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Pool near Pico Bonito Lodge
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Honduran Emerald (Amazilia luciae)
Pico Bonito Lodge is a beautiful, modern lodge located in a beautiful spot in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. We read about it in an edition of Aububon magazine, and thought it offered an opportunity to combine some birding with a more relaxed vacation for Granny and Flo. Our friends the Cloudmans agreed to join us there.
On the first afternoon, the birding component, Jenny, Linda and I walked a short distance from the Lodge to the lovely pool shown at left. Along the way, we saw a Great Tinamou (Tinamus major), a bird usually only heard.
Several hummingbirds came to feeders around the lodge. We particularly liked a pair of White-necked Jacobins that seemed intent on nexting inside the dining area.
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Granny on the Train we took to the swamp
We took several expeditions from the Lodge:
- A long drive to the dry side of the mountain range, where we saw the only Honduran endemic, the Honduran Emerald (Amzailia luciae), a lovely hummer found only in desert thorn forest.
- Another day, we rode a small train to Cuero y Salado Refuge, a mangrove swamp, where we finally saw an Agami Heron (Agamia agami), a bird that eluded us on numerous visits to the Neotropics. We told some super-birder friends about our trouble seeing the bird, which we called a “jinx” bird. They informed us that is was too hard a bird to see to be a real jinx bird. We were happy to finally see one, lurking among the roots of the mangroves.
- A trip to the Lacitilla Botanical Gardens, where Linda managed to photograph a Nephila species spider along with some flowers.
Our local guide, Jorge, is a great example of how ecotourism can have an impact on the local population. He began working at the lodge as a manual laborer during the construction, but showed some aptitude for bird identification. After intensive study to learn English as well as all the birds of the area, and a short internship to practice English with tourists, he qualified as a guide. He is excellent at finding the birds and showing them to touring birders, though he still has gaps in his education, for example scientific names. He earns far more money doing this than he could make as a laborer. Now, he is saving for his children's education, hoping they can get a university education.
Although this was not primarily a birding trip, we still managed five lifers and some new birds for Central America while there.
See all the photos from the trip?
