Date: February 6-12, 2018

Location: Belize

Report by: Joe Giunta

A photo album from Ardith can be found at: http://www.ardithbondi.com/page135.html

Our group consisted of Joe, Charlie, Peggy, Kate, Mary Jane, Gillian, Marion, Ron, Ed, Susan. Ardith, Alice, Geri and John. We visited two different habitats, the lowlands, staying at Bird’s Eye View Lodge in Crooked Tree, and the highlands, staying at Crystal Paradise Lodge, near St. Ignacio in the Cayo District. It was the fourth time that Happy Warblers LLC had sponsored a trip to Belize. This year we had one 22 passenger van with Eric Tut as our guide. He was with us at all times. The one large van made it very comfortable for everyone to move around in the van and made it for a more social group. It was a highly successful trip with 204 species seen by most members of our group.

Feb. 6: Our American Airlines flight out of JFK airport left on time at 7:45am and after transferring planes in Miami our Belize flight took off and also arrived right on time. Our guide Eric met us at the airport and we started birding immediately. The first bird seen was a Vermillion Flycatcher. It was a “lifer” for most people and no matter what birds you see in the world the Vermillion Flycatcher will always be regarded as just spectacular. Two other flycatchers, Scissor-tailed and Fork-tailed, were both present on the fence at the airport and put on a nice show. During our trip we would see 17 flycatcher species in all.

Another nicely spotted bird was the Yellow-headed Vulture. We traveled for a short distance and stopped at a shrimp farm. Here we saw some shorebird species as well as some terns. The highlight for the group was the ten Black-necked Stilts that we saw. Egret and herons were also seen in good numbers. After about an hour we headed towards our first lodge, the Bird’s Eye View Lodge in Crooked Tree. Dinner was waiting for us and then we went out for nighttime birding. Best birds of the night were three very cooperative Pauraques. We also saw a Boat-billed Heron. It used to be called a Boat-billed night-heron because it is most active at night.

Feb. 7: Coffee and some fruit were available at 5:30 and by 6am we were ready to do some birding on the grounds. This would be the usual routine for our entire trip as birding in the early morning is usually best. Today we birded the grounds of Crookled Tree, lunched and then drove and walked into a pine savannah. Birds seen on the grounds included all the usual egrets and herons, namely: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret and Green Heron. Highlight was the great view of the Striped Cuckoo. We also had many views of Limpkins.

Orioles were well represented with good looks at: Baltimore, Orchard, Black-cowled, and Hooded. Another well seen and beautiful bird was the Yucatan Jay. We encountered a flock of over 25 of them on the trail. A lifer for everyone except Eric our guide. Lunch and dinner were both at the lodge. After dinner we would do the “list” as that was part of our routine. Conditions for sleeping were excellent with a nice cooling breeze coming off of the lagoon.

Also excellent was that we had no rain to speak of during the entire seven days. For two weeks before our arrival they had rain almost every day. We did feel the effects of the rain as we could not go to El Pilar or 1000 foot falls as the roads were under water. Being resourceful we found other venues to bird.

Feb. 8: We were up a little bit earlier as today we had a three hour boat ride on the lagoon. Everybody loves boat rides and for some it was the highlight of the entire trip. We had coffee and fruit first, then the boat ride, then a late breakfast, really a brunch. Water conditions were high and there was no shorebird flats as we had in prior years. We did see many hawk species on the ride. We saw: Osprey, Great Black Hawk, Aplomado Falcon, Black-collared Hawk, Snail Kite and Gray Hawk. Ringed and Belted Kingfishers also made for nice viewing. After the boat ride and our brunch we headed towards our next lodge, the Crystal Paradise.

On the way we stopped at the Belize Zoo. The rule was if the bird is in a cage we can’t count it but if it was flying around the grounds it was OK for our list. In the cages were Harpy Eagle, Spectacled Owl and King Vulture. Outside of the cages were many warbler species. We saw: Hooded, Grace’s, Black-and-white, Redstart and Yellow-throated. Also outside of the cages was a Lineated Woodpecker. We had excellent looks. We left the zoo and headed towards our next lodge and dinner. It was a great day of birding.

Feb. 9: We were at our new lodge, the Crystal Paradise. Feeders were set up as we had breakfast and the Lesson’s Motmot and Brown Jays put on a nice show. Today was supposed to be El Pilar but because of the flooded road we when to Spanish Lookout and Aguacate Lagoon. The birding was very good. At Spanish Lookout we saw many, many Meadowlarks. Other birds in the area that we saw were: Crested Caracara, Laughing Falcon and American Kestrel. We had lunch in town and then an ice cream desert at Western Dairy. We went to Aguacate Lagoon and saw some nice birds of the broad leaf forest. They included: White-whiskered Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Olivaceous and Ivory Billed Woodcreepers to name a few.

Feb. 10: Another day and another venue. Today we birded Mountain Pine Ridge. On our way to this location we first stopped at a roadside location that was known to be good for finches and seed eaters. Here we had good looks at the beautiful Blue Bunting, one of the highlights of the entire trip. Other small birds were also present. We saw: Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-faced Grassquit, White-collared Seedeater, Indigo Bunting and Thick-billed Seed Finch. In the Pine Forest we drove to an area that had an excellent elevation for seeing flyover raptors. We saw: White Hawk, Swallow-tailed Kite and best of all two King Vultures. We returned a bit early, took a break and then did some birding on the grounds of the lodge. We saw a good number of N.A. warblers, Summer Tanager and Wood Thrush. We also heard a very vocal White-eyed Vireo. Dinner was at the lodge and we prepared for our last full day of birding.

Feb. 11: The Blue Hole National Park was our destination for the day. The park has two parts, one that leads to Herman’s Cave and the other which has the actual “Blue Hole.” On our first part we walked towards Herman’s Cave. Along the way we saw a Barred Antshrike, female. We also recorded Dusty Antbird, not the best view, and Dot-winged Antwren. We drove about a half mile to the “Blue Hole” part of the park. It is a cool place for an afternoon swim. It was formed by water running through a limestone cave producing a powder blue swimming hole. Here half of our group took a swim in the Blue Hole. After swimming, drying off and having lunch we did some birding. We saw: Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers, Tennessee Warbler (our only one), Rose-throated Becard and the interesting Plain Xenops.

Feb. 12: Before breakfast we did some birding on the grounds of the lodge picking up the Red-capped Manakin, Masked Tityra, Yellow-throated Euphonia and Black-headed Trogon. We had breakfast and then headed towards Belize City and the airport. We were very lucky and picked up a number of birds right at the shoreline in Belize City. The birds included: Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Laughing Gull, Sandwich Tern and Royal Tern among others. A small pond had a number of shorebirds. We saw: Lesser-yellowlegs, Long and Short billed Dotwitchers and a Willet. It was an excellent trip, we made new friends, we saw great birds and our return flight was right on time.

SPECIES SEEN

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

Anhinga

Magnificent Frigatebird

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Tricolored Heron

Little Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Boat-billed Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Wood Stork

White Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Blue-winged Teal

Lesser Scaup

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

King Vulture

Osprey

Swallow-tailed Kite

White-tailed Kite

Snail Kite

Crane Hawk

White Hawk

Great Black-Hawk

Black-collared Hawk

Gray Hawk

Roadside Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Ornate Hawk-Eagle

Crested Caracara

Laughing Falcon

American Kestrel

Aplomado Falcon

Bat Falcon

Plain Chachalaca

Limpkin

Gray-necked Wood-Rail

Purple Gallinule

Common Moorhen

American Coot

Northern Jacana

Black-necked Stilt

Killdeer

Common Snipe

Short-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher

Lesser Yellowlegs

Solitary Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Willet

Least Sandpiper

Herring Gull

Laughing Gull

Caspian Tern

Sandwich Tern

Royal Tern

Rock Pigeon

Pale-vented Pigeon

Red-billed Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

White-winged Dove

Common Ground-Dove

Plain-breasted Ground-Dove

Ruddy Ground-Dove

White-tipped Dove

Olive-throated Parakeet

White-crowned Parrot

White-fronted Parrot

Red-lored Parrot

Squirrel Cuckoo

Groove-billed Ani

Striped Cuckoo

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Pauraque

Western Long-tailed Hermit

Stripe-throated Hermit

Green-breasted Mango

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Cinnamon Hummingbird

White-bellied Emerald

Purple-crowned Fairy

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Black-headed Trogon

Violaceous Trogon

Belted Kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher

Blue-crowned Motmot

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

White-whiskered Puffbird

Collared Aracari

Keel-billed Toucan

Acorn Woodpecker

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Yucatan Woodpecker

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Pale-billed Woodpecker (heard only)

Tawny-winged Woodcreeper

Olivaceous Woodcreeper

Ivory-billed Woodcreeper

Barred Antshrike

Dot-winged Antwren

Dusky Antbird

Red-capped Manakin

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher

Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Yellow-olive Flycatcher

Tropical Pewee

Least Flycatcher

Vermilion Flycatcher

Yucatan Flycatcher

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Social Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

Couch's Kingbird

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Gray-collared Becard

Rose-throated Becard

Black-crowned Tityra

Gray-breasted Martin

Tree Swallow

Mangrove Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

House Wren

Gray Catbird

Tropical Mockingbird

Wood Thrush

Clay-colored Robin

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Tropical Gnatcatcher

Brown Jay

Yucatan Jay

White-eyed Vireo

Mangrove Vireo

Yellow-throated Vireo

Lesser Greenlet

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

Tennessee Warbler

Northern Parula

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Grace's Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

American Redstart

Northern Waterthrush

Louisiana Waterthrush

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat

Hooded Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Red-throated Ant-Tanager

Summer Tanager

Passerini's Tanager

Blue-gray Tanager

Yellow-winged Tanager

Yellow-throated Euphonia

Green Honeycreeper

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Blue-black Grassquit

White-collared Seedeater

Thick-billed Seed-Finch

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Chipping Sparrow

Grayish Saltator

Buff-throated Saltator

Black-headed Saltator

Black-faced Grosbeak

Northern Cardinal

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Blue Bunting

Blue Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Melodious Blackbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Yellow-tailed Oriole

Hooded Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Orchard Oriole

Black-cowled Oriole

Yellow-billed Cacique

Montezuma Oropendola

Black-headed Siskin

Species seen - 204