Belize 2011
11 - 19 December 2011
by
Henry Detwiler
Jim, Suzanne, and I split our time between three great birding and nature destinations in northern Belize, watching colorful parrots, huge storks, and an assortment of reptiles.
199 species seen. Click here for bird checklist
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Limpkin
As the sun set, we listened to the haunting cries of the many Limpkins in the lagoon. The moon provided a great backdrop to our search for tree frogs and other night critters. We saw a number of Common Pauraques, including this one.
Common Pauraque
The property was a great spot to view juvenile Northern Jacanas.
Northern Jacana |
We spent the first two nights at the Crooked Creek Lodge in the Crooked Tree Preserve. Soon after we arrived the first evening we watched a tarantula hawk (a wasp) dragging its prey (a tarantula) to its burrow.
Tarantula Hawk with its victim
Crooked Tree Lagoon by night
The next day we explored the preserve, finding Grey-necked Wood Rail, White Ibis, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, wrens, and lots of flycatchers and warblers.
Grey-necked Wood Rail
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Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
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We took a boat trip on the Crooked Tree Lagoon on Wednesday morning, and had great sightings of basking & displaying iguanas, hawks, waders, and shorebirds.
Male Green Iguana
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Our next two days we spent in Lamanai, where we explored the archaeological Mayan treasures at this site and explored the magnificent natural history.
Gray Hawk on colonial church |
Tree Frog
The first evening at the Lamanai Lodge Jim found a number of reptiles, including this fine tree frog. Suzanne and I took a night cruise along the New River, where we saw seven Common Potoos. The following evening a Mottled Owl flew into a tree right in front of our cabin as we were sitting on the balcony.
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The next day we explored the ruins of Lamanai in the rain and found lots of birds and other critters, including howler monkeys and a young, road-killed Fer de Lance.
Howler Monkey
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Mask Temple at Lamanai
Fer de Lance
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During lunch at the lodge we watched as a number of wet Groove-billed Anis dried out their wings in the sun.
Groove-billed Ani
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Yellow-headed Vulture
On our way east to Chan Chich we stopped along Blue Creek close to the Mennonite settlement with the same name. The rice paddies had a great assortment of water-loving birds, including a dozen of the massive Jabirus (over 11' wingspan!) Overhead were lots of raptors and Yellow-headed Vultures. |
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Chan Chich turned out to be an outstanding location for nature lovers. Hundreds of thousands of acres of rain forest and a huge cattle ranch called Gallon Jug provided ample opportunities for birding and other natural history adventures.
Ocellated Turkeys |
Roadside Hawk
The 30-mile access road through prime jungle led past the La Milpa archaeological site, where we saw our first ornately adorned Ocellated Turkeys. |
Butterfly at La Milpa
At La Milpa was a pond with a resident crocodile and this well-camouflaged butterfly up against a tree trunk.
American Crocodile at La Milpa
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
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Boa constrictor
During a night drive on the access road to Chan Chich we encountered this young boa constrictor. At Gallon Jug we also found a nimble Three-lined Opossum hunting for dinner.
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
We explored the Chan Chich area for three days, never far from the conspicuous and hungry Black-cheeked Woodpeckers--caught in these pictures feasting on palm fruits. One particularly nice feature of this site was the abundance of parrots: Mealy, Brown-headed, Yellow-headed, and the omnipresent Red-lored. |
Above Chan Chich are some temples overlooking the main plaza--several of them still contain trenches used by looters and archaeologists to recover artifacts.
Henry at Chan Chich |
Chan Chich Jungle
Fork-tailed Flycatcher |
At the sprawling cattle ranch of Gallon Jug we spotted three King Vultures and a number of grassland species like Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Tropical Kingbird. Back at the lodge, we had superb looks at Social Flycatcher.
Social Flycatcher
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Tropical Kingbird
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Slaty-tailed Trogon |
As we headed north back to Belize City, we made a final stop at Laguna Seca. On the side road to this beautiful lake we came upon a family of Slaty-tailed Trogons, which obliged us with several photo opportunities. Down the road, Jim was photographing a troop of coatimundis from one trail while Suzanne and I were watching a Chestnut-colored Woodpecker on another. There was bird and animal activity everywhere!
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Tropical Mockingbird
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Our final evening and morning was spent at the Black Orchid Resort just west of Belize City. Along the Burrell Boom River, this turned out to be a very birdy location. When we arrived late in the afternoon, we were treated to fine views of euphonias, parrots, Tropical Mockingbirds, Altamira Oriole, and Linneated Woodpecker, among many others.
Yellow-throated Euphonia
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