Article from recent combined birding

CMYK
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2012 THE EXAMINER
A5
localnews
www.peterboroughexaminer.com
Editor JIM HENDRY jim.hendry@sunmedia.ca 745-4641 ext. 242
LIVING
Less travelled treasure trove
El Salvador is a safe, friendly avian haven eco-tourists might not think of first
I’ve learned that it is always best
to hire a birding guide if you
hope to see the less common
species. We therefore made
arrangements to spend a day
with Robert Broz (www.elgringosuchitoto.com), an American
who has been living in El Salvador for almost 20 years. Not
only is Robert a great bird guide,
but he also possesses an encyclopedic knowledge about El
Salvador in general and is very
involved in helping to develop
the country’s tourist industry. He
brought along his son-in-law,
Marvin, who was very talented in
finding, identifying and photographing many of the birds we
saw. Robert had also arranged for two
local guides to accompany us at our first
stop, an old volcano called Cerro Verde.
He is anxious to provide people such as
these with opportunities to develop
their birding and English-language
skills in order to provide themselves
with an additional source of income.
O
ur birds of summer were alive
and well in El Salvador last week,
as they migrate northward. Yellow warblers, Baltimore orioles, barn swallows
and spotted sandpipers, however, were
only a few of the many species my wife
and I encountered during our sevenday stay at the Royal Decameron Salinitas resort on the Pacific coast of this
small, Central American country.
The rich bird life is a result of the
diverse habitats to be found right on the
grounds including lagoons, flower gardens, small parcels of forest, shrubby
field, sand beach and rocky tide pools –
DREW
MONKMAN
OUR CHANGING SEASONS
not to mention the many large specimen trees scattered throughout the
property. Just on my morning walks
alone, I was able to easily find 60
species. Looking at the lists of birds that
other visitors to the resort have
recorded, I would think that at least 100
species are possible. When you add the
birds that can be seen at other, close-by
destinations such as Cerro Verde, a trip
to western El Salvador has a lot to offer.
Bird activity was especially intense
between 6 and 8 a.m. with many species
almost oblivious to my presence. Some
of the most common birds included
rufous-naped wrens, social and tropical
flycatchers, great kiskadees, blue-gray
tanagers, clay-coloured robins, whitewinged doves and the ubiquitous greattailed grackle. Overhead, barn swallows,
northern rough-winged swallows and
orange-chinned parakeets were a constant presence as they coursed back and
forth all day long. Many species were
carrying nesting material. Birds in the
tropics appear capable of using the
slight changes in day length to initiate
reproductive behaviour in advance of
the food-rich rainy season in early May.
TOP OF THE HEAP
DREW MONKMAN Special to The Examiner
Drew Monkman (right) and guides Marvin and Robert
confer on the identification of a bird species during
Monkman’s recent trip to El Salvador. Among the birds he
and his wife spotted during the trip were (clockwise from
top left), the turquoise-browed motmot, emerald toucan
and northern jacana.
AVIAN SOUNDSCAPE
The soundscape at Royal Decameron
was dominated by the gentle, owl-like
“who cooks for you” calls of the doves
and the raucous “KREE-taperr” of the
kiskadees. At sunset, we were also
treated to the croaking sounds of hundreds of snowy egrets as they flew in
from nearby beaches and tide pools to
roost in the trees bordering the lagoon
right behind our room. Maybe the most
bewildering sounds, though, belonged
to the white-bellied chachalacas. These
chicken-sized birds produce a loud,
raucous “cha-cha-LAW-ka,” often given
in a rhythmical chorus from high in a
tree in the early morning.
My favourite bird of the trip, however,
had to be the turquoise-browed
motmot. This is a fairly common but
wonderfully exotic species that is also
the national bird of El Salvador. Not only
does it have a striking, multi-coloured
plumage, but it sports two large tail
“rackets” at the end of ridiculously long,
naked feather shafts. Salvadorians call it
the “torogoz” in reference to its call,
while people in the Yucatan call it the
“pájaro reloj” (clock bird) because of its
tail-wagging behaviour. The pendulumlike wag display is not related to mating,
however. It is believed to have evolved
as a means of communicating with
predators such as hawks. By wagging
the tail, the motmot is telling the predator “you have been seen and I can
escape if I want to, so it is futile to
attack.” The benefit to the motmot of
course is that it doesn’t need to waste
time and energy fleeing.
FRUITFUL LOCATIONS
A good birding strategy in the tropics
is to look for fruit trees that are attracting a lot activity and then to simply
stand there watching for a while. One
morning while having breakfast, we
noticed that all kinds of birds flying in
and out of one medium-sized tree, only
metres away. The branches were laden
with small green fruit that proved to be
an irresistible magnet. The tree was
alive with tanagers, golden-fronted
woodpeckers, various flycatchers and 20
or so clay-coloured robins. Later, in a
tall, “look-out” tree with many dead
branches, I counted no less than 12
species coming and going in just 10
minutes. The tree had caught my attention because a pair of yellow-winged
caciques had built their nest
there. The nest consists of a twofoot long, hanging pouch that is
not unlike the nest of an oriole.
Mixed-species flocks, usually
dominated by North American
warblers, were also common most days.
I came across a particularly diverse
flock one morning that was very receptive to the “pish–pish” sounds I was
making. One by one, a parade of curious
birds approached me including yellow
and Tennessee warblers, summer tanagers, white-collared seedeaters,
hooded orioles and even a Swainson’s
thrush. What showed up next, however,
was the real pay-off. A pair of scrub
euphonias – the male decked out in
glossy blue-black and bright yellow
plumage – suddenly appeared and
afforded excellent views.
HERONS ABOUND
Some of the easiest birds to see at
Royal Decameron were those that frequented the lagoons and waterfront.
Both green and little blue herons were a
constant presence, usually hunting in
the shadows along the shoreline. Also
regular were gorgeous yellow and
brown northern jacanas, which delicately picked off food from floating vegetation. Most days, a least grebe was
also easy to find as it dove for fish in the
middle of the lagoon. The beach and
tide pools were also rich in bird life.
Numerous shorebirds that nest in the
Canadian Arctic scurried up and down
the beach and were easy to approach.
Among the most common were least
sandpipers, semipalmated plovers, willets, whimbrels and yellowlegs. Snowy
egrets could almost always be seen
hunting for small fish at low tide, along
with the odd little blue heron.
After a number of trips to the tropics,
Cerro Verde offered up a number of
interesting high elevation species. Two
very vocal birds, the brown-backed solitaire and the bushy-crested jay were a
constant presence. Western tanagers
and rufous-collared thrushes foraged in
the dense canopy above us, while
Wilson’s warblers, ovenbirds, slatethroated redstarts and a pair of singing
quail moved quietly about in the undergrowth at eye level. The highlight,
though, was a pair of emerald toucans
that greeted us the moment we arrived
in the parking lot. In the afternoon,
Robert took us to Tazumal and Joya de
Ceren, two important Mayan ruins. The
latter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We also visited the
“Ruta de las Flores”
which takes you into
the mountainous
coffee growing part
of the country and
winds its way
through charming
small towns that sell
beautiful handicrafts
and textiles.
To be clear, El Salvador does not have
the extensive tropical
forest or highly
developed ecotourism to be found
in places like Costa
Rica. However, I
would still recommend a stay at Royal
Decameron Salinitas
for anyone wanting
to do some easilyaccessible birding,
enjoy the amenities of a beautiful resort
and, at the same time, be able to take
advantage of a wide range of day trips –
either with Decameron Explorer at the
hotel itself or with private guides such
as Robert. Despite its checkered past,
we found El Salvador to be a safe and
very friendly destination. The people
there are wonderful. Package vacations
are available from mid-November
through late March through Nolitours.
Drew Monkman is a retired Peterborough teacher and author of Nature's
Year: Changing Seasons in Central and
Eastern Ontario. He can be reached at
dmonkman1@cogeco.ca. Visit his website and see past columns at www.drewmonkman.com
COMPUTERS: Do-it-yourself tips to save money
Now that you’ve got a new computer, let’s get it set up
L
ast week I mentioned a few
tips when shopping for a
replacement computer, such as
advance preparation and avoiding costly add-ons to the basic
price. However, your exhilaration at getting a good deal may
fade when you realize that
plugging it in may be the beginning of a new set of challenges.
You could hire someone to set
up your new computer but
doing it yourself will save
money, get the computer customized to your needs, and
you'll learn about basic computer maintenance.
Getting a new computer running for the first time is not complicated or time-consuming but
pre-planning will greatly simplify the process. If you use a
wired connection for the Inter-
RAY
SAITZ
ONLINE
net, plug the Internet connection
cable into the port on the back of
the computer before turning it
on. If connecting to a home wi-fi
system, write down the security
letters and numbers you will
need to logon to the wireless network. When you power up the
new computer the installation of
Windows should proceed automatically although you'll be
asked to supply a user name and
optional password and select
your time zone and country.
Computer manufacturers try
to keep costs down by preinstalling trial versions of programs, called bloatware, which
can slow a computer's performance. Your first step should be to
get rid of them. Open the Control Panel and under Programs
uninstall as many as you can,
such as the trial versions of antivirus or Office programs and the
games you’ll never use.
You can speed up this step by
downloading and installing a
free program with the unfortunate name of PC Decrapifier
(http://pcdecrapifier.com/downl
oad). It will seek out the bloatware on your computer and with
a few mouse clicks you can
select unwanted programs and
eliminate them.
After cleaning your computer
the first thing to do is install a
good, free, anti-virus program,
such as AVG , Comodo, or Avast.
Then install the software you
regularly use such as a word
processor or photo editor. If you
have the original software discs
for programs, then installing the
software involves inserting the
disc into the DVD player of the
computer and following the
prompts.
However, the incredible thing
about Windows is that there is a
free, downloadable program for
almost any need, whether it's a
Microsoft Office clone such as
Libre Office or the VLC multimedia player that will play DVDs
or almost any video file in existence.
You could search the Internet
for good, free programs, but
there is an easier way. Ninite
(http://ninite.com) is a one-stop
destination for about 100 free
programs. You check off what
you need, install the downloader, and Ninite installs the
latest versions of the programs
and eliminates any irritating
toolbars or other add-ons. The
only problem is that Ninite,
apart from listing programs by
type, does not include any
descriptions of the programs.
That's where other websites
come in handy. Download.com
has descriptions of most free
programs and Lifehacker () has a
list of what it considers the best
Windows apps. You can also find
the links to the free programs I
mention at my Online website
(www.rayser.ca/online).
Your printer or scanner will
need drivers installed on the
computer in order to work. You
can use the disc that came with
the printer but the good news is
that, if you turn on the device
and attach the USB cable to your
computer, Windows 8 will automatically try to download and
install the drivers and software
for it. If that fails, go to the manufacturer's site where you'll find
the software for the device available for download in the Support
section of the website.
The final step is to copy the
files backed up from the My
Documents folder of your old
computer to the same folder on
your new one.
With a little effort, free software, and some handy website
advice, your new computer will
be up and running in no time.
Ray Saitz, a Peterborough resident and teacher, writes a weekly
column on the Internet. He can
be reached at rayser3@cogeco.ca