Enid's Trips: January 2018

We drove to Crooked Tree Bird Sanctuary. The Audubon Visitor’s Center had burned down the year before, so they removed the signs, making it very difficult to find. After passing what appeared to be the north end of the sanctuary on the map we turned around and went back to a very ill-kept road which took us to the village of Crooked Tree. Continuing on we got to Bird’s Eye View Lodge where we learned that all the rain had covered most of the trails and boardwalks. Outside the lodge was a tree covered with birdfeeders and hence birds, the most interesting of which was the Rufous-tailed hummingbird. We were able to get on a birding boat tour which went for almost 3 hours, the guide pointing out interesting birds, animals, and plants. The most impressive bird was the endangered jabiru stork flying above us for several minutes. Apparently it is very unusual to see it when the water is up so high since its food is covered in water. We also saw a large number of large green iguanas sunning themselves in the trees and a marlets crocodile sunning itself on the bank. The most interesting plant was the snake cactus which looked remarkably like a snake wrapped around a tree.

Rufous Tailed Hummingbird

Anhinga

Bromeliad Plant-- birds drink water out of the center during the dry season.

Merlet's Crocodile

After we finished the birding tour we left the sanctuary and went to the Black Orchid lodge for a late lunch and internet. Then we came back to the log cabin where I explored the 9 acres and the road either way. I turned back from one way since a bull and several cows who had been standing in the middle of the road had just been shooed off the road by a passing car, but I didn’t want to take a chance on it coming back onto the road on my way back. I walked down the road the other way but turned back when I saw a flock of mangy dogs sitting in the middle of the road. At that point I went back and took the canoe out into the pond and close to the island where I saw a green iguana, 2 small howler monkeys, and 3 grackles, all of which fled when they saw me. The water was calm and peaceful, a good time to pray and think.

Bus Stop

The Path to the Cabin

The Pond by the Cabin

Monkey on the Island

The House on the Other Side of the Pond

Birds:

Vermilion flycatcher

Spotted sandpiper

Social flycatcher

Grackle

Yellow throated warbler

Orioles

Rufous tailed hummingbird

Green heron
Red-Winged Blackbird

Woodstork

Osprey

Gb heron

Northern Jacana

Belted kingfisher

Snailkite

Neotropic cormorant

Mangrove swallow

Tropical kingbird

Turkey vulture

Green kingfisher

Magnolia warbler

Bat falcon

Black vulture

Snowy egret

Anhinga

Jabiru stork

Limpkin

Great egret

Mangrove vireo

Hooded oriole

Boat billed heron

Ringed kingfisher

Yellow tailed oriole

Great kiskidy (?)

Lesser yellow headed Savannah vulture

Roadside hawk

Rue billed ani

Ruffwing swallow

Tiger heron

Little blue heron

Laughing falcon

Banded falcon

Lineated woodpecker

Russel naped woodrail

Black crown night heron

Yellow crown night heron

Purple gavaneul (?)

Common ^

Plants:

Indigo tree (lagwood)

Bromeliad

Snake cactus

Tropical mistletoe

Other animals:

Apple snails (pink eggs = fresh)

Green Iguana

Marlets crocodile

January 29/30: All of our flights and connections went very smoothly. Plane #1 left Detroit at 9 PM only a little late because it had to de-ice. It arrived a few minutes early in Atlanta, and we caught the shuttle to our hotel just as it was starting to pull out. The flight the next morning to Belize, left roughly on time and arrived a few minutes early. In Belize City We had originally planned to take the bus for all of our accommodations, but in discussing the situation with Brucie, who picked us up, we decided that we would have a lot more options if we rented a car. So we went to the car rental area and rented a Suzuki Jimny from Jabiru car rental.

We rented a cabin from AirBNB which is off the beaten track but in the middle of a forest just south of the Crooked Tree Bird Sanctuary. It’s in the middle of 9 acres of woods and has a small pond with a canoe in the middle. We picked up some groceries and a Digicell SIM card from BTL on the way. The cabin is one big room with a small bathroom and a kitchenette as well as a big porch with 2 hammocks. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hammocks, caneing, exploring and then went to bed early. In the distance we could hear the monkeys howling.