By L

Story from the first National Big Day birding activity

A young man named John Cahill started a Facebook group to share his passion for bird observation. This was the first known bird enthusiast observation group in the country. Ti and active friends joined. Other enthusiasm was in the group.

We share pictures, stories, moments, articles, protocols, discussions, etcetera, and in this labor was shared the Cornell Big Day 2012, where they tried to break the US bird observation record in one day as a fundraising event.

Organizing a Guatemalan Big Day using the same rules and methods was a generally spontaneous idea. Casually, precisely one year after the Cornell attempt, it would soon be accomplished, and even more, the Cornell team would repeat the attempt on the same date. We decided to organize the event on the same day as a tribute.

Two teams: “Aves Negras” (Black Birds) covering the Caribbean lowlands and “Guatemala” covering the Pacific lowlands were integrated.

I am going to tell you the story of the Black Birds team, which I was integrated into with John Cahill, a young enthusiast and solid bird observation activist—just 17 years old—one of the national experts; Bianca Bossareyes, a biologist and activist for bird study using ringing methods; and Carlos Aguilar, an architect from the Guatemalan highlands and an explorer of culture and national biodiversity.

We did not prepare much but discussed some general aspects of the itinerary and organized the logistics. For our fortune, Martsam Travel, whose owners promote the local culture, nature observation, and professional birdwatching activity, provided us with terrestrial and aquatic transportation.

We arrived at Tikal National Park at 21:00 and went to the camping area, where John awaited us. We parked and started to wear our birding equipment when the guards indicated that it was forbidden to stay in public places outside the camping area after 18:00. We decided to go to the camping area before starting.

On John’s recommendation, we decided not to exert too much physical effort immediately after midnight. So, we lay and listened in the camping area.

Suddenly, at 00:20, we started listening (1 to 5). It seemed like a perfect start.

We moved to the parking lot but were alerted by the guards to return to the camping area. (We added 6 to 9). We waited for the guards to alert us and escaped to the abandoned plane landing area.

I worked for years in Tikal, and walking at night was never a problem looking for nature. Johns was watching birds ten times last year without a problem. So we are supposed not to ask for any special permit. Next time, we will arrange all the special permits, but on this occasion, we do not have any more choices. The guards finally fund us and take us back to the camping area.

We waited a moment and moved to the visitor center, trying to avoid the guards to watch birds at the marsh. While we were discussing any stupid issues with the guards trying to distract them, John ran to the marsh looking for the Boat-billed heron. It was a long night for the poor guards, who were unprepared to follow orders and make decisions.

Tikal is a world destination for birdwatchers, so the managers should be prepared to lead this activity in all their ways. For us, it was a little funny, but surely it could be a terrifying moment for international visitors to be alerted by armed solid people to be “under siege.”

At 4:00, we were back to the camping area when we listened to Spectacled Owl. For me, it was the best moment. I am not expressive, and nobody noted, but I was internally celebrating a lot (11 to 14 before 5:00 am).

With negotiation from a friend and local guide (very well known in the area as “la zorra,” we thank him a lot), we moved to the visitor marsh at 5:00 (and watched 15 to 26)

We moved finally to the abandoned plane landing area and watched 27 to 63.

I asked for the time, and it was 6:20 am when we reached the famous crocodile marsh.

A raptor was waiting for us at the top of a dry tree, a Bicolored hawk. (around the marsh 65 and 66) Blue Ground-dove. We surround the marsh when the hawk comes down, and we can taste and enjoy him quietly.

I got into the forest to confirm a gnatcatcher when a plumbeous kite atop a dry treeest of the group watched it decided to go back to the campsite appeared. The r area, the marsh. We d and we saw 68 to 87.

It was 8:20, and we had about 80 species. We had 20 minutes to have breakfast.

It was 8:40, and we were ready to continue. We returned to the marsh, but now it was daylight (88 to 112). We saw the visitor caring for birds on the way to the central plaza (113 to 122).

We ran to Temple IV top and added Orange-breasted Falcon (123 to 129).

It was about 11:00, and we were delayed. We went to the camping area, took our stuff, and then drove to El Remate and around Flores Island from 129 to 147.

We moved to the bridge on the western side of Peten Itza Lake, but it was disappointingly empty at about 14:00. On Park and the road to Laguna Weel Tigre Nati, we saw 148 to 165.

In a hurry, somewhere, I turned out in the wrong way, and we lost a lot of time going back to the right road. Then, in the worst scenario, we have a flat tire. The car jack doesn’t work well, and we must improvise with rocks.

We lost a lot of time, and it was about 16:00 hours. We still had to run to Paso Caballos Village and take a San Pedro Riverboat. We knew we had lost all the birding in La Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas and El Perú, and many waterfowl and raptors were out of our checklists.

We found a Pinnated Bittern on the bridges to Paso Caballos (166). It is always great to watch this bird’s mimetic attitude. I enjoyed this moment a lot.

We took the boat at about 18:15. The stress of the mechanical troubles, the delay, losing the way, and the riding made us feel too tired. We rode the boat for a couple hours and decided to return because we had planned the birdwatching at Laguna del Tigre and, later, the nocturnal ride in the river to finish the day. At that moment, it did not make sense to be in the river at night for so many hours. We left the boat at about 21:00, and we already had to make the car drive back to Santa Elena.

John left the boat and heard a Boat-billed Heron so close to us (167).

We still spent some time on bridges looking for birds. Finally, we were at the hotel 20 minutes before midnight. We were too tired, and everybody went to their room. Jhon still took the time to make the last count: 167 birds. Have a great day!!! The greatest!!!

Conclusions and recommendations

The birding culture is not so profoundly inserted into Guatemalan people’s culture the way it is in England and the United States. So this kind of activity is not typical for us. As a biologist, the birds are generally more study objectives than fun. We usually focus on some species or species, and the number accumulated does not matter.

We had an advantage: John Cahill comes from a family that encourages its members to explore this activity deeply, as well as the Guatemalan local language, biodiversity, and culture. So, he was our tool to show us how to combine the methods and has excellent experience identifying birds in these places.

Birdwatching is growing as a tourist business in Guatemala. The next time, I encourage the team to have some sponsors, not just because it is helpful, but because we need to involve more companies as an educational and industrial activity. Our sponsor, Martsam Travel, is the national leader in the birdwatching market, and its project, Birdwatching Guatemala, promotes national biodiversity.

At the end of the trip, we concluded that having a designated driver who does not watch birds but uses their energy for driving is essential.

Writing an essay under the same circumstances is definitely necessary. Since we plan to repeat this activity, this was our essay, and we can improve our planning for the next attempt. Deep knowledge of your car and team is essential in unexpected events. It is always important to alert all authorities to avoid unexpected troubles.

Scouting is not a good idea. If you see something extraordinary, you always expect to see it again, but it does not appear, and you feel frustrated. Random situations are target days, but sometimes, it is one of the exciting parts of birdwatching.

Let’s see some numbers: Sapsuckers from Cornell lab watched 294 species this year, and in 2012, they saw 264, including all the possible stock of bird populations. We registered 167 species because of problems without counting with a good stock of migratory species. Next time, we will try to make the same, including all possible migratory species, maybe in October. The national record is a little more than two hundred. I think it is straightforward to beat with the right conditions. This data just justifies the potential of the birding market in our country.

It was exciting, and I am sure the entire group thinks the same: “We do not find the moment to do it again.”