Sabes Aves
New member
El Ocote Biosphere Reserve. It was a cool morning but it was only a matter of time before the inevitable heat of the tropical rainforest would start to pick up. It is a tough hike uphill to get to the Nava's wren site but also thrilling to hike through an untouched jungle. You never know what you might encounter.
The night before Juan, a local and a good friend, told me stories of jaguars, archeological sites and supernatural experiences in the mountains we where about to visit.
"Be carefull..." said Juan before we took on this adventure, "...there are a lot of vipers up there".
Just at daybreak Sergio (a good friend of mine and colleague), Fili (a researcher and wildlife photographer) Adrian, our local guide, and I (Valente) started walking. The first section is relatively flat and we could set a high pace. The morning chorus was on full-on mode at the canopy. We heard many species but we could no see much because the trees tower more than 30 metres above. We then reached the area that burned during the tremendous wildfire of 1998, (an event were thousands of hectares of pristine jungle were lost in Chiapas due to extreme drought); even though that was a long time ago the vegetation is recovering slowly, there are no tall trees, mostly very thick vegetation were you have to bend of sometimes crouch to pass through some reeds and bamboo. At this point the inclination of the terrain increases drastically and we really started to sweat. Climbing and climbing, sometimes stopping to catch our breaths and to drink water. The upper half of the slope became more challenging because the karstic rockbed is more rugged and pointy; here is where we needed to put closer attention to where we placed our feet and hands because a viper can be in any crevice.
Throughout the hike we saw some cool birds such as the bar-winged oriole, foliage-gleaners (scaly and fawn-throated), long tailed manakins. Close by some spotted wood-quail called.
We stopped to have breakfast at a point where the vegetation is low and we could see how much we climbed in altitude. We could see far away. To the south-west the areas that are not protected, completely deforested for cattle, to supply the meat consumption of the urban world. But looking at north-west an untouched forest as far as the eye can see. I wonder for how long we will allow that to exist.
We continued climbing, but we knew that we were getting close. The karstic rock becomes evermore rugged, the trees are taller and the climate is much more humid and cooler. Here you really feel far away from the human world. We reached the top of the mountains although now and then we have to make our way through complicated limestone formations and rock alleys. It has an eerie atmosphere, as if the forest is whispering to you with its cold breath. And the all of a sudden... we heard the first song and the first Nava's wren popped out from the rocks singing as if we where in his amphitheatre. We were standing in an open space surrounded by rocks and shaded by the tall canopy. Such a magical setting.
Surely, some prefer to just step out of the car, turn the volume of their massive loudspeaker to the max and lure this vulnerable species to add one check mark on their list. But the effort of the hike, the magical setting of where we stood in that moment, really perceiving the ecosystem and the reward of being delighted with their song in the wild has no comparison. At that moment we felt peace.
Fili decided to stay there and try to make a good photograph of the wren. Sergio, the guide ventured a bit further. At that point there is no trail, its just exploring. We where entertained by flock of birds composed by understory forest dwellers like fawn-throated foliage-gleaner, ochre-bellied flycatcher, northern bentbill, yellow-olive flatbill, yellow-bellied tyrannulet, white-breasted wood-wren.
On our way back we encountered a troop of spider monkeys who were not happy with us invading their territory. We moved fast to not stress them out although they did chase us a bit, intimidating with shaking branches close so us. The way back went quite easy with a very pleasant surprise, a nightingale wren singing and briefly revealing himself to us.
We got back to the lodge, with a nice local meal waiting for us and the prospective of a long peaceful evening to rest and, of course, to observe birds.
Till next time!
Eric and Valente (birding guides for Sabes Aves in Chiapas, Mexico)
The night before Juan, a local and a good friend, told me stories of jaguars, archeological sites and supernatural experiences in the mountains we where about to visit.
"Be carefull..." said Juan before we took on this adventure, "...there are a lot of vipers up there".
Just at daybreak Sergio (a good friend of mine and colleague), Fili (a researcher and wildlife photographer) Adrian, our local guide, and I (Valente) started walking. The first section is relatively flat and we could set a high pace. The morning chorus was on full-on mode at the canopy. We heard many species but we could no see much because the trees tower more than 30 metres above. We then reached the area that burned during the tremendous wildfire of 1998, (an event were thousands of hectares of pristine jungle were lost in Chiapas due to extreme drought); even though that was a long time ago the vegetation is recovering slowly, there are no tall trees, mostly very thick vegetation were you have to bend of sometimes crouch to pass through some reeds and bamboo. At this point the inclination of the terrain increases drastically and we really started to sweat. Climbing and climbing, sometimes stopping to catch our breaths and to drink water. The upper half of the slope became more challenging because the karstic rockbed is more rugged and pointy; here is where we needed to put closer attention to where we placed our feet and hands because a viper can be in any crevice.
Throughout the hike we saw some cool birds such as the bar-winged oriole, foliage-gleaners (scaly and fawn-throated), long tailed manakins. Close by some spotted wood-quail called.
We stopped to have breakfast at a point where the vegetation is low and we could see how much we climbed in altitude. We could see far away. To the south-west the areas that are not protected, completely deforested for cattle, to supply the meat consumption of the urban world. But looking at north-west an untouched forest as far as the eye can see. I wonder for how long we will allow that to exist.
We continued climbing, but we knew that we were getting close. The karstic rock becomes evermore rugged, the trees are taller and the climate is much more humid and cooler. Here you really feel far away from the human world. We reached the top of the mountains although now and then we have to make our way through complicated limestone formations and rock alleys. It has an eerie atmosphere, as if the forest is whispering to you with its cold breath. And the all of a sudden... we heard the first song and the first Nava's wren popped out from the rocks singing as if we where in his amphitheatre. We were standing in an open space surrounded by rocks and shaded by the tall canopy. Such a magical setting.
Surely, some prefer to just step out of the car, turn the volume of their massive loudspeaker to the max and lure this vulnerable species to add one check mark on their list. But the effort of the hike, the magical setting of where we stood in that moment, really perceiving the ecosystem and the reward of being delighted with their song in the wild has no comparison. At that moment we felt peace.
Fili decided to stay there and try to make a good photograph of the wren. Sergio, the guide ventured a bit further. At that point there is no trail, its just exploring. We where entertained by flock of birds composed by understory forest dwellers like fawn-throated foliage-gleaner, ochre-bellied flycatcher, northern bentbill, yellow-olive flatbill, yellow-bellied tyrannulet, white-breasted wood-wren.
On our way back we encountered a troop of spider monkeys who were not happy with us invading their territory. We moved fast to not stress them out although they did chase us a bit, intimidating with shaking branches close so us. The way back went quite easy with a very pleasant surprise, a nightingale wren singing and briefly revealing himself to us.
We got back to the lodge, with a nice local meal waiting for us and the prospective of a long peaceful evening to rest and, of course, to observe birds.
Till next time!
Eric and Valente (birding guides for Sabes Aves in Chiapas, Mexico)
