La Chorrera

Last visited 2nd November 2006

This site lies within the Sierra de Agalta in the Olancho region of eastern Honduras. This region has still been relatively poorly studied by ornithologists and there is always the very real possibility of making some interesting finds here. Unfortunately, my one visit to the area was cut short by rain. I only visited the lower portions of the valley, before having to turn back. My guide Rozel told me that the avifauna higher up in the rainforest, which we did not reach, was similar to that found in Rio Chiquito nearby (a site that we had visited the previous day and which is a harder and steeper trek), so the species list for that location will probably give you a reasonable idea of what you might expect. However, the lower areas are quite different. In the valley there are fields with large areas of long grass and further up there is pine savannah. Apparently, the pine forest had been quite thick here up until Hurricane Mitch devastated the area in 1998. Mark Bonta (the author of Birding Honduras) tells me that this is a good area to see Ocellated Quail and Rozel told me that they are reasonably easy to see. We flushed a group of quail, but we were unable to identify them, although we thought that they were probably a different species (probably Singing Quail); so be careful with any quail identification in the area.

Access
The whole Olancho region is very remote and little visited by tourists. The valley that leads up to La Chorrera lies on the unpaved road between Gualaco and San Esteban (route 39). At the base of the valley lies the small village of Linares (N15º01.634’ W085º59.156’ Alt. 745m), which is where my guide Rozel Ortiz lives (tel 8982665). He has worked with Mark Bonta and other ornithologists and has quite a good knowledge of the local wildlife. He only speaks Spanish. The turn off to Linares is 8.2km from the Dippsa gas station in Guanaco and 1km after the small village (of only a few houses) of Quebra Chal. The road forks off to the right and heads down into the valley. There is a small stream to ford, but the road is generally easy to pass for any car that has been able to make it that far into the Olancho. I recommend that you go with Rozel, who charges 200 Lempiras per day (about $10), but if you want to go alone it would be fairly easy to find your own way up the valley that that lies in front of you. There are several paths that would be hard to explain exactly, but the path we took did not go up the middle of the valley, but up the left hand side. Remember that I did not make it beyond the pine forest, so I am unable to advise you beyond that.

Species List (2 Nov 06)

.: C=Common ; F=Fairly Common ; U=Uncommon ; R=Rare :.