The Owl Cafe

Tokyo is pretty famous for its cafe culture in a WIDE array of niches from maids to robots to anime to a wide range of animals. Being pretty nerdy and about to embark on a long bird watching tour at the time, our natural fit was an owl cafe in the heart of Akihabara.

We booked months in advance as spaces fill up quickly (even months in advance there were hardly any spots left) and were very pleased with our experience. The place was run by a married couple that clearly loved their 40+ birds. Entries were timed, everyone was quiet and respectful, and they had a system for rotating through the various owls to stop them from getting overstimulated.

 

From the owl "menu" I couldn't pass on "Mr President" the Malay Eagle Owl and his magnificent eyebrows. For the larger birds the owners not only provide a glove to keep the talons out of your hand, but a nice rest to lean on so you can admire the bird without worrying about spooking it. The two of us hung out agreeably for most of our visit but I was still somewhat startled when our time was up and he flapped back to his perch in the corner.

 

Kathryn was more interested in mixing things up, so after a bit of time with Gorilla, a spectacled owl (we have an affinity for these birds, having seen them in both Costa Rica and Belize) she swapped out for Potsticker, a tropical screech owl, who was undoubtedly a lighter bird to carry.

 

Caves Branch Birding

We stayed for two nights in the rain forest at Caves Branch on our way from the central highlands of Belize to the coast. Having gorged on Mayan history for a week it was a fresh change of scenery and photography challenges. Forests can be particularly difficult areas to spot and identify birds, so we arrange for a full day guided tour with Ishmael, a local guide with the perfect combination of enthusiasm and patience to help us get the most out of our time.

There were plenty of interesting birds right on the grounds and we spent the morning just on the trails and pathways around the lodge, picking up local characters like this hooded warbler, which was boldly flapping around the breakfast tables while my camera struggled a little with morning humidity.

I am always a big advocate for getting local guides because they not only know the birds by appearance but they often know the habits and haunts of individuals that you would never notice in a million years on your own. A prime example of this local knowledge is the bard owl that was tucked between some coconuts in the top of a palm tree. He looks obvious in the photo below but was anything but, especially given the thousands of trees to choose from.

Local guides are also great for finding species you didn't know you were looking for and would struggle to identify without them, such as this Morelet's Seedeater. Of course even the best guide can't guarantee that you'll get more than a fleeting look or be able to fumble through with your own gear - of the 68 species we saw on our outing, I would say I have "okay" pictures of maybe a third of the species and "good" pictures of half of those, but that's all part of the fun and challenge of a day like that.

The Road to Caracol

Our original plan to was take every 2nd or 3rd day easy, but unfortunately there was too much to see and do in Belize so every day became an expedition. Case in point, I had barely heard of the ruins of Caracol before leaving, but having gotten a taste for Mayan cities this one sounded too tantalizing to miss.

It was also one of the most remote sites we visited, being far from town and close to the Guatemalan border. There have historically been problems with bandits in the forests as well (Belize recommends visiting the site as part of a daily convoy, but we did just fine with a local guide) so we opted to go with an organized tour for this one - fortunately there were only three of us booked so we had a small and personal tour to the site. But getting there took time...

On the way, we really lucked out with a close encounter with some King Vultures. Normally they are circling FAR up in the air, and we were incredibly fortunate to see a cluster of them practically at eye level and very close to the road.

Belize (like the Yucatan) is crisscrossed with limestone caverns and waterways of various sizes. The Rio Frio cave was an enormous, but also highly accessible cave on the way out. Its also not incredibly deep, so we could enjoy the strange formations and stream running through it, without spending too long (or worry about getting too lost)

We also visited the Big Rock waterfall, which was as scenic as it was freezing cold. Despite an opportunity to swim none of us were quite hot enough to want to brave the chilly water, though there were a group of cliff jumpers a little further up that were the right combination of brave and foolhardy to be enjoying the waters themselves.

Belize Raptor Centre

Belize is home to some 30 species of hawks/eagles/kites and 10 species of owls. With a diverse and commonly agrarian populace, Belize has many complex interactions between these amazing birds and the people they co-exist with.

The Belize Raptor Centre has two key aims:

1. to educate the people of Belize about the importance of these birds to their ecosystems and to appreciate their nature beauty. They do this through community outreach and school programs.
2. to rehabilitate (and ideally release) birds that are injured through human contact
   

 This Ornate Hawk-Eagle is a fine example of the stunning animals they have on hand and how close you can get to the animals and appreciate them in detail.

Getting there is a bit of an ordeal as the local road is frequently steep and periodically washed out, but the facility is quite modern with a space for flight displays as well as a variety of hutches and enclosures to keep the animals safe and separated. Raptors are individually very solitary and competitive, commonly viewing each other as enemies or food, so spacing them apart is key.

The staff were wonderful about accommodating our late (and somewhat unexpected) arrival. Although the official demonstrations for the day was over, the founder generously spent several hours giving us a private tour of the facilities, including up-close encounters with a number of their residents, including this gorgeous Spectacled Owl.

But the undeniable star of the show was a black vulture there named Cora that loved to attack boot laces and was patted like a dog by the founder. Cora had been rehabilitated at the facility, then tried to make it on her own but returned underweight and was getting healthy again. I had never considered vultures to be affectionate and was proven wrong in that assumption.

If you'd like to visit, donate, or learn more, check out their website for more information.

Tikal Pt 2 - the Little Details

Tikal was a wonderland for photographic opportunities around colossal structures, but there were several smaller scenes and moments at a less grand and more human scale that I absolutely think are worth highlighting.

For instance, the city fell over 1,100 years ago, but the people still remain on the land and hold it as a sacred site. We were there on an unremarkable Friday afternoon in December (not an eclipse or other major celestial event) and a sizable group of people had gathered in the plaza between Temple 1 and 2 to have a ceremony and maintain their connection to this ancient place.

I've mentioned in the past how voracious the jungle is and how quickly it would cover up the city again given a chance. Its easy to think that, once a University leads a formal excavation that the site is preserved for an extended period, but the key structures were alive with local people manually clearing vegetation off the temples with machetes. The top of Temple 3 had a decent sized tree growing from it and our guide said that it had only been there a few months and that the top was due for another clearing shortly.

One of the few domesticated animals of the Americas, there are both the domesticated species (which became so popular in Europe in the 1500s that is now a food staple for numerous feast days), and the Ocellated Turkey, which is endemic only to the Yucatan region. Both species were eaten, sacrificed, and viewed as sacred.

The ancient Mayans revered turkeys, considering them powerful while also valuing their iridescent feathers and leg spurs.  One Mayan leader was posthumously honoured as Chak Ak'ach Yuhk, roughly translated as “Great Male Turkey, Shaker of Cities.”

Crooked Tree

66 square kilometres of lagoons, creeks, log wood swamps, and pine savanna were set aside in 1998, providing sanctuary to some 300 bird species which call the area home. Crooked Tree Village was settled in 1750, one of the earliest inland European settlements in the country, in the search of numerous different natural dyes produced by plants in the log wood forest. Today a small Creole population of 600 still call the area home, supplementing tourist income with fishing and cattle ranching.

The only sensible way to see diverse wildlife in a wetland is by boat. Fortunately the hotel we stayed at was very active with bird watching by boat and we booked a morning excursion. Despite a brief setback with some persistent early rain we had a great time peering for raptors and herons amidst the greenery.

Snail kites, their incredibly curved bills specialized specifically for eating apple snails, were a constant presence overhead, though their dark colour and the muted skies made for challenges getting a nice exposure.

Crooked Tree is also famous for its wading birds, such as this Green Heron (...shown below not wading...) and there were numerous egrets and other species of heron in the area. Crooked Tree is famous for its Jabiru storks, the largest waders in the Americas, but we were unlucky in spotting any.

The only downside was that, once we were off the boat, there was little to do in the area making our stay a brief one overall as the regional trails were too wet to enjoy a hike, and the Morelet's Crocodiles we had seen on the outing were small but still took the wind out of a more spontaneous trek around.

Christmas Bird Count: COVID Edition

 Kathryn has been participating in the Christmas Bird Count in Vancouver for at least the last six years while I have joined her as often as my CPA study schedule has permitted. Naturally, in 2020 the idea of even having separate groups searching an area without crossing over was deemed to high a risk, and the count was cancelled. Luckily, the barriers to entry of walking and counting birds are incredibly low and we did a count by ourselves in our usual area.

One of the highlights was a small flock of red-breasted nuthatches at a small feeder in False Creek. In total we have seen 1 of these birds in all our years in Vancouver and had a total of 5 in our count, which was pretty special.

 Of course, its not just rare birds that are counted. We ended our day with sizeable tallies for crows (220), glaucous-winged gulls (144), Canada geese (138), and even pigeons (188). This little cluster on Granville Island were particularly pleasing to me as they defied human efforts to scare them away from a prime roosting spot with a fake owl.

It's natural to associate hummingbirds with summer and the tropics, but Vancouver is a year-round home to a sizeable population of Anna's Hummingbirds. Despite their tiny size, they are highly territorial birds with a very distinct and audible call so we typically find quite a few of them.

This little male was obligingly perched in Olympic Village, singing his heart out and flashing is iridescent feathers in a stunning display to either scare of competitor males or attract females.

Dueling Mergansers

 On a recent walk through Stanley Park, the winter gloom was lifted quite handily by a small flock of hooded mergansers. A group of six or so males had gathered the attention of a pair of females and were in competition with one another to try and win their attention. Hooded mergansers are some of our favorite ducks so we were very pleased to have this little window into their social lives.

 Hooded mergansers already have a lovely crest (as you can clearly see) which they can raise or lower depending on their needs. In this particular event it was all raised crests all the time as they stretched their necks, growled (more ducks growl than you expect apparently) and chased one another around.

 We don't have a good idea of how elaborate or drawn out their courtship rituals are or whether any of the group were paired up before we left, but who could resist this face?

Retracing the Christmas Count

 We have participated in the Vancouver Christmas Bird Count in the past, and since we didn't manage anything exotic over the holidays we decided to be involved again this year. Unfortunately it rained the entire day so we got thoroughly soaked, didn't take many photos, and (worst of all) had pretty mediocre sightings. Luckily, the weather cleared a few days later so we took another long walk through Stanley Park in search of birds. The varied thrush is pretty stunning in good light and I always forget that we have them in decent numbers during Vancouver winters.

 Deeper in the forest, Kathryn turned up a pileated woodpecker tearing away at the side of a tree. It was a reasonably agreeable bird in that it let us get fairly close and photograph it for awhile, but was also a quickly moving dark bird in deep shade, so of 100+ photos there were only 2 worth keeping. An impressive sight and a good find all the same.

 Finally, we wound up on the sea wall and came across a group of 6 or so Black Oystercatchers. We have photographed and shared pictures of these birds in the past, but this set had particularly brilliant bills that almost seem to be lit from within. We've had several encounters with a group (we assume to be the same batch) of oystercatchers over the last week and learned their distinctive and high-pitched call is a surefire way to locate dark birds on wet rocks.

Walking with the Winter Waterfowl

My Christmas break started a little early and I was very pleased to have glorious weather on my first day off. Since Kathryn was driving for the ferries, I decided to walk down to Granville Island, meet up with her for a ride east, and then have a long wander home. On the way out I had a close look at a Bufflehead, which are a common duck along the coast here but typically as shy as they are small. This male surfaced repeatedly quite close to the seawall and I was able to capture the lovely iridescence on his head better than ever before - typically they look black and white and I had no idea their heads were so colourful.

 This pied-billed grebe has been lurking near some fishing boats in False Creek for most of the winter and I have long wanted to get a few pictures. As I initially searched its territory I became concerned it had moved on, but just as I was giving up it swam around a corner and posed quite obligingly.

 Every year Vancouver gets huge flocks of surf scoters during the fall migration and a handful of them stick around for the winter. With their white-patched heads and big orange bills they are easy to identify and always a pleasing bird to see. This one was quite close to the shore in English Bay and in perfect light to catch its markings and clearly highlight its eye.

An Introduction to Falconry

Earlier this summer, Kathryn found a voucher for a 2-for-1 raptor encounter, and we recently made the trip out to Maple Ridge to make good of our plan. For about 2 hours, we were able to spend time with a pair of Harris's Hawks, which are a neat bird native to Arizona and parts of South America. They are particularly good introductory falcons as they have a more gregarious social structure than most raptors, making them easier for beginners.

 The lesson began with an introduction on handling the bird via a traditional large leather glove. Their feed have a thong on the legs which stop them from running too much (Harris's Hawks have surprisingly long legs and are sometimes ground hunters in the wild) and help keep them tethered to your glove. Once we were comfortable with each other, we took a short walk through the forest to get used to the weight of the bird and for them to adjust to our voices.

 Then we had pieces of food placed on the top of the glove which the hawks collected in a series of short flights from nearby perches. It was very enjoyable to see them fly and to watch them land and eat on your hand (though you are certainly grateful for the thick glove). All in all a very fun (albeit short) experience which may have fully whet Kathryn's appetite to take a more extensive falconry course in the future.

Arizona Birds

 Although we were only in Phoenix for a few hours each way, we managed to see quite a few fun birds down there as well. Gambel's Quail are very fun and distinctive with their bouffant forehead feathers, and are regionally separated from California Quail which they closely resemble. We were patient and quiet enough to see several of them scampering around near the concession stand in the Desert Botanical Garden.

 Also in the Botanical Garden, and quite possibly also interested in quail, was a mated pair of Great Horned Owls. We have seen them several times before, but they are always a treat, and one was even awake in the daylight as an added bonus. Great horned owls have a very powerful build and are often called the "tiger of the air," capable of eating pretty much anything they can catch.

 Since we were there in December, there were a lot of migratory waterfowl to be seen at a nearby pond, and we were delighted by a large number of Muscovy, ring-necked, and ruddy ducks, along with scaup, wigeon, moorhen, and shovelers.

Vulture Variations

 Costa Rica has vultures the way cities have pigeons: they are practically everywhere you go. Unlike pigeons, which we typically lump all together as "winged rats," there are 3 distinct vulture species in Costa Rica and we were lucky enough to see them all. Turkey vultures are the same species we have here in Canada. They hang in the air with a distinctive "V" shape to their bodies and search for their food by smell and sight.

 In contrast, black vultures (which we do not get in Canada, but which are also found in the southern USA) hunt entirely by sight. To help them spot prey, they fly higher than turkey vultures, and will often rely on their motions, or those of predators, to help them locate a meal.

 King vultures are the largest of all (except for condors) and fly the highest. We saw them twice and Kathryn was very good at spotting their distinctive white fronts (compared to the turkey vulture, they have the inverse colour pattern). They typically fly highest of all the vultures and often rely on both other species to locate kills. Despite their enormous beaks, they rely on other birds to open up a carcass and then use their larger size to drive the others away.

Scarlet Macaws

 We hoped to see quite a few parrots, parakeets, and macaws in Costa Rica, but nothing quite prepared us for how many Scarlet Macaws there were to see in Corcovado. The picture below was taken from the roadside on the drive to our lodge. We had already seen quite a few caracaras, owls, toucans, and other birds on the way up and were all scanning for other neat sightings. I looked out across a field and my brain couldn't really reconcile all the red shapes in the green trees, but was able to process the statement "Are all of those Macaws? Can we stop?" This picture doesn't even capture them all as there were at least 2 dozen in the area.

 They are stunning birds up close, and in Corcovado they are entirely fearless of people so we were able to walk right under some of the trees they were sitting in and take incredible pictures and portraits of their features and feathers. Costa Rica is so lush and green in every direction that a bird this red just leaps out at you and is even more stunning than you would expect. While most of us have seen unfortunate captive birds, nothing can prepare you for how gorgeous they are in the wild.

 Far from being an isolate incident, we saw dozens and dozens of macaws in Corcovado at all times of the day. Frequently when we were hiking along a pair of them would flash overhead in a flurry of all the colours of the rainbow. We never once got tired of seeing them or felt that we had enough pictures...

Quetzal spotting for fun and profit

 One bird we were very keen to see in Costa Rica was the Resplendent Quetzal, famed for its incredibly long tail feathers. They like to live high in the mountains and cloud forests where they eat a variety of berries. We had no luck spotting them on Monteverde, but on the last day of our tour, Mario took us on an alternate route back to San Jose which took us through a different range of their territory. Below is the female quetzal we saw first. She was quite close and made us think seeing the male would be easy.

 There is a collective of farmers and naturalists in the highlands who run a sightings network to help tourists see the quetzal. For $10 per person you are allowed on their land to look for it yourself, and for $30 per person they will make sure you spot it. We were tight for time, so we chose the more expensive option with a few people to ensure we could find it. This decision was worth every penny as the local guides were very good at what they do, and because there's a male quetzal in the picture below, but you'd never know it.

 After skulking around in dense foliage for 20 minutes or so, the male flew out and posed beautifully for us in direct sunlight, showing just how striking a bird it really is. The tail feathers of the male are several times the body length of the bird and they are stunning animals. After a few minutes of an amazing view the male and his two females flew away into the unknown forest.

Hummingbird Galleries 2

 We saw so many hummingbirds that we could easily share pictures of them for another couple of weeks without even repeating species, but rather than get TOO indulgent, we'll wrap up with this second post of some of the most interesting hummingbirds we saw.

First off, this Green Thorntail we saw at La Paz was particularly special since we didn't even identify it until we were home and looking through the pictures with enough time to notice its tail and white patches were totally different from anything else we'd seen, giving us a new bird several months after we got home.

 While almost all hummingbirds have some pretty striking iridescence, many of the galleries were in shady clearings in an overcast cloud forest where colours don't shine through as brightly. Such was not the case with this Fiery-Throated Hummingbird at a gallery on the cuerro de la muerte (yep, the "Highway of Death" features several very high passes where people used to freeze to death trying to cross) which was stunning in the full sun.

Contrasting full sun with total darkness, we found this unidentified hummingbird perched on a branch during a night walk. Hummingbirds have such high metabolism that rather than sleep, they go into a hibernation-like state of torpor each night to prevent their bodies from burning through all their energy. This ones eye appears open, but it didn't move at all as we gathered around for a look.

Hummingbird Galleries 1

While Canadians will easily (and rightly) get excited about seeing a single hummingbird from the handful of species available, Costa Rica is home to 52 different species. Not only are there a great variety of them to see, but their high energy requirements make them easy draws to hummingbird galleries, which are delightfully frequent places across the country. We visited at least 3 galleries, each of which had a dozen or more feeders which were each attracting several hummingbirds.

One of the most common were Coppery-Headed Emeralds like the one below, which measure in at a tiny 3 inches long. All hummingbirds are pretty small and VERY fast moving, but with a little bit of patience and luck you can get some very nice posed portraits when they land on branches nearby to rest between trips to the feeders.

 At the larger end of the spectrum, the Violet Sabrewing is one of the biggest hummingbird in Costa Rica with a monstrous length of 6 inches. That may not seem to big without context, but when there are dozens of these birds zipping in all directions and speeds they seem pretty enormous and loud.

 

Kathryn and I were both so enchanted with the color and variety of the hummingbirds of Costa Rica that the next post will share a few more of our favorite pictures of these charismatic little fellows.