Day 10 - Los Cuchumatanes

After a very early cup of coffee in the hotel lobby, we left Huehuetenango towards the Cuchumatanes plateau. Driving up to an elevation of over 10,000 ft, we arrived at Esteban’s house in good time, even though we had to deal with complicated detours due to construction sites in Chiantla. We picked up Esteban, and drove up to our favorite Goldman’s Warbler spot. As we arrived, the sun came over the mountain and flooded the unique habitat in beautiful light. With a cup of coffee in hand, we enjoyed our first looks at the unique Goldman’s Warbler, that couldn’t look any different from the other Yellow-rumped Warblers. Also we got to enjoy world class views of a male Olive Warbler, Guatemalan Flickers and two very cooperative Eastern Meadowlarks. After spending some time in this beautiful area, we drove on to search for the most difficult species of the day. The Ocellated Quail! At just above 12,000 ft of elevation, we made a stop and had a listen for the male’s whistling call. Just behind us, and only a short distance away we heard the promising call and excitement quickly rose. Esteban had the brilliant idea to get inside the vehicle and use it as a hide. We slowly drove up to the field we heard the call from and started scanning the edges. Only minutes later, the Quail hopped up on a rock and started singing from across the field. We enjoyed absolutely marvelous looks. But that was only the beginning of the show! After some time, the Quail started to move across the field and with several stops (amazing photo ops) he came within a couple of feet of our bus. What an incredible show! Excited and grateful for such an amazing sighting we returned to Chiabal, Esteban’s town, to bird his home patch. Walking through the many beautiful agaves (Agave hurteri) we enjoyed and added several new species like Broad-tailed Hummingbirds and Scott’s Oriole to our list. With wonderful experiences lived, we said good bye to Esteban and took off towards El Amparito for lunch. Afterwards we returned to Huehuetenango and rearranged our luggage for tomorrow’s travel day. Yet again a wonderful day with memories made to last a long time!Læs mere