Part 2: Thorn forest in the Motagua Valley (January 18-19, 2019)
Part 3: Los Rachitos del Quetzal (January 19-20, 2019)
Part 4: Sierra de Los Cuchumatanes (January 20-21, 2019)
Part 5: Reserva Natural Atitlán (January 21-22, 2019)
Part 6: Volcán San Pedro (January 23, 2019)
Part 7: Cerro Rostra Maya, Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 24, 2019)
Part 8: Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 25, 2019)
Part 9: Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 26-27, 2019)
Part 10: Parque Nacional Tikal (January 28, 2019)
Part 11: El Caoba former airstrip, Tikal former airstrip (January 29, 2019)
Part 12: Parque Nacional Tikal, Uaxactún (January 30, 2019)
Part 13: El Remate and Flores (January 31, 2019)
----------
January 26, 2019
Our second full at Los Tarrales Natural Reserve. Dan and I drove back up to Vesubio with one target on our minds: Azure-rumped Tanager. Given the state of the road I was a little leery of making the drive while it was still dark out so we waited until after breakfast to depart.
An empty building owned by the lodge was located in Vesubio. A bunch of bananas had been hung up in an attempt by the owner to attract Azure-rumped Tanagers, while some nearby planted Verbena attracted hummingbirds. We spent half an hour here and racked up a good list of species including this Blue-tailed Hummingbird, though no Azure-rumped Tanagers came in. Additionally, several fence lizards (Sceloporus sp.) skittered around an old rock wall near the building.
We walked up the road past the houses and towards the coffee plantation, with forest located a little bit further along. The edges of the coffee plantation just past the houses is where most birders luck out with the tanagers. We had only been here a few minutes when the telltale calls of several Azure-rumped Tanagers reached our ears from the treetops. We strained our eyes and changed positions several times, but try as we might we could not get a clear visual on any of the birds. By our estimation at least three birds were present. Eventually the tanagers left so we continued up the hillside, eager for other birds and perhaps another chance at the Azure-rumped Tanagers.
The morning was quite birdy and the day list quickly reached fifty species. The above Northern Emerald-Toucanet was fun to observe, while we also picked through a few mixed flocks that contained our first Bar-winged Orioles and Hooded Grosbeak. Awesome!
We finished walking up the steep incline through the coffee plantation and were soon inside the border of the forest. From here the trail continued up the side of the volcano, passing through excellent habitat for a wide variety of species including Horned Guan. The lodge organizes expeditions to search for Horned Guans in this forest, but it requires a 3 AM wakeup and a 100$ + fee. Dan and I were quite thankful that we had already scored our Horned Guan at Volcán San Pedro!
Guans remained out of sight and earshot and we soon returned back to the coffee plantation, hoping for a second chance with the Azure-rumped Tanagers. Unfortunately it was not to be and we cut our losses after another hour of trying. We hopped in the truck and navigated the deeply rutted path back to the lodge for lunch.
That afternoon I had a lie-down in the hammock, while Dan had a bit more energy and decided to head off on his own for a bit. Eventually I mustered up the energy to set off for the trails with an hour or two of sunlight remaining in the day.
This proved to be a good decision. My first Gray Hawk soared by with a big flock of White-collared Swifts, while I also heard my first Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge. Try as I might, I was unable to see it, however!
Dan also had a very successful walk with two highlights: a singing Spotted Wood-Quail, and a snake which he had caught! (The snake had also nailed him a few times, such that Dan received a few weird looks on his walk back, his hand covered in blood and carrying the snake).
The snake appeared to be a Drymobius, a genus of forest racers that includes the well known Speckled Racer. We were unsure as to the species, though the consensus seems to be that it is indeed a Speckled Racer. Apparently the subspecies here can be much duller than other races.
After dinner we set off for another night walk, to the same area that we had explored during our first evening. Given that we had found nine snakes that night we had high hopes once again.
A couple of these treefrogs in the genus Plectrohyla were on trail-side vegetation when we reached a stream where Dan had caught the Speckled Racer. I haven`t figured out their identification yet, past genus level.
Of course, the usual assortment of insects and arachnids made appearances. Spiders are incredibly easy to find at night, in part because they have very obvious eyeshine.
Once again we had a very snakey evening. While we could not top the nine snakes we had seen here two nights ago, we came away with a very solid seven! One of the highlights for me was discovering this Yellowbelly Snake and Small-spotted Cat-eyed Snake on the ground, only a few inches from each other. A nice one-two punch!
We found a second Yellowbelly Snake later, along with (what else) another Blunthead Tree Snake.
When crossing over a small stream Dan's flashlight picked up this Brown Basilisk, our only one of the trip.
Dan had a great find with this Red Coffee Snake on the trail. While apparently common throughout Central America, it was the first individual of this species that either of us had seen. Up to this point we were really hoping for a new species. We were getting perhaps a bit spoiled with all of the snakes we had found and were really hoping for something other than an Imantodes, Leptodeira, or Coniophanes - this Ninia did the trick.
January 27, 2019
Dan and I had one final morning at Los Tarrales Natural Reserve before having to drive back to Guatemala City for our internal flight to Flores, located in the north of the country. With not enough time for us to make another run up the mountain to Vesubio, we decided that we would explore some of the forests a little bit closer to the lodge instead.
We enjoyed a very birdy morning with numerous flocks to pick through, though our only new species was White-eared Ground-Sparrow (Dan had seen this species previously in Costa Rica). We figured that we had allotted just the perfect amount of time to Los Tarrales, since we had mostly run out of new species to find. If we were still picking up new things left right and center we would likely feel inclined to stay another night.
Soon, it was time to pack up and hit the road, with our next stop being the airport in Guatemala City. The steamy, lowland forests of Petén, and the Tikal archaeological site beckoned...
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Thorn forest in the Motagua Valley (January 18-19, 2019)
Part 3: Los Rachitos del Quetzal (January 19-20, 2019)
Part 4: Sierra de Los Cuchumatanes (January 20-21, 2019)
Part 5: Reserva Natural Atitlán (January 21-22, 2019)
Part 6: Volcán San Pedro (January 23, 2019)
Part 7: Cerro Rostra Maya, Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 24, 2019)
Part 8: Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 25, 2019)
Part 9: Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 26-27, 2019)
Part 10: Parque Nacional Tikal (January 28, 2019)
Part 11: El Caoba former airstrip, Tikal former airstrip (January 29, 2019)
Part 12: Parque Nacional Tikal, Uaxactún (January 30, 2019)
Part 13: El Remate and Flores (January 31, 2019)
An empty building owned by the lodge was located in Vesubio. A bunch of bananas had been hung up in an attempt by the owner to attract Azure-rumped Tanagers, while some nearby planted Verbena attracted hummingbirds. We spent half an hour here and racked up a good list of species including this Blue-tailed Hummingbird, though no Azure-rumped Tanagers came in. Additionally, several fence lizards (Sceloporus sp.) skittered around an old rock wall near the building.
 |
| Blue-tailed Hummingbird - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Fence lizard (Sceloporus) sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
We walked up the road past the houses and towards the coffee plantation, with forest located a little bit further along. The edges of the coffee plantation just past the houses is where most birders luck out with the tanagers. We had only been here a few minutes when the telltale calls of several Azure-rumped Tanagers reached our ears from the treetops. We strained our eyes and changed positions several times, but try as we might we could not get a clear visual on any of the birds. By our estimation at least three birds were present. Eventually the tanagers left so we continued up the hillside, eager for other birds and perhaps another chance at the Azure-rumped Tanagers.
 |
| Northern Emerald-Toucanet - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
The morning was quite birdy and the day list quickly reached fifty species. The above Northern Emerald-Toucanet was fun to observe, while we also picked through a few mixed flocks that contained our first Bar-winged Orioles and Hooded Grosbeak. Awesome!
We finished walking up the steep incline through the coffee plantation and were soon inside the border of the forest. From here the trail continued up the side of the volcano, passing through excellent habitat for a wide variety of species including Horned Guan. The lodge organizes expeditions to search for Horned Guans in this forest, but it requires a 3 AM wakeup and a 100$ + fee. Dan and I were quite thankful that we had already scored our Horned Guan at Volcán San Pedro!
Guans remained out of sight and earshot and we soon returned back to the coffee plantation, hoping for a second chance with the Azure-rumped Tanagers. Unfortunately it was not to be and we cut our losses after another hour of trying. We hopped in the truck and navigated the deeply rutted path back to the lodge for lunch.
 |
| Zebra Longwing - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Scrub Euphonia - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Tropical Kingbird - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
This proved to be a good decision. My first Gray Hawk soared by with a big flock of White-collared Swifts, while I also heard my first Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge. Try as I might, I was unable to see it, however!
 |
| Black-headed Saltator - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
Dan also had a very successful walk with two highlights: a singing Spotted Wood-Quail, and a snake which he had caught! (The snake had also nailed him a few times, such that Dan received a few weird looks on his walk back, his hand covered in blood and carrying the snake).
 |
| Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus occidentalis) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
The snake appeared to be a Drymobius, a genus of forest racers that includes the well known Speckled Racer. We were unsure as to the species, though the consensus seems to be that it is indeed a Speckled Racer. Apparently the subspecies here can be much duller than other races.
 |
| Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus occidentalis) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus occidentalis) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
After dinner we set off for another night walk, to the same area that we had explored during our first evening. Given that we had found nine snakes that night we had high hopes once again.
 |
| Unidentified mouse - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
A couple of these treefrogs in the genus Plectrohyla were on trail-side vegetation when we reached a stream where Dan had caught the Speckled Racer. I haven`t figured out their identification yet, past genus level.
 |
| Plectrohyla sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Plectrohyla sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
Of course, the usual assortment of insects and arachnids made appearances. Spiders are incredibly easy to find at night, in part because they have very obvious eyeshine.
 |
| Unidentified wandering spider - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Banana Spider (Cupiennius) sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Unidentified orbweaver - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Unidentified katydid - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Banana Spider (Cupiennius) sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Grass skipper sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Darkling Beetle (family Tenebrionidae) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
Once again we had a very snakey evening. While we could not top the nine snakes we had seen here two nights ago, we came away with a very solid seven! One of the highlights for me was discovering this Yellowbelly Snake and Small-spotted Cat-eyed Snake on the ground, only a few inches from each other. A nice one-two punch!
 |
| Yellowbelly Snake (Coniophanes fissidens) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Small-spotted Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira polysticta) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Small-spotted Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira polysticta) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Small-spotted Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira polysticta) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
We found a second Yellowbelly Snake later, along with (what else) another Blunthead Tree Snake.
 |
| Yellowbelly Snake (Coniophanes fissidens) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
When crossing over a small stream Dan's flashlight picked up this Brown Basilisk, our only one of the trip.
 |
| Brown Basilisk (Basiliscus vittatus) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
Dan had a great find with this Red Coffee Snake on the trail. While apparently common throughout Central America, it was the first individual of this species that either of us had seen. Up to this point we were really hoping for a new species. We were getting perhaps a bit spoiled with all of the snakes we had found and were really hoping for something other than an Imantodes, Leptodeira, or Coniophanes - this Ninia did the trick.
 |
| Red Coffee Snake (Ninia sebae) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
Cochroaches are prominently featured during night walks, and this Giant Cockroach (genus Archimandrita) sure lived up to its name!
 |
| Archimandrita sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Archimandrita sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
We finished the night off with one more Imantodes cenchoa, our seventh snake of the night and 19th snake during our time at Los Tarrales.
 |
| Blunthead Tree Snake (Imantodes cenchoa) - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
Dan and I had one final morning at Los Tarrales Natural Reserve before having to drive back to Guatemala City for our internal flight to Flores, located in the north of the country. With not enough time for us to make another run up the mountain to Vesubio, we decided that we would explore some of the forests a little bit closer to the lodge instead.
 |
| Anole (Anolis) sp. - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
We enjoyed a very birdy morning with numerous flocks to pick through, though our only new species was White-eared Ground-Sparrow (Dan had seen this species previously in Costa Rica). We figured that we had allotted just the perfect amount of time to Los Tarrales, since we had mostly run out of new species to find. If we were still picking up new things left right and center we would likely feel inclined to stay another night.
 |
| Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
 |
| Laothus barajo - Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala |
----------
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Thorn forest in the Motagua Valley (January 18-19, 2019)
Part 3: Los Rachitos del Quetzal (January 19-20, 2019)
Part 4: Sierra de Los Cuchumatanes (January 20-21, 2019)
Part 5: Reserva Natural Atitlán (January 21-22, 2019)
Part 6: Volcán San Pedro (January 23, 2019)
Part 7: Cerro Rostra Maya, Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 24, 2019)
Part 8: Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 25, 2019)
Part 9: Los Tarrales Natural Reserve (January 26-27, 2019)
Part 10: Parque Nacional Tikal (January 28, 2019)
Part 11: El Caoba former airstrip, Tikal former airstrip (January 29, 2019)
Part 12: Parque Nacional Tikal, Uaxactún (January 30, 2019)
Part 13: El Remate and Flores (January 31, 2019)
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