Hamhed
Well-known member
Day 9 - May 21st
Though it rained in the night, it was not raining by dawn. The ensuing fog and cloudy skies made for a dim morning, A $10 taxi ride arranged by Enrique got us up to the trailhead for the National Monument of Cerro Gaital at 8:45am where we paid the attendant another $10 for the two of us. We were the first of the day, he told us, so we anticipated surprising a flock of Black Guans or a covey of Wood Quails. The fog-shrouded dark forest didn't give us a lot to work with though; we did see some good mountain birds, like Silver-throated Tanagers and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finches. The trail led to a 8' tall, small, wooden platform where we stopped, completely enveloped in fog, straddling the crest of the volcanic rim. We weren't there long when a school group came up. It was quite a bit of shuffling with 10 of us either in the narrow trail or on the platform. Conversation began, a meeting-in-the-middle of two languages, and they quickly realized we were focused on birds. I tried some show and tell with my digital recorder, finding a White-breasted Wood Wren call, playing it and then showing the bird to them in my plates. One girl insisted she heard a reply so I played it a second time and sure enough, there was a bird coming in. They were excited then, so I continued playing the tape until the bird was 6 feet away but a master at hiding in the thick shrubbery so we all only got split second glimpses. At some point, I decided not to harass the bird further which they seemed to understand. Our birding skills somewhat frustrated, they began to leave, when coming up towards us out of the fog soared two Swallow-tailed Kites! The group came back alive, as we did; such distinctive and beautiful birds appearing so close overhead and in such an almost mystical manner. We pulled out the field guide, chattered on a few more minutes and parted company, smiles for all. Never mind the view that we never got - that experience was easily the highlight of the day.
So many flowers, especially orchids, that we got distracted from birding on the way down the circular trail. Near the trailhead was an open, bushy area around a small pond. The pond held nothing but there were quite a few hummingbirds, including one I'm hoping to be a Sapphire-throated Hummingbird (see picture attached). We saw many Green Hermits, or one who was many different places.
With the afternoon still ahead of us, we decided to walk back to town, a distance we figured to be 6-7 km and mostly downhill. Our walk led us through La Mesa, where we saw Grassquits but no hoped for Wedge-tailed Grass Finches, and past some chicken farms, the cackling noises lingering for some distance. Incidentally, we were able to hear them for much of the Cerro Gaital trail as well. Though there was a fair amount of open fields or pasture, only one cow was seen and very few houses. We sneaked a few steps into the Canopy Lodge entrance but it wasn't until after that, when we were closer to town, that we saw a Blue-throated Toucanet. It was a shame he was too shy for the camera, the light improved as the sun came out.
It took us the guesstimated 3 hours to end our walk at the Pananderia (we have not found much variety in baked goods in Central America and this place was no exception). We shopped a little at the open air market near the hotel before having some supper at the usual place. In the evening, you would think we would need to spend some time resting our feet in the hammocks on the patio, however, we walked the nearby neighborhoods, soaking up the tropical sights, sounds and smells as the sun set.
El Residencial:
Bananaquit
Blue and White Swallow
Cerro Gaital:
Smooth-billed Ani
Swallow-tailed Kite
Green Hermit
Silver-throated Tanager
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Chestnut-backed Antbird
Road to Town:
Common Bush-Tanager
Tawny-capped Euphonia
*Tawny-crested Tanager
Blue-throated Toucanet
Though it rained in the night, it was not raining by dawn. The ensuing fog and cloudy skies made for a dim morning, A $10 taxi ride arranged by Enrique got us up to the trailhead for the National Monument of Cerro Gaital at 8:45am where we paid the attendant another $10 for the two of us. We were the first of the day, he told us, so we anticipated surprising a flock of Black Guans or a covey of Wood Quails. The fog-shrouded dark forest didn't give us a lot to work with though; we did see some good mountain birds, like Silver-throated Tanagers and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finches. The trail led to a 8' tall, small, wooden platform where we stopped, completely enveloped in fog, straddling the crest of the volcanic rim. We weren't there long when a school group came up. It was quite a bit of shuffling with 10 of us either in the narrow trail or on the platform. Conversation began, a meeting-in-the-middle of two languages, and they quickly realized we were focused on birds. I tried some show and tell with my digital recorder, finding a White-breasted Wood Wren call, playing it and then showing the bird to them in my plates. One girl insisted she heard a reply so I played it a second time and sure enough, there was a bird coming in. They were excited then, so I continued playing the tape until the bird was 6 feet away but a master at hiding in the thick shrubbery so we all only got split second glimpses. At some point, I decided not to harass the bird further which they seemed to understand. Our birding skills somewhat frustrated, they began to leave, when coming up towards us out of the fog soared two Swallow-tailed Kites! The group came back alive, as we did; such distinctive and beautiful birds appearing so close overhead and in such an almost mystical manner. We pulled out the field guide, chattered on a few more minutes and parted company, smiles for all. Never mind the view that we never got - that experience was easily the highlight of the day.
So many flowers, especially orchids, that we got distracted from birding on the way down the circular trail. Near the trailhead was an open, bushy area around a small pond. The pond held nothing but there were quite a few hummingbirds, including one I'm hoping to be a Sapphire-throated Hummingbird (see picture attached). We saw many Green Hermits, or one who was many different places.
With the afternoon still ahead of us, we decided to walk back to town, a distance we figured to be 6-7 km and mostly downhill. Our walk led us through La Mesa, where we saw Grassquits but no hoped for Wedge-tailed Grass Finches, and past some chicken farms, the cackling noises lingering for some distance. Incidentally, we were able to hear them for much of the Cerro Gaital trail as well. Though there was a fair amount of open fields or pasture, only one cow was seen and very few houses. We sneaked a few steps into the Canopy Lodge entrance but it wasn't until after that, when we were closer to town, that we saw a Blue-throated Toucanet. It was a shame he was too shy for the camera, the light improved as the sun came out.
It took us the guesstimated 3 hours to end our walk at the Pananderia (we have not found much variety in baked goods in Central America and this place was no exception). We shopped a little at the open air market near the hotel before having some supper at the usual place. In the evening, you would think we would need to spend some time resting our feet in the hammocks on the patio, however, we walked the nearby neighborhoods, soaking up the tropical sights, sounds and smells as the sun set.
El Residencial:
Bananaquit
Blue and White Swallow
Cerro Gaital:
Smooth-billed Ani
Swallow-tailed Kite
Green Hermit
Silver-throated Tanager
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Chestnut-backed Antbird
Road to Town:
Common Bush-Tanager
Tawny-capped Euphonia
*Tawny-crested Tanager
Blue-throated Toucanet
