Feb 19 2009
Tough Day at the Office
Tour leading, despite all appearances, is actually hard work. People will often say, “Oh, you’re so lucky!, you get paid to go birding!” Well, not hardly. Nobody gets paid to go birding. But I will unabashedly admit that it can be pretty sweet work indeed. This morning, it was hard to believe that I was actually on the clock.
Around 11 AM, we boarded a small boat and began a cruise down the Rio Frio. Here are my feet, comfortably propped up on the bow, with the river and the mountains in the background.
We were ostensibly seeking waterbirds, but many of the highlights were landbirds that inhabit the riparian forest. The Lineated Woodpecker below was a case in point.
The red malar stripe on the lower face marks this as a male.
Also spectacular were Blue-crowned Motmots, large terrestrial relatives of kingfishers. Look at that maraschino eye, those racket tails. Damn, that’s a bird!
And we did actually see a few waterbirds, chief among them Boat-billed Herons, whose impossibly broad bills are specially adapted to seizing crabs and other crustaceans. They also have huge eyes, useful for seeing in the dark.
Speaking of eating crustaceans, this is what was awaiting us when we got back to the dock–a lunch of freshly caught langostinos, a huge crayfish that is probably better called a freshwater lobster. It’s nearly as delicious, too, as my friend and co-leader Roy Rodriguez, can attest.
So yeah, it was a tough day at the office. NOT!
What a wonderful post — visual eye candy and detaily brain food. Thanks, Jeff!
What a day! Really tough too…not to enjoy it! Great birds, thank you for sharing!
I really don’t see how this is any better than me sitting behind a desk all day long, reading emails, updating project plans, attending 6 hours of meetings, and then coming home to sit on the couch and continue to check emails. I really don’t see it.
Always a treat to see what you’ve come “home” with!
What a feast for the eyes! (And for the taste buds, from the sound of it.) I wish my office had “windows” like that!
Jeff,
You are not working hard enough if you have time to be blogging after a day of bird guiding. I guided in Brazil recently and could not make a single blogpost during the two weeks trip, and after being home for a week I had 1000s of office related issues, and still have not written anything on my blog…..
Well, it is 1.50 AM…and I all of a sudden I have some time free to spend doing my blog.
Or should I go to bed instead?
Juggling with both guiding and running a tour business, writing a paper, facebook, twitter and blog………and did I mention I have a 2 year old daughter and a 3 months pregant wife…
Ah, well…next on my blog I am writing tonight…
My top 10 birding sites….. (Click my link to see if I finished!)
Your not one of them….I am afraid….cause I am too envious.
Saludos from Peru
Gunnar Engblom
Kolibri Expeditions
Your post has really got me thinking about getting back down to Central America. There are always more birds to be seen like your Lineated Woodpecker.
One look at your feet and I knew this was a joke
) I’d love to have hard days like yours… You just showed FABULOUS photos of birds I’ll never see! Thank you!!!
That was a great trip down the river (I had listed it as the Rio Frio but I’m easily confused) and I’m glad I got to go along. It’s hard to believe we saw even more and different great birds on our spontaneous second trip!
Thanks, all for the nice comments!
Ron, you’re right…this is the Rio Frio, not the Sabinas. Gunnar, I guess this is an indication of just how tired I was after the day!
I’m not jealous of the birding aspects, but I am totally jealous of the travel you get to do!
I am sure that being in the service field isn’t always a party, but I would consider suffering through it!! Great blog. Thanks for sharing.
Well Jeff, I am green with envy. It sounds like a decent job alright, but I’m sure it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, with, you know, mosquitoes and everything. You probably had to drink some beer with that langostinos too
What a tough way to make a living!
Oh, I almost forgot… awesome captures of the birds too! Love that Lineated Woodpecker and the Blue-crowned Motmot!