Guatemala

It was hard to know where to look in the yard at Los Andes. Red-billed Pigeons competed for our attention with Social Flycatchers, Yellow-winged Tanagers with Red-legged Honeycreepers. And then there were the boreal migrants: Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings–birds I don’t see often in the winter.
This Orchard Oriole perched up for a [...]

One of the great pleasures of birding Central America is the chance to see “our” birds at a different time of their lives. Orchard Orioles, for example, are considerably less humdrum when you’re watching them on a Guatemalan shade coffee plantation!

Can you age and sex this one? The photo was taken at Los Andes in [...]

Three generations have lived on and protected that portion of the Atitlan volcano that is now the Los Tarrales Reserve. I’d wanted to visit ever since I first met Andy three years ago; his commitment to this land and its preservation was impressive even in conversation, but just how deep it runs is immediately apparent [...]

Now there’s a subject line for you!

The walk up San Pedro isn’t a long one–we did just a bit less, I think, than 2 miles up and 2 miles down; but in its close approximation to the vertical, it turned out to be one of the more challenging birding walks I’d ever made. I found [...]

I’m an unabashed Guatemala fan. After three visits, the birding, splendid as it is, is almost incidental; when I think of Guatemala, the images that flood the mind are of people, architecture, landscapes, food–I’m quite simply fond of it all, and the birds are a wonderful bonus.
As fond a birder as I am, I am [...]