2007 Tour Narrative
Our first day of this year’s Belize: Birds and Butterflies tour was spent north of Belize City where we visited Mayan Wells and the magnificent Maya ruins of Altun Ha. As usual, it took us a while just to get to Mayan Wells as we stopped for a variety of interesting birds such as Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Groove-billed Ani, Green-breasted Mango, Black-crowned Tityra, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike and Palm Warbler (the latter a familiar North American species but quite scarce on the Belezian mainland). Mayan Wells was delightful as always and provided us with a long list of birds and butterflies as well as an excellent meal. Highlights there included Ruddy Ground-Dove, Gray-fronted Dove, Olive-throated Parakeet, Canivet’s and White-bellied Emeralds, Rose-throated Becard, Masked Tityra, Blue-gray and Yellow-winged Tanagers, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Grayish & Black-headed Saltators, Thoas Swallowtail, Mexican Cycadian, Variable and Guatemalan Crackers and Brown and Plain Longtails. We even saw a group of Coatis there. At Altun Ha, we were given a fascinating tour by Anna Marie. Along the way, we noted quite a few interesting butterflies including Tailed Orange, Mimosa and Little Yellows, Common Lemmark, Theona Checkerspot, Phaon Crescent, One-spotted Prepona and Veined White-Skipper. We ended the day at Bird’s Eye View Lodge on Crooked Tree Lagoon. As we settled into our rooms, we quickly added a host of waterbirds to our day list, including the beautiful Southern Lapwing, a vagrant to Belize which has now been present at Crooked Tree for over two years.
Our second day was spent exploring the riches of Crooked Tree Sanctuary. It was difficult to get much farther than the vicinity of the lodge where the early morning flight of herons, cormorants, and terns held our attention for quite a while. Equally impressive was the collection of birds in the backyard pond including Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, Northern Jacana, the ever-present Southern Lapwing and several very cooperative Vermilion Flycatchers. After pulling ourselves away, we spent much of the morning in the pine savannah and cashew orchards where we found Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Pale-vented Pigeon, White-fronted and Red-lored Parrots, Acorn, Red-vented and Lineated Woodpeckers, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Yucatan Jay, Polydamas Swallowtail, Ghost and Barred Yellows, Demonassa Groundstreak (this little gem posed in our hands for photos!), Erato Heliconian, Gray Cracker, Two-banded Satyr, Yellow-tipped Flasher and Proxenus Blue-Skipper. After lunch and a siesta, we took a delightful boat trip through Crooked Tree Lagoon and Spanish Creek with Leonard. Along the way, we found Muscovy Duck, Boat-billed Heron, Snail Kite, Black-collared Hawk, Limpkin, Lesser Nighthawk, Ringed and Green Kingfishers, Barred Antshrike, Prothonotary Warbler and Yellow-billed Cacique. After a fine dinner, we took a stroll down the street and had excellent views of a Common Pauraque seeking its own dinner by the street lights.
We began day three with a couple hours of birding around Crooked Tree. Highlights included Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Purple Gallinule, Yellow-lored Parrot, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, nice views of Spot-breasted Wren, a noisy group of Rose-throated Becards and a quieter but very cooperative group of Yucatan Jays. Back at the lodge, a friendly Yellow-throated Warbler visited us at the breakfast table, adding to our long list of fond memories from Crooked Tree. We returned to Belize City and took a late-morning flight to Gallon Jug where we entered a world entirely different from that on the coast.
It’s always difficult to convey just how amazing Chan Chich is, with incredible natural history and anthropology along with a high level of comfort, fine food and amazingly friendly service – all in the largest tract of unbroken forest in Central America. There’s nowhere else quite like it. Five glorious days here weren’t nearly enough!
During our stay at Chan Chich, we walked most of the extensive trail system. On our very first walk to the Sac Be Trail we found our best bird of the trip, a female Lovely Cotinga, the “Holy Grail” of birds at Chan Chich! What a way to start! The next morning, Gilberto took us on an interesting walk to the Upper Plaza and Back Plaza Trail where he explained the history of the Maya at Chan Chich and gave us an excellent botany lesson. Along the way we found Blue-crowned Motmot, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Rufous Mourner and a beautiful Purple-washed Eyemark. Our long hike along the Bajo Trail and Xaxe Venic Road proved a little frustrating but we did find some nice birds including Black Hawk-Eagle, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, White-bellied Emerald, Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Yucatan Flycatcher, White-bellied Wren, Gray-throated Chat and butterflies such as Orion, Memnon Giant-Owl and One-banded Satyr. Most afternoons we ended up at one of the “bathing pools” along the Sac Be or Logger’s Trails. Here, birds came down to drink and bathe in the afternoon heat, providing us with exceptional views in a glorious setting. Highlights here included Great Tinamou (excellent, prolonged views of one as it “froze,” hoping we didn’t see it), Purple-crowned Fairy (just amazing to watch this little gem take a bath!), Green Kingfisher, Ochre-bellied and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes, White-throated Robin, Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-and-white, Prothonotary, Worm-eating, Kentucky and Hooded Warblers, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern and Louisiana Waterthrushes, Black-throated Shrike-Tanager and, best of all, a Bicolored Hawk (well, at least some of us saw it – ARRRG!). Probably our favorite walk of all was to Norman’s Temple where we stumbled into a large antswarm at a location where visibility was excellent. This flock yielded an impressive list of birds including Violaceous and Slaty-tailed Trogons, Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Plain Xenops, Tawny-winged, Ruddy, Olivaceous, Wedge-billed, Strong-billed, Northern Barred and Ivory-billed Woodcreepers, Plain Antvireo, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Sepia-capped, Royal and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, Tawny-crowned and Lesser Greenlets, Golden-crowned Warbler, Black-throated Shrike-Tanager and Red-crowned and Red-throated Ant-Tanagers! Also seemingly in association with this ant swarm was a Northern Tamandua which gave us excellent views as it foraged in the canopy. To cap off this amazing walk, we finally found and had superb views of a Tody Motmot at Norman’s Temple.
We took several drives through the course of the week. Our visit to the Hillbank Road cacao plantation with Ruben was highlighted by nice looks at White-whiskered Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous Piha, Green Honeycreeper, puddling Dark and Evasive Kite-Swallowtails, Apricot Sulphur, Yellow Angled-Sulphur and Many-banded Daggerwing at the suspension bridge and a beautiful Myscelus skipper. Our trip to the Escarpment with Raul saw an impressive 12 species of raptors including Gray-headed, Hook-billed and Double-toothed Kites, White, Broad-winged and Short-tailed Hawks, Great Black-Hawk and, best of all, an adult Ornate Hawk-Eagle on its nest. We also saw several King Vultures and our stay there was hosted by a displaying male Ocellated Turkey who clearly owned that prime piece of real estate! Our stops at Gallon Jug farm along the way produced Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, a huge mixed flock of seedeaters, buntings and grassquits, and several Eastern Meadowlarks which are likely distinct from birds in North America. Our night drive to Gallon Jug with Marvin and Luis was lovely as always, highlighted by excellent views of Vermiculated Screech-Owl, Common Pauraque and Northern Potoo, as well as Gray Fox and roosting Crested Guan and Wood Thrush.
As wonderful as all the drives and walks were, what is so special about Chan Chich is the amazing diversity to be found right outside our cabanas or by the verandah. During our “down time” between field trips, we were accompanied by the likes of Spider and Howler Monkeys, Crested Guan, Ocellated Turkey, Plumbeous Kite, Bat Falcon, Red-billed Pigeon, White-crowned, Red-lored and Mealy Parrots, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Long-billed Hermit, Rufous-tailed and Scaly-breasted Hummingbirds, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, Black-cheeked and Pale-billed Woodpeckers, Ochre-bellied, Least and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Couch’s Kingbird, Masked Tityra, White-collared and Red-capped Manakins, Yellow-winged Tanager, Scrub, Yellow-throated and Olive-backed Euphonias, Red-legged Honeycreeper, White-collared Seedeater, Black-headed Saltator, Melodious Blackbird, Giant Cowbird, Montezuma Oropendula, Ruby-spotted and Thoas Swallowtails, Banded Orange Heliconian, Julia, Zebra and Erato Heliconians, Theona Checkerspot, Bate’s Sister, One-spotted Prepona, Green-backed Ruby-Eye, Malicious Skipper, Brown Basilisk and Ghost Anole. The word “paradise” comes to mind.
Michael O’Brien
Updated: November 2007