QUETZALING: This is a term coined for those who have ever stayed in the Savegre Valley in Costa Rica, for the principal (indeed, perhaps, only), activity undertaken in the area, searching for the dazzling Resplendent Quetzal, Costa Rica's premier "pin-up" bird. Not even the Page 3 girls of The Sun newspaper in Britain get this much attention! We awoke all too familiar of what our main goal was of the day-to see one of these legendary beauties. If we needed reminding this was THE place to see it, there were reminders all around us: the lodge store stocked quetzal postcards, and nick-nacks; the walls of the lodge restaurant were adorned with artwork and glorious photos paying homage to this unforgettable cloudforest bird; and virtually every lodge dotted about the valley had a quetzal decorating their sign; on top of that, the word quetzal seemed to emanate from every dinner/breakfast conversation. If you were not focused and obsessed with catching up with one of these ethereal creatures when you arrived within the valley, it seemed everyone within the valley was trying to ensure you left with this as a life goal; and it was working. We were all focused, or indeed obsessed at finding a male quetzal with its long, wispy, emerald green upper tail coverts blowing the breeze below him, seducing our visual senses with his incredible beauty, and dreamy looks.
Finally. mid-morning, and after one failed nest stake-out, we found them; yes them. A pair of these exquisite birds (that I believe absolutely no one would deny of a place in their personal top ten birds on the planet), were found, and indeed bathed in the narrow mountain stream, before returning to a ,ore typically high perch and lighting up the forest (and our minds and hearts) as they glowed scarlet and malachite under the glow of the mid-morning sun. Before we knew it we were watching it with a collection of people: word had spread quick there was a quetzal in town, and no was was wasting anytime in getting there and revelling in the moment. It may have been not even half way into the trip, although the sheer beauty of the bird, the super, slow, seductively long looks we had, ensured right then and there, no matter what we saw later, it could never trump such a moment! Quite simply there are not enough words to sum up a quetzal, but just know it has been on the human mind for some time, being depicted in the many artwork dating back hundreds of years, and even forms the currency of Guatemala.
It should have all been downhill from there, although we had plenty left to see in the endemic-rich highlands, and so, with the quetzal happily seen, and seen well, we could move on and chase the many others we were hoping for...
More from Costa Rica very soon...
1 comment:
Great photos of a great bird. Mirador de Los Quetzales, (Finca Eddie Serrano) on the highway over Cerro de La Muerte garantees the quetzal, or you do not pay. Both times I went, we had quetzals within minutes, and the cost was dirt cheap. We saw many other great birds as well.
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