WE ARRIVED AT SAVEGRE LODGE WELL AFTER dark, due in part to the long drive over the 10,000 foot high Cerro de las Muertes, aka Mountain of the Dead. We stopped several times on the steep descent to the lodge to listen for nightjars and bare-shank screech owls without a sighting.
Red-headed Barbet
The best birding today was in the gardens surrounding our cabanas. Hummers, tanagers, woodpeckers, vireos, warblers and other photogenic species abounded. Birding was slow and difficult during our two-hour, mud-splattered squish in the forest. Around 4:30 I remarked that today was our first without rain. I spoke prematurely as the group unfurled umbrellas like a well-trained drill squad.
Spotted Woodquail
Connie added eight new species today including the spotted wood quail, one of her targets for the trip. Kevin and I stayed behind when the group moved on and we each got a good photo. While most of the 467 species we collectively saw were new to the Aussies, it surprised me how many were Norte Americano migrants that Connie and I had so recently seen. Still, Connie, who had hoped for 75 new species ended up with 140. A tribute, no doubt, to our guides. I know it would have been difficult if not impossible to see so many species without calling time in electronically but sometimes I think our guides overdid it.
View from the back of the line
After more than two weeks of 12+ hour days, of pre-dawn wake mornings and daily rain, here are some of my impressions. I was one of the three less obsessive birders and the only one without binoculars. I usually stood behind the group waiting for a chance for a photo, but still managed to get jostled, pushed aside or stepped in front of — usually by the same people. We measured private time in minutes, hot hours and our photos piled up, downloaded but un-edited. I have seen precious few on the computer screen which is the way I usually imprint y experience. Often I didn’t even know what species we were stalking (my fault) when the mumbled comments from the front of the line didn’t reach me.
