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My arrival in Tegulcigalpa was a little frightening. Other people on the plane who have before landed at Toncontin airport took the landing in stride, but after I got off the plane I was informed that this airport has one of the trickiest approaches and landings in the world. The city is located in a bowl surrounded by hills and the runway is not exactly long. Now I know why everyone on the plane enthusiastically applauded when we landed.
William Orellana, head of Beaks and Peaks Birding and Adventure Tours, picked me up and we were off to Las Gloriales Mountain Inn, where we would stay for two nights. Las Gloriales Mountain Inn is a darling place famous in the area for wedding receptions. My room was fantastic and the views were wonderful. The food is cooked on an outdoor grill and wood-burning oven and is just fantastic.
MY FIRST HONDURAN HUMMINGBIRD
I saw my first hummingbird on the shrimp plants that were planted specifically to attract the hummers to the property. A little Azure-crowned hummingbird welcomed me to birding in Honduras and I got to check off my first new species.
William Orellana, Owner of Beaks and Peaks Birding and Adventure Tours
William and I traveled around the area and spotted some more Azure-crowned and White-eared hummingbirds. The light was not right to get good pictures of these birds, but we did find an immature Rivoli’s Hummingbird feeding on a stand of beautiful orange flowers. I had seen Rivoli's Hummingbirds before in Southeastern Arizona, but somehow these seemed more "exotic."
The biggest part of the adventure did not involved hummingbirds. It involved the local police. We had pulled off the the road to hike back into a field where there were lots of flowers that the local hummers liked. Someone had reported a strange car on the property and the police came to investigate. We explained that we were looking for hummingbirds and I showed them some pictures I had taken. They were very nice and we went on our way. I did not take pictures of the local police.