Post Guan Sighting Syndrome

Horned Guan - Torrey

The great looks at the Horned Guan the day before softened our disappointment when the fog returned in the afternoon. We took a little siesta and around four we got in the car and drove to a place lower in the canyon where it might be less foggy.

We drove along the narrow mountain road high above a valley. The road was bordered on both sides by fields of lettuce, spinach, various plants from the cabbage family, and lots of onions. But these fields weren’t what you might imagine. They were not flat like the fields in the Central Valley of California nor were they the iconic terraced gardens that you might see in Asia or Peru. These fields were plastered onto steep mountain sides, in some cases so steep that they seemed to hang in the balance and just one degree steeper and they might fall over and cover you in produce. I was amazed that anyone could harvest or plant on a slope so steep. I’d be doing my best just to stand.The men dressed in jeans and tee shirts moved about shifting hoses that broadcast water down the hill one hundred and eighty degrees side to side. The women and girls, all dressed in traditional Guatemalan clothing, moved about as if rappelling across a rock face. Some had baskets balanced on their heads as they walked between the rows and they seemed to move as if the baskets were not even there. Looking closely I noticed they had a small cup shaped hat on their head which accommodated the basket perfectly and made it easier to balance their loads of produce.

We parked next to one such field and on the opposite side was a rare patch of forest, albeit somewhat disturbed. Here we struck a gold vein of birds. The first was a couple of Mountain Trogons who cooperated by coming in close to investigate the mimicked calls made by Josué and Torrey. Later we had the same success with a Ruddy Foliage-gleaner . There were a few hummers like Mexican Violetear and White-eared that patrolled the roadside flowers. But the real prize was the Blue-throated Motmot who came in very close. Unfortunately the light was not so great, but that’s the way it goes in the tropics. The day was capped off nicely by seeing several beautiful and rather shy Black-throated Jays.

We were at this place for at least an hour and a half and as the time passed the women working on the hill came down to the road and waited for their ride back to the village. As they waited they spoke in Mayan and kept looking at us and talking amongst themselves. We went about phishing and whistling at birds and snapping photos with our cameras. Of course I couldn’t help but wonder what they might be saying. Maybe it was nothing. Then again they must have been puzzled. Especially since this didn’t take place at a nature reserve or national park or even someplace with some scenic value. Probably made some good stories around the dinner tables that night.

Back at the lodge cafe we decided to celebrate our Horned Guan experience with a Central American drink called “The Michelada”. I’ve enjoyed these drinks in Costa Rica so I was looking forward to having one before dinner. However the Guatemalan version of a Michilada is very different from what I had in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica it was pretty simple, just beer with ice and lime in a salt rimmed chilled glass. Yummy on a hot day. But this wasn’t a hot day, in fact with was cold and damp, so that didn’t sound as good to me as it did in CR but I thought “what the heck we gotta celebrate”. The Guatemalan version was built for cold weather. It was beer with tomato juice, lime, and chili powder. I took one sip and knew it was not for me. Torrey drank about half of his and came to the same conclusion and Josué made short work of his. After he finished it he asked if I liked it and I politely said as my mom used to say when she didn’t like something but didn’t want to offend anyone, “well, it’s different”, and it was. After a while when he saw that I was obviously not going to finish he asked if I was going to drink any more of it and I said “nah, I’m kind of worried that it will upset my stomach” which was the truth. He asked if he could finish it and I said “sure”. And he proceed to make short work on it. When we got back to the room Torrey and I built a fire and revised our top ten list. Then we hit the hay because we are scheduled for a long day tomorrow. The plan is to get up in the morning and try for a couple of birds that we missed here and then hit the road for a four hour drive to the mountains they call the Cuchamantones. These mountains are near the border with Chiapas Mexico and are inhabited almost exclusively by indigenous people. This area was heavily impacted during the Guatemalan civil war that lasted from 1962 to 1996 and is thought to have killed 300,000 people, the vast majority of them indigenous people of Mayan descent.

We are going to meet an indigenous local guide who knows of a good spot to try for the very hard to see Central American endemic Unspotted Saw-whet Owl. Another bird we are going to try for in the Cuchumatanes ( coo - chew - maw - tahn - nez ) is the Goldman’s Warbler, which is a subspecies of the Yellow-rumped Warbler. When our Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler is sporting its finest duds, like in the late spring and early summer and is singing its “tuwee - tuwee - tuwee” song from a top a Western Hemlock in the early morning light, well sir/madam, my opinion is sort of Gomer Pyle like and I just want to say that it is just about the prettiest most beautiful wonderful and magnificent colorful amazingly handsome and most gorgeous super stunning warbler in the whole entire ding dong dog gone North America. And if I am lucky enough to get a good look at the Goldman’s I think that Gomer would have to throw in a few more superlatives. We’ll have to see about that. All photos that are not of birds are stock photos.

Gone Guan

March, 18, 2020 Gone Guan! Josué on the lookout for a Horned Guan.

Up early and the fog has disappeared! We’re hoping that this will be the day that brings us good luck and great looks at one of the most incredible birds in the world, the Horned Guan. Usually a long hike up a volcano or mountain is required to see this bird. Due to my car accident my ankle can’t take that kind of hike, so Josue suggested we try for it around the lodge. He has seen it from the lodge area before, so we are hoping to see one this morning. We started out by listening to the songs of the Brown-backed Solitaire reverberating from the walls of the canyon. Black-capped Swallows (lifer) patrolled the ravines in search of flying insects and six different species of hummingbirds fed off the flowers of a large tree. The six species were White-eared, Garnet-throated, Rivoli’s, Amethyst-throated and Green-throated Mountain-Gem, and Mexican Violetear. Pretty soon a mixed species flock came in, led by a couple of beautiful Elegant Euphonias. This species is high on my BTP list (Birds to Photograph) but today was much like every other time that I have seen them where they are high in the treetops, out in the open and in terrible light or low in the tree in great light but obscured by leaves and branches. We got some more good looks at Pink-headed Warbler and we even found the only Olive Warbler of the trip. Torrey on Guan Watch

But after about two hours of looking around the lodge we still hadn’t seen nor heard the Horned Guan. I wanted to see this bird so bad and I began to lose hope that we were going to see it. Truth be told, I didn’t even know about this amazing bird until I took a trip to Oaxaca with my friends Magnus and Rosie. They told me about their adventurous backpacking trip in Chiapas to see the Horned Guan. Ever since then it has been number one one my bucket target list. Horned Guans (Oreophasis derbianus) live in isolated populations in the highlands of Chiapas and on the highest slopes of the Guatemalan Volcanoes. Their entire range is estimated at 2,700 square miles which is about half the size of Lane County. They spend most of their life in the treetops eating the fruit of the Nectandra tree (Nectandra reticulata). It has been documented that the seeds of the tree are defecated intact and that the HOGU is vital to the reproduction of this important tree. This tree is used in the treatment of several clinical disorders in humans and is a vital food source of not only the HOGU but many other birds and mammals. Torrey and Josué decided to go up a steep trail and look for it. Josué told me that it would be too steep for me. So I decided to concentrate on photography. They set off up the trail and I set off down the canyon. I found some Unicolored Jays and a few Pink-headed Warblers and I was trying to move in on them to get a photograph when I heard someone urgently calling my name. I looked around and saw Josué waving his arms at me motioning for me to come quickly. I came as quickly as I could as I was at about 7,000 feet elevation and where I was hurrying was uphill. When I got to him he told me that he and Torrey had found the Horned Guan not too far up the trail. He thought that I might want to chance it, so he came back and got me. What a super guide! I followed him up the paved walkways of the lodge till we stepped off onto a poorly maintained trail. Josue found me a walking stick and I proceeded to limp up this trail. It was super steep, but in most places it had edges where you could get a pretty good purchase on the trail, good enough to stop what gravity would have liked to have seen happen. After about ten minutes of climbing I started to worry about coming down. To add to my nerves I couldn’t help but feel that when I got to the spot the guan would be gone, hence the title of this post, Gone Guan, you know, like the book and the movie, Gone Girl, it’s funny because it’s a play on words, sort of. We hiked on and on and up and up and I limped along only needing a hand from Josué a couple of times. Josué said “we’re almost there” and then I finally saw Torrey. I began to pick up the pace and when I reached him I was ready for him to say that the guan was gone. And either he’d be joking or he’d be serious, that was the only thing I doubted. But he didn't. He pointed up to the treetops and said “you made it pop and here’s your reward”. I looked up and was amazed to get such great looks at the guan feeding on fruit and not paying us any attention whatsoever. I could have kissed Josué for coming down all that way and then going back up with me. This was in every sense, a dream come true. Maybe the only bird to come close to this for me was the time I saw the Southern Cassowary. Or maybe when I saw the Victorian Riflebird displaying from a jungle perch, but that’s about it. Torrey and I always have a top ten list that we update each day of the trip. I turned to him and said “well I think the # one spot on the list has been decided, nothing I could see would knock the Horned Guan off the throne”. He agreed. Torrey after all had guan so well! (that's so bad)

And the star of the show. The Horned Guan! Speaking of which, the top ten for me at this point is as follows. Horned Guan Pink-headed Warbler Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird Ocellated Quail Azure-rumped Tanager Slender Sheartail Blue-and-White Mockingbird Sungrebe Fulvous Owl Rufous-and-White Wren Little did I know that in twenty-four hours this list would get totally blown apart. Stay tuned for that story.