On Friday, February 27, Lin, my husband and I went on a bird watching trip with our landlord’s nephew, Jason Lara, to see quetzal birds. I have wanted to see one since I was in my twenties visiting Maya Indian ruins in Mexico. The Mayans revered the quetzal bird and used their feathers in their costumes.
Costa Rica—Looking for Birds, Especially the Quetzal
In 2020, we went on a bird watching tour in Costa Rica, but I was dealing with cataracts at the time and a camera that wasn’t working well, so I didn’t see one at all. Groups of people ran here and there as the guides sighted the birds flying from tree to tree. Our tour guide then took my iPhone and got a photo off of his telescope that was fantastic, but I never saw it with my own eyes, so it felt incomplete.
Boquete, Panama Bird Watching
On Friday, we looked and waited patiently for 2-3 hours—patience is a virtue. I took a lot of nature pictures because the setting was gorgeous. But we gave up because the clouds rolled in and the evening approached, and we only saw a pair of quetzals fly overhead.
Jason told us he would add us to his short list of people who didn’t see a quetzal—we were number 5!
As we wandered our way through the jungle back to the restaurant at TreeTrek, we saw a male quetzal—that’s the one with the bright turquoise color and long tail and plume, but once again my camera didn’t work. It focused on the leaves and branches between us and not on the quetzal. Jason’s pictures begin this post.
However, I did get some photos of a beautiful bird there—I think it’s a hummingbird. What do you think?
Once Again—My Repeated Bird Watching Story
But once again, Jason, our tour guide saved the day and put pictures on my iPhone using his high-powered telescope. And once again, my desire to see a male quetzal in the wild ended sadly.
We moved to the patio of the TreeTrek’s restaurant. Jason set up his telescope to keep watching, turning it towards the tree where he and Lin saw the male quetzal. I turned and with the naked eye, I saw turquoise and Jason exclaimed, “There’s a female.”
I high-fived with Lin and set up my camera, but it had flown away before I could find it again. It was a long distance away, but I saw the turquoise and that felt good—I’ll take it anyway I can!
Afterwards, we shared a delicious tropical drink, chicken bits and French fries, visiting and enjoying the evening with Jason.
Finally,
I haven’t given up. I plan on going on another bird watching tour with Jason in the future, and I plan on seeing and photographing a quetzal—and you will see, I promise!
This is short this week, because I’m sitting in the Houston airport writing it. I’m on my way to Albuquerque today for few days and then on to our ranch in southeastern Colorado to see my brother.
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