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.
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| Rufous Tailed Hummingbird |
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| Anhinga |
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| Bromeliad Plant-- birds drink water out of the center during the dry season. |
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| 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.
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| Bus Stop |
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| The Path to the Cabin |
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| The Pond by the Cabin |
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| Monkey on the Island |
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| 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
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
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