After arriving safely in Belize we ran around the airport to gather up our group – some had landed early and some had landed with us on our plane. Once we found Sandy, Virginia, Karen and Joann we stuffed all our luggage into our 13 passenger van and headed out to duPlooy’s, making our usual stop at Cheers for a meal and some great roadside birding. Cheers is the first real rest stop on the trip after being on a plane just about all day. Good local food and greetings from Belizean’s! While at the café we had good looks at our first “tropical birds” of the trip which included Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Black and Turkey Vulture, Pale-vented Pigeon, Red-lored Parrot, Grooved-billed Ani, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Ringed Kingfisher, Vermillion Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird and Mockingbird, Social Flycatcher, White-collared Seedeater, and Clay-colored Thrush. Just before we were about to sit down for our meal Raymond spotted an Aplomado Falcon cruising overhead at what seemed like light-speed. It was incredible – swift and agile like a Merlin but large, and long-winged, like our more familiar Peregrine Falcons back home – and as soon as it was there it was gone. At that moment we knew it was sure to be an incredibly special trip!
We arrived at duPlooy’s a little tired and battered from the bumpy road conditions – this past rainy season had taken its toll on the roads in Belize! One thing about the roads in Belize: every year brings a new surprise and mechanical test of the durability of the shocks and suspension in the rental vans. The van passed, a little bumpy, but we passed. Our mantra for the trip, “hang onto yourself, we’re going in!”, as we leave each paved area and venture into the jungle. Some of the group figured it out early in the trip, ‘keep your butt in the seat and hands on the ceiling, hold on’, some chose just to ‘roll with it’.
We got settled in at the River House and had a nice evening snack and off to bed.
Collared Aracari
The group got an early start to visit neighboring Black Rock Lodge, where the endangered Orange-breasted Falcon nests on the high cliffs which tower over that Macal River. The birding and the hospitality at this beautiful lodge are great! We often spend a great deal of our time sitting on their beautiful wood deck watching the birds come to fruit feeders and scanning the skies for raptors. Today was quite a day for raptors, and to start it off we had White Hawk, Osprey, a dark-morph Short-tailed Hawk, Great Black-Hawk , Bat Falcon, and a King Vulture. The fruit feeders were poppin’ too, with visitors being Yellow-winged Tanager, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Yellow-throated and Olive-backed Euphonias, Black-cowled and Baltimore Orioles, and the lovely Red-legged Honeycreeper. A Yellow-olive Flycatcher even flew to the feeders briefly to see what all of the commotion was about. Hiking the nearby trails we discovered Blue Ground-Dove, Lesser Greenlet, Pale-billed and Lineated Woodpeckers, Dusky-capped and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Yellow-bellied and Greenish Elaenias, Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Rose-throated Becard, Masked Tityra, Blue-black Grosbeak and Yellow-billed Cacique. The compost pile near the river produced quite a few of our well-known summer visitors, including White-eyed Vireo, Hooded Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-throated Green-Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler! The real treat was yet to come! As we made our way back to the lodge in the hot afternoon sun we heard what we had been hoping for, the whistle-like cry of an Ornate Hawk-Eagle. Moments later there it was, perched some 150 ft up in the top of a Guanacaste tree. We watched in amazement as its long feathery crest blew back on itself as it scanned the forest canopy. Then out of nowhere – whoosh – a pair of Bat Falcons fell out of the sky towards the Hawk-Eagle, like Kamikaze pilots. Standing in pure amazement we watched as the great bird and its two annoying sidekicks drifted off into the distance.
Lunch was relaxing on their open patio and birding continued while we ate. What a great day!
Ocellated Turkey
Up at the crack-of-dark, we got an early start (4 am ugh!) and drove (bumped and banged our way) to the Douglas de Silva Station to meet our caravanto the ruins. Let me just say that the staff at duPlooy’s ROCK! The kitchen made us a hearty breakfast and they packed a lunch for us to enjoy later in the day. Where else will folks get up at 2 am so you can go birding at 4 am? At the same time I know they are grateful this is the only really early morning of our trip!
We arrived at Caracol at little before 8 am and immediately caught Crested Guan and Ocellated Turkey on the road into the park. Caracol is always an impressive image as folks turn the corner into the main plaza and see for the first time the breathtaking Caracol ruins. Of course everyone must climb! Off they went up the giant stairs to the top of the temple and beyond! The ruins provided the setting for Swallow-tailed Kite, Plumbeous Kite, Gray Hawk, yet another Bat Falcon (last year we were hard pressed to find one), Blue Ground-Dove, Gray-fronted Dove, Scaled Pigeon, White-crowned Parrot, Red-lored Parrot, Gartered Trogon, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed Toucan, Acorn Woodpecker, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Brown Jay, Band-backed Wren, and Wood Thrush. While at the top of the main temple complex Raymond decided to shoot for the stars and imitate a Tody Motmot call. BOOM! Within seconds – I kid you not – a Tody Motmot was calling back. A short while later he spotted the adorable little bird sitting motionless on a horizontally vine. After gathering the troops everybody got spectacular looks, well, except for Lee who was stuck at the bottom of the ruins (she was awaiting a knee operation on return to the US). The ruins were the perfect backdrop for the great pendulum nest of the Montezuma Oropendola, on close inspection of the colony we noted 2-3 Giant Cowbirds (our largest brood-parasite in the New World, and clearly up to no good). On the drive back to the lodge we did some birding in the Mountain Pine Ridge area where we were treated to Rufous-capped Warbler, Rusty Sparrow, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Plumbeous Vireo, Chipping Sparrow, Grace’s Warbler (a non-migratory subspecies!), Thick-billed Seed-Finch, Melodious Blackbird, and heard only Black-headed Siskin. One of the highlights of the day was a flock of 30 Scarlet Macaws, which Lee spotted, floating effortlessly over the tree tops! A great end to an unforgettable day!
Hooded Warbler
Today we took it easy. After morning breakfast and canopy birding at duPlooy’s we departed for Xunantunich Archeological Site at a lazy 8am – a short drive just west of duPlooy’s and across the river. The hand cranked ferry was a lot of fun; Sandy took the gears and cranked us across the river. Several folks took a hand at working the ferry for the river crossing – work like this is fun when it’s not really your job.
Bat Falcon
Another amazing temple plaza, one of our personal favorites! The ruins were spectacular and we had good sightings of more than 30 Montezuma Oropendola nests, with the parents taking turns flying in and out to feed their young. We saw Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Olive-throated Parakeet, White-fronted Parrot, White-bellied Emerald, Black-headed Trogon, Blue-crowned Motmot, Northern Bentbill, Black Phoebe, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Couch’s Kingbird, Masked Tityra, Yellow-throated Vireo, Purple Martin, Gray-breasted Martin, Spot-breasted wren, Long-billed Gnatwren, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Eastern Meadowlark, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Orchard Oriole, and Yellow-throated Euphonia. And remember when we said Lee missed the Tody Motmot at Caracol… well, Raymond did it again. This time Lee got it, a bird she’s been hoping for since her first trip to Belize in 2009!
After cranking ourselves back across the ferry we took some time to do some shopping at the local market set along the Macal River. A variety of Belizean and Guamanian souvenirs at extremely reasonable prices are available. Then onto lunch at Benny’s, a local café, just up the road for a good meal on the open-air porch.
The afternoon back at duPlooy’s afforded the group time for a refreshing float down the Macal River in tubes! The floaters were fortunate to have up-close views of Muscovy Ducks, Amazon Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, and a small colony of bats that were roosting on an overhanging cliff face.
Today took us to a delightful hot spot, and it was hot in the sun! Saint Herman’s Cave and the Blue Hole. This national Park is a connected trail of two spots that offer great birding and a cool dip in a watering hole right in the middle of the jungle!
Barred Antshrike
Saint Herman’s Cave is an easy stroll down a well groomed path that takes you to the cave itself. It’s a circuit hike with an upper path and a lower path. We stayed on the lower path because it put you in the more shady spots; and it was a hot one! There was no disappointment in this choice, the cave path turned out to be some of our best birding of the trip. In the parking area we watched a Scaly-breasted Hummingbird as it stuck tight to its nest set almost directly over a busy highway. The cave trail and entrance was phenomenal! One of the things you hope for in a trip to the tropics is to run across a really sweet mixed-species flock, where you can often see an incredible number of species in a short amount of time. We hit the jackpot, and within five minutes we had seen Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Plain Xenops, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Northern Bentbill, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Tropical Peewee, Thrush-like Schiffornis, White-collared Manakin, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, American Redstart, Louisiana Waterthrush, Hooded Warbler, Gray-headed Tanager, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Yellow-winged Tanager, Black-headed Saltator. There was a lot of nesting going on at the mouth of the cave; Ridgeway’s Rough-winged Swallows were building nests just inside the mouth of the cave, a Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher was busy weaving the perfect little ball-of-a-nest, and two Royal Flycatchers were screaming back and forth, at the entrance to their long oriole-like nest, like a married couple. Raymond being the lucky birder that he is, always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and was able to see the Royal Flycatcher raise its fan-like crest! I believe his choice of words were, “OH MY GOD”. After 5 trips to see this species in this very location, Lee has yet to see it raise its crest, but no hard feelings!
Off to the swimming hole, a short drive and brief hike to a cool pool of wonderfulness. Here we glimpsed the impressive Orange-billed Sparrow and watched in amazement as a Purple-crowned Fairy, danced above the pool of water, dipping itself in and out to cool off; a very neat encounter with this elusive forest fairy!
Today we left duPlooy’s and started our trip into Guatemala, where we would spend two nights at the Tikal Jungle Lodge. DuPlooy’s is just about 15 minutes from the Belize/Guatemala border and our drivers shepherded us through the entire process of immigration and border crossing on both sides – it couldn’t have been smoother. Our Guatemala driver greeted us and took care of all matters on his side of the border and off we went. The drive to Tikal is about two hours, mas o menos, and we had a restful stop a las banos about halfway there, with free Guatemalan coffee and brief shopping. The Guatemalan roads are in far better condition than Belize roads and we had a restful and relaxing trip into the ancient city of Tikal. Once we arrived we took a brief time to settle in our rooms and then took an afternoon walk into the park, we saw Roadside Hawk, Northern Jacana, Short-billed Pigeon, Red-billed Pigeon, Brown-hooded Parrot, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-bellied Emerald, Black-headed Trogon, Gartered Trogon, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Collared Trogon, Blue-crown Motmot, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Lesser Greenlet, White-bellied Wren, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Summer Tanager, and Blue Bunting.
After a very full day of birding the participants were pooped and opted out of the optional night hike. Bad night to opt out! Wezil, Raymond, and Victor (a guiding friend from Belize) decided to go anyways. The plan was to hike about ¾ mile to a watering hole where Jaguar has been spotted at night. I’ll tell you now that we had no Jaguars, but we did spotlight some VERY large cocodrilos (crocodile, it’s just more fun to say in Spanish)! The best was yet to come. We heard Mottled Owl off and on throughout the hike, the Common Pauraques littered the trail ahead, but as we were talking amongst ourselves on the shore of the main pond in the Tikal market area we spotted a shadowy silhouette sitting 20 feet up in a tree. When we hit the shadowed figure with a light it quickly morphed into a Black-and-White Owl, sitting quietly above the water. We wondered if maybe it was fishing; it sure seemed concentrated on the surface of the water. There are many species of owls that will fish, but I’m not sure if this is one of them. After some high-fives we were off to bed, as we had a very early morning planned.
On our first morning in Guatemala we arose at 3:30 am to hike into the ancient city of Tikal under the light of the setting full moon. As we approached Temple IV (the High Temple) a Mottled Owl serenaded the sunrise. Sunrise from the top of the Mayan world was indescribable, like a Rufous Hummingbird’s gorget peeking through the morning cloud cover, giving an angelic glow to the temples in the foreground. They tell us it was the first time they’d seen the sun during sunrise in 15 days and that there is but a 10% chance of seeing the sun on any given day during sunrise because of the morning clouds; a truly moving experience. As the sun continued higher, the forest came alive with the calls of birds, and monkeys. The songs of Bright-rumped Attilas, and Ivory-billed Woodcreepers echoed through the forest and the screams of Howler Monkeys sounded off in all directions. We were very fortunate to spot an Emerald Toucanet from the top of the temple as it maneuvered its way through the canopy. After breakfast we returned to the park with our local guide, who gave us the history of the area and answered questions about the park, the ruins, the ancient rulers and just about anything we could conjure up to ask.
Tikal
We enjoyed wonderful up-close looks at Ocellated Turkey, in fact we had to be careful not to trip over them there were so many walking amongst us. Very cool! Mid day, on our way back for lunch, we spotted an Orange-breasted Falcon perched in a tree high above the Gran Plaza. This endangered species is quite hard to find in most of its range but breeds here, on the backside of Temple IV, and we have yet to miss it on a Guatemala trip. Other birds throughout the day included Mealy Parrot, Vaux’s Swift, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Bright-rumped Attila, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Black-crowned Tityra, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker and Gray-necked Wood-Rail. Last year Raymond found an Emerald Toucanet in its nesting tree just off of the main plaza, and sure enough there it was again poking its serpent-like head in and out of the tiny nest hole. Just before dinner a Mottled Owl flew in and landed only feet from the dining hall; a lovely goodbye from this spectacular part of the world.
Snail Kite
We said our goodbyes to Guatemala and returned to duPlooy’s for a mid-day break and relaxing lunch. Then we were off to Bird’s Eye View Lodge at Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. We arrived at Bird’s Eye View Lodge and took a little time to settle in our rooms before dinner. Much to our surprise we found the lagoon to be 10 feet higher than it has ever been before! This past rainy season took its toll on Crooked Tree Village, the roads were rough and the lagoons were full to the brim. We barely had a shore line to look at. Verna told me she lost 4 months of her season due to the flooding, a hardship on any small business. We were glad to be there and Verna and the staff were just as wonderful and gracious as ever.
On the grounds we had Snail Kite, Limpkin, Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Northern Jacana, Roseate Spoonbill, Bat Falcon, Green-breasted Mango, Ringed Kingfisher, Belted Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Vermillion Flycatcher, Purple and Gray-breasted Martin, Mangrove Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, and Indigo Bunting.
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture & Northern Jacanas
Sunrise breakfast and then off to the boats! As we were waiting to load on the boat we spotted a Jabiru, our largest New World stork and quite the sight to see, as it flew right overhead and out of sight. Last year we counted nearly 60 Jabirus but with the water as high as it was this year they needed to seek more shallow ponds for hunting. Our boat trip into the Spanish and Black Lagoons was fruitful as usual, we saw Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Neotropic Cormorant, Anhinga, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Les
ser Yellow-headed Vulture, Osprey, Snail Kite, Black-collared Hawk, Gray Hawk, Great Black-Hawk, Roadside Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Laughing falcon, American Coot, Limpkin, Northern Jacana, Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Willet, Least Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Laughing Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, and Mangrove Vireo. We were fortunate, yet again, to spot an adult Agami Heron creeping snake-like through the low dense mangrove tangles. Thanks Lenny, you are the man (he’s our local guide and boat driver).
Exploring the village we saw a Squirrel Cuckoo building its nest and got to spend a good amount of time observing this industrious home builder in action. In town we found quite a few specialties including Canivet’s Emerald, Yucatan Jay, Yellow-headed Parrot, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Common Tody-Flycatcher. Part of the joy of birding at crooked tree is talking with the locals and meeting all of the local kids, walking home from school, who love to point out birds to us. Crooked Tree is a bird and birder-friendly village that is well worth the visit! Raymond had a close encounter with a local hairdresser who gave him some awesome Rasta braids! Yah man!
Rasta Man Raymond
We packed up, hit the road and headed for the airport. But not before making one last stop along the coast where we added Magnificent Frigatebird, Mangrove Warbler, Black-bellied and Wilson’s Plover. A great trip with a ton of lifers for most and a handful of lifers for those that didn’t think they had many left to get. Great fun, great people! Next year we will make some modification to the trip, adding a full day trip to Lamanai by boat. Check it out! Belize is un-Belizable!
– Lee Hopwood & Raymond VanBuskirk
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