Explorations of an Ecologist: Guatemala 2019, Part 2 : Thorn forest in the Motagua Valley

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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January 18, 2019

Most of the day was spent in transit, beginning in Etobicoke, Ontario. Dan's parents, Garth and Nancy, graciously drove us to the airport early in the morning and allowed me to park my vehicle in their driveway for the entire trip. Thanks guys! Everything in Toronto went smoothly, as did our time in Mexico City where we had a brief layover prior to our flight to Guatemala City. As the sun began to set in the sky, volcanoes surrounding Guatemala City appeared on the horizon before we touched down.

Descent into Guatemala City

Everything at the airport went as well as possible and we soon picked up the rental vehicle. At the time we had booked an SUV with four wheel drive, but Enterprise for some reason did not have one available. They were willing to upgrade us to a pickup, a Toyota Hilux, instead. The only problem was that the Hilux was a manual transmission which meant that only I could drive it. Having a pickup with high clearance and 4WD ended up being fortuitous as there were several instances during our trip where an SUV would not have cut it! It all worked out in the end.

That evening we braved the rush-hour traffic in Guatemala City, eventually heading north towards the Motagua Valley. We made a couple of stops along the way to buy some supplies, while we also had to deal with an issue with the truck. We had no headlights. On further inspection, someone had unplugged the power supply to the headlights, which Dan noticed and was able to fix. It was close to midnight when we finally checked into our hotel (Hotel Pasabien in Rio Hondo) and we each crushed a couple of beers and went to bed, exhausted after a long day.

January 19, 2019

The Motagua Valley is surrounded by mountains on all side, receiving very little rainfall as a result. Due to the hot and dry conditions in the valley, an ecoregion called Motagua Valley thornscrub is found throughout. The Motagua Valley is one of the driest areas of Central America, receiving less than 500 mm of annual rainfall, which contrasts sharply with the surrounding mountainous areas. Acacias, Opuntia cacti and thorny shrubs dominate the landscape, while vastly different wildlife species compared to the surrounding mountains occupy the valley. A number of bird specialties are targeted by visiting birders to the valley; these include Russet-crowned Motmot, Buff-collared Nightjar, Yellow Grosbeak, White-lored Gnatcatcher, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo and others.

Motagua Valley - near Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

We were up well before dawn and were soon bouncing along on a dirt road to our destination of high quality thorn forest along the roadside. One of our first birds of the day was one of our main targets - a calling Buff-collared Nightjar around dawn. Upon exiting the vehicle we began to pick up on new sights and sounds. The first morning in a new area is always exciting, but a little daunting!

Barely an hour had passed and Dan and I had already seen many new birds, including a few gorgeous Yellow Grosbeaks. New species were around every bend - White-fronted Parrots here, then Altamira and Streak-backed Orioles over there, a few Bushy-crested Jays up the hillside, and a flock of Orange-fronted Parakeets streaking past overhead.

White-fronted Parrot - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

Yellow Grosbeak - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

Orange-fronted Parakeet - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

Rufous-naped Wren - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

A roadside Russet-crowned Motmot caused a lot of excitement for Dan and I as it was our most wanted bird species for the Motagua Valley. Even better was the fact that it sat still at eye level for a few minutes, allowing us to soak in its plumage details. Quite a few branches in the way made photography a challenge so we had to settle for "record shots".

Russet-crowned Motmot - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

Our first snake of the trip was unfortunately road-killed. It was a Central American Lyresnake, a common species throughout the valley.

Central American Lyresnake - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

We soon loaded back into the truck to drive a short distance to a new area. We had hoped to visit the Heloderma Reserve - an area set up to protect habitat for the Mexican Beaded Lizard - but were unable to arrange access ahead of time. Instead, we explored some roadside areas in good looking habitat.

south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

When researching Guatemala, many trip reports reference the company called Cayaya Birding, run by Knut Eiserman and Claudia Avendaño. Knut and Claudia are bird guides, but also assist birding groups in putting together itineraries, arranging transport and lodging, etc. I tried contacting Cayaya Birding numerous times in the weeks leading up to the trip, hoping that they could help arrange some aspects of the trip for us, but I never received a response. Fortunately we were able to sort almost everything out on our own, but if we were relying on Cayaya we would have been out of luck! One of the things which we hoped that Cayaya could organize for us was arranging permission to visit the Heloderma Reserve. Unfortunately we had to skip out on doing this, but we had a successful day in the Motagua Valley regardless.

Tezpi Dancer - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

Apart from birds, Dan and I always kept an eye out for any other critters. Above is a Tezpi Dancer, while below are a few butterflies from the genus Eunica.

Eunica sp. - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

We ventured on foot a ways up the road, finding new bird species periodically as we walked. Plain-capped Starthroat and White-lored Gnatcatcher provided good views, while a bit later a Canivet's Emerald landed on a twig right in front of us. A Nutting's Flycatcher appeared next, followed by a flock of Stripe-headed Sparrows in a nearby agricultural field. It was shaping up to be a productive morning!

Canivet's Emerald - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

A few more roadside butterflies were noted, including this Ceraunus Blue.

Ceraunus Blue - south of Cabanas, El Progreso, Guatemala

It was now late morning and the day was becoming quite warm. We had seen most of our targets, though Lesser Ground-Cuckoo remained unaccounted for. Dan had seen this species before, but I had not, and so we tried one more area on our way out of the valley, near the town of Morazan.

Again we struck out with Lesser Ground-Cuckoo but did find a few birds, including a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl by the river. Several lizards were scurrying in the undergrowth such as this Giant Whiptail, a specialist found in the Motagua Valley and a few other xeric regions in Mexico and Honduras.

Giant Whiptail - Morazán, El Progreso, Guatemala

It was close to noon when we left the hot, dry Motagua Valley behind. Our next destination would be the cool, lush mountains south of the Coban area. We were in for a big change of scenery, and resulting species!

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Monday 18 March 2019

Guatemala 2019, Part 2 : Thorn forest in the Motagua Valley

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