Guatemala

Here is an assemblage of images from my recent trip to Guatemala. Nikon had hosted this trip to launch their new EDG binoculars. On this trip were many notables from the birding industry ranging from retailers like myself to product reviewers, tour leaders, and magazine editors. I was using the 7x42 EDG. They featured an amazing depth of field and field of view, accompanied by outstandingly crisp optics.

Nikon's new introduction to the high-end binocular market will fit in nicely and compete well with the current top offerings from European manufacturers such as Leica, Zeiss, and Swarovski.

We flew into Guatemala City but soon boarded a bus for the mountains and countryside. As we proceeded to higher elevations, the sugar cane fields morphed into rubber tree, coffee, and tea plantations.

The digiscoping opportunities were limited primarily due to lower light and rainy conditions in the forests. The dense foliage made it challenging to see many birds, much less digiscope them. Some of the birds I was able to capture included the Cinnamon Hummingbird, Clay-Colored Robin, and Green-throated Mountain Gem, all pictured above.

Pictured here are the the excited tour participants getting their first taste of tropical birding on the trip, the morning after we arrived in Guatemala City. The first stop was a preserve called Finca Patrocinio.

The look on Pete Dunne's face best

captures how we all felt that morning as the tropical birds introduced themselves to many of us for the first time. The sights, smells, and sounds elicited grins all around.

Mike Frieburg, the product specialist in the birding market for Nikon, stares angelically into the canopy of the cloud forest at Los Andes private reserve. Unfortunately, there were no sightings of our target bird for that day, the Resplendent Quetzal.
While one half of our group was exploring the cloud forest, the other half was treated to wonderful views of this Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl found at the estate house.

There was speculation that the owl's prey was a Golden-crowned warbler. The picture above was taken at the hotel in Guatemala City on our final morning of the trip. The amenities in Guatemala were wonderful!