Resplendent Quetzal

Content by Frances Cerbins
Photo Credits: John Cahill, Greg Flurry and Lane Foster Harrell

In January five Travis Audubon members: Sylvia Crixel, Greg Flurry, Lane Foster Harrell, Nancy Radding and Frances Cerbins, returned from a fabulous birding trip to Guatemala – twelve rewarding days of amazing birds, great food, wonderful lodges, and extensive discussions about the history, culture, conservation efforts and people of Guatemala.  The trip was arranged by Jean Warneke of JB Journeys and sponsored by Travis Audubon. JB Journeys donated some of the proceeds from the trip to Travis Audubon and to the Community for Cloud Forest Conservation in Guatemala for reforestation at their center in Guatemala.  The Center had been farmland before the Cahills acquired it, and they are making progress in the land’s reforestation. The tour group presented the Cahills with a plaque noting the donation and it now stands on an acre plot that is being reforested, joining the plaques from previous trips.

Our wonderful guide, John Cahill, is the top ebird lister in Guatemala and seemed to know everyone along the way. Our trip bird count of 338 including the resplendent quetzal, golden cheeked warbler on its wintering grounds and my favorite pink-headed warbler. Too many to list!

Golden-cheeked Warbler

Pink-headed Warbler

Besides birding, a highlight of the trip was our stay at the Center of the Community Cloud Forest Conservation (CCFC) managed by John’s parents, Tara and Rob Cahill.  They work protecting the Golden-cheeked warbler habitat in its wintering grounds, and they run conservation camps for school children all over the region throughout the year. They train young women at the Center focusing on education and conservation preparing them for future studies and employment. Please read about CCFC at the link.

We started out tour in Antigua, the earlier capital of Guatemala, with three nights at a beautiful garden lodge surrounded by several Antigua volcanoes including one active one. We had a historical tour of the city between birding adventures. We left Antigua for the drive to Granados in the Motagua Valley for two nights at cabins near a Quetzal sanctuary, Ranchitos del Quetzal. The developer of the sanctuary had planted fruit trees around the entrance where quetzals eat early in the morning so they were very visible.  We spent the next three nights at the CCFC Center near Coban.  One night included a long drive up a mountain to catch a look a bearded screech-owl! The next day we drove to Peten for two nights in the Tikal National Park with visits to the Mayan Ruins and the abandoned airstrip. Our final destination was  El Remate on the shore of Lake Peten Itza for our last night in Guatemala. The hotel was owned by an old friend of John’s and we enjoyed a farewell dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant owned by another old friend. John seems to know everyone in Guatemala.

Bearded Screech-Owl

Mayan Ruins in Tikal

The next day we drove to Flores for our flight to Guatemala City and our flights home. Really great trip!