owners have set aside a considerable amount of native forest for the protection of endangered Yellow-naped Parrots. Finca la Gracia is a working farm with livestock and rubber trees, among other pursuits, but all of their activities are managed with bird habitat in mind. Surrounded by a sea of intensive farming where little consideration is given to habitat, Finca la Gracia is an island of native habitat for all forms of flora and fauna. We were up at 3:30 am for our drive to the farm and a sunrise arrival. Quickly after getting out of the car we were escorted by our lovely hosts Greta and Heidi up a hillside overlooking the farm. Here we watched the morning flyout of several parrot and parakeet species, and watched the sun rise on the surrounding volcanos. It was magical. We continued afterwards to do a wonderful 3 mile walk through the farm and saw many excellent birds. All of this was finished with a terrific lunch with great conversation. Thank you Greta and Heidi!
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| Acatenango and Fuego Volcanos |
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| Endangered Yellow-naped Parrots |
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| Guide John with our wonderful hosts Greta and Heidi |
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| Worker collecting rubber from the rubber trees |
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| Bronzed Cowbird on a cow |
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| Painted Bunting |
The rest of the day was spent traveling to Lake Atitlan where we arrived with just enough time for a quick evening birding trip to the lakeside. It was early to bed after an early morning, we would need our strength for the next morning's activities...
eBird List for Sendero de Aves - IMAP
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| Lake Atitlan |
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| Sunset on the nearby volcanos |
December 5, 2021. This was the day for our first attempt at Horned Guan. Horned Guan is endangered, and the only species in the monotypic genus Oreophasis. It's not even truly a guan but resembles others in the guan family. It lives high on the humid rainforest slopes of volcanos from Chiapas Mexico to Guatemala. Because of the small numbers and difficult habitat access, it is one of the more difficult birds to see.
We were up again well before dawn. We met up with expert local guide Cruz and his young son Erik for the steep trek up a volcanic mountainside. And I think this hike qualified as steep - gaining 2000 feet in elevation in 1.5 miles. At just below 9000 feet elevation, Cruz stopped us on the trail as he went out into the forest. He called us over a few minutes later to a location where he had found a bird high in a tree feeding on fruit. The local guides keep a very close watch on the movements of these birds, and lucky for us this guan was in the same area where Cruz had seen it recently. We spent quite a while watching the guan as it fed and rested in the tree. Given the stories I've heard of the difficulty most birders have seeing this species, we were pretty lucky.
eBird list for Horned Guan hike
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| The sun rises behind a nearby volcano |
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| Heading up the trail |
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| We pass by a White-eared Hummingbird nest |
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| Looking down at the valley below |
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| Horned Guan habitat |
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| Susan looks through the scope as John gets some photos |
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| Horned Guan |
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| Lake Atitlán below |
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| From near the trailhead, the mountainside we climbed for the guan |
We had a special treat in the early afternoon when Cruz took us on a guided cultural tour of the town. Very fun!
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| Susan tries on some traditional clothing |
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| Santiago Atitlán |
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| Cruz gives us a history lesson at Peace Park while Sunshine translates |
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| Peace Park |
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| Colonial Church founded in 1547 |
June 6, 2021. The following morning, Cruz led us on a ridge walk near town with great views and lots of birds. Following this outing it was time for us to leave for the long drive through Guatemala City and on down to the thorn forest. A special thanks to Cruz and his son Erik for taking such good care of us at Lake Atitlán!
eBird list Sendero Chumíl
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| Sunrise from Sendero Chumil |
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| Lake Atitlán below |
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| Checking out the sunrise |
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| Lake Atitlán |
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| Susan's little egg and avocado breakfast sandwich |
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| Lake Atitlán |
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| Guatemalan (Northern) Pygmy-Owl |
That will do it for this installment. Next up, the high mountains of Sierra de las Minas!
Don and I are having so much fun reading your blog!!! What an incredible trip, and just love your commentary and pictures!
ReplyDeleteYou were indeed lucky! We did that horrible "hike" (scramble?) for the Guan in 2005, & missed it! 10 Years later we went back & had 3 in a new area that our guide took us to, that was a mere 15 minute walk through a farmer's potato field! It overlooked a ravine, & after 90 minutes we finally saw one, then 2 more came in.
ReplyDeleteMy similar story is looking for endangered Corn Crakes at one of their last refuges on a tiny Irish island. The first time to visit, we only heard them at night in a tiny patch of marsh grasses. The third visit, they had had a good season and were walking across a narrow road in the middle of the day!!, foraging in a farmer's backyard and being generally "everywhere". That was fun.
DeleteTerri
Really nice part of your trip. Susan - you should have brought home the pretty clothes you had on!
ReplyDelete