Honduras Birding, Day 6: A Full Day at Pico Bonito Lodge

We were happy to get a bonus day with our amazing birding guide, German. We stuck around the lodge and hiked around slippery trails. Hiking these trails were some of the hardest I’ve ever walked. Although the trails were well maintained, the rain, the steepness of some of the steps, and the slippery debris compounded with the humidity and mosquitoes was all quite taxing on me, especially when wearing 10+ lbs. of gear. But, despite all of that, it was so rewarding to be in this beautiful, lush place. 

Lobster Claw Heliconia Plant

Basilisk Lizard

And of course, we were also rewarded with all of the beautiful birds surrounding us. As we started walking up a trail we had trekked before, we picked up some familiar birds from our trip, like Turquoise-browed Motmot and a female Slaty-tailed Trogon. 

Turquoise-browed Motmot

 

Female Slaty-tailed Trogon

A lizard in the middle of shedding

Metalmark sp.

We also got some new birds, including Violet-headed hummingbird, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Short-billed Pigeon, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, and Wedge-billed Woodcreeper. How fun it is to walk the same trails just a few days ago yet pick up brand new birds. 

Wedge-billed Woodcreeper

Butterfly sp.

Some rad red bug

As we kept walking up the trail, German suddenly stopped in his tracks with a gasp. It was a Black-and-white Owl perched in the canopy just ahead of us. During our whole trip, German hadn’t been as surprised and delighted as he was with this bird, so we knew it was a good one! This was the first he had seen during the day, and he had only seen it at night once or twice before in the past few years. This was an absolute treat. This large owl could peer into your soul with those large black marbles for eyes. His bold black and white pattern was only broken up by the bright yellow-orange of his bill and feet. 

The piercing stare of the Black-and-white Owl

Black-and-white Owl

This was such a significant finding that German called up the general manager and told him about our finding and where to locate it, marking the ground with a heap of vegetation so that he would know where along the trail to stop. 

Black-and-white Owl

Crimson Passionflower with a funky leaf-footed bug underneath its left petals (see next pic)

Awesome leaf-footed bug - Anisoscelis sp.?

We made our way around the trail, but nothing topped that gorgeous Black-and-white owl. We go back to the lodge’s main lobby area and got one last treat before parting ways with German. He somehow spotted a tiny Boa Constrictor stealthily hiding amongst the branches hanging over the raised walkway from the main lobby to the restaurant. The boa had been known to perch there patiently waiting for a tasty little hummingbird to fly by. After snapping some photos of this lovely snake, we bittersweetly said goodbye to German before getting some much deserved lunch.

Female White-necked Jacobin - a potential meal for the Boa

Parting ways with our fantastic guide, German

After some lunch and a quick hammock nap, we head out to some easy, flat trails around the lodge on our own. Around the pool area, there were a pair of adult Collared Aracaris that we had seen hanging out, which we finally figured were a nesting pair. Just feet away from one of the adults in the trunk of a tree poked out a darling little head of a baby Collared Aracari, looking just as sweet and curious as can be with those baby blues. Along the trails, we spotted a Giant Cowbird hanging around, surely waiting around to leave an egg in an Oropedula nest. We were also able to get our best looks ever of the impressive Cocoa Woodcreeper. It’s kinda like a Brown Creeper on steroids crossed with a mid-sized woodpecker. 

Baby Collared Aracari

Giant Cowbird

Cocoa Woodcreeper

White Peacock butterfly

As we continued along the trail by the serpentarium, the sun delighted us with its presence, as well as another special treat. Here we had seen a pair of Gartered Trogons a few days before. They were keen on this spot as it housed a large wasp nest full of yummy grubs. This time it was just the male hanging around, but the lighting was much more favorable to really show off the bold and bright colors of this bird. We could see the shimmering iridescent green back the dark violet sheen of its head. 

Gartered Trogon

Gartered Trogon with what we think was a wasp larva

Not only was this trogon well-behaved and sat still just feet away from us, it put on quite an interesting display. He would leave his mouth agape (displaying his somewhat serrated bill), and move his head slowly 180 degrees while also slightly tilting his head in different directions and eyes wide open. It was so weird and so mesmerizing. He’d also do a little shimmy and make a little cackling sound every so often, too. We spent a good time photographing him and capturing videos of this oh-so-strange but delightful bird and his behavior.

We ended our day in one of our favorite spots – the tower that overlooked the valley of the rain forest. Here we got to see 200 magnificent White-collared Swifts swoop in front of the verdant hills in the dusky sky. These large swifts were a joy to watch sweeping across the sky with their long, slender wings. It was a brilliant way to end such a fabulous day.

White-collared Swift

White-Collared Swift

White-collared Swift swooping by at dusk

Honduras Birding, Day 4: Continued

After a couple of hours wandering around in Honduran dry forest, we were feeling pretty toasty. There's not a lot of shade under scrub and cacti, and the sun wasn't shy like it had been back at the lodge. As we were about to pile back into the van, exactly one sunburn later, we came across a scene striking enough for us to postpone the air conditioning just a minute longer. We all know woodpeckers can be feisty and territorial; I can't count the number of times I've seen a Pileated Woodpecker refuse to play nicely with a Red-bellied. Now we got to watch the Honduran analog play out, when this Lineated Woodpecker wouldn't dream of letting a Golden-fronted Woodpecker share his utility pole.

Lineated (top) and Golden-fronted (bottom) Woodpeckers

We made only one more stop before returning to Pico Bonito, and it wasn't for the birding. It was arranged that we would swing by a local's house for a home-cooked meal of fried chicken, pork, rice, tortillas, cheese, and fresh-squeezed pineapple juice -- everything made from scratch, and the chickens running around the yard was a testament to just how fresh it all was. What (non-poultry) birds there were had put their nesting abilities on display, with a Spot-breasted Oriole's pendulous chamber dangling away, and a Clay-colored Thrush making repeated trips to feed a hungry brood fully of fledglings.

Spot-breasted Oriole

Spot-breasted Oriole nest

Clay-colored Thrush

A small patch of yard, maybe 10' x 10', was incredibly rich was butterflies, and Maureen and I eagerly tried to chase them all down to try and keep from falling into a food coma. There was really good diversity of species, attracted to nothing more than grass blades and dandelions, including metalmarks, skippers, and blues.

Central American Checkered-skipper

Duskywing sp.

Metalmark sp.

And what's a little birding without… even more birding. Sure, we'd picked up a cool dozen lifers before lunch, but we weren't just going to rest on our laurels. Back at the lodge we kicked around the trails by ourselves for a couple of hours. We nabbed good looks at Groove-billed Anis, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Red-billed Pigeons, and more.

Groove-billed Ani

Red-billed Pigeon

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Chestnut-colored Woodpecker has been one of our target birds for the trip and we were seeing them practically every time we walked the path in front of the lodge's reception. Our guide German has assured us the first time we met him that it was "in the pocket" he was so sure we'd see one.

Chestnut-colored Woodpecker

The path leading up to the lodge's reception area was great for Chestnut-colored Woodpeckers

Macro shot of an (arrowhead?) orb weaver

I think it's fair to say this was another successful day, and we were in desperate need of a power nap. After all, there was plenty more exploring to do once the sun set. 

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Collared Aracari