Swimming with Green Turtles, Akumal, Mexico

What a fantastic experience it was, snorkeling up close and personal with beautiful Green Sea Turtles. The guided trip was booked with Tulum based eco-tour guide, the Agua Clara Project:, who I would recommend highly: www.aguaclaraproject.com,  

Yes, that's us with a beautiful Green Turtle    

Later on we stopped at a cenoté for some fresh water swimming which was also an excellent experience

Sophie and Jamie at the cenoté

Lamanai Lodge Belize, bird list

At least 116 species seen, and many more heard only, in less than 3 days, and remember this was not an out and out birding trip!
  
Bare Throated Tiger Heron      
Great Blue Heron                    
Black Crowned Night Heron    
Great Egret                              
Snowy Egret                            
Little Blue Heron                      
Green Heron                            
Boat-Billed Heron                    
White Ibis                                
Black Vulture                        
Turkey Vulture                        
Black Bellied Whistling Ducks
Muscovy Duck                      
Osprey                                  
Swallow Tailed Kite              
Snail Kite                              
Crane Hawk                        
Great Black Hawk                
Roadside Hawk                    
Short Tailed Hawk                
White Breasted Hawk          
Collared Forest Falcon          
Bat Falcon                            
Plain Chacalaca                    
Grey Necked Wood Rail      
Sungrebe                              
Limpkin                                
Northern Jacana                    
Pale Vented Pigeon              
Common Ground Dove        
Plain Breasted Ground Dove
Ruddy Ground Dove            
White Tipped Dove              
Gray Fronted Dove              
Olive Throated Parakeet      
White Fronted Parrot            
Red Lored Parrot                
Squirrel Cuckoo                  
Grove Billed Ani                  
Northern Potoo                    
Common Parague                
Chimney Swift                      
Vaux's Swift                        
Long Tailed Hermit              
White Bellied Emerald          
Rufus Tailed Hummingbird    
Black Headed Trogon          
Slaty Tailed Trogon              
Ringed Kingfisher                
Green Kingfisher                  
American Pigmy Kingfisher  
Collared Aracari                  
Keel Billed Tucan                
Yucatan Woodpecker        
Golden Fronted Woodpecker
Yelllow Bellied Sapsucker  
Pale Billed Woodpecker    
Lineated Woodpecker        
Olivaceous Woodcreeper  
Ivory Billed Woodcreeper  
Barred Antshrike                
Black Faced Antthrush      
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet
Yellow Belled Elanea          
Yellow Olive Flycatcher      
Vermillion Flycatcher          
Dusky Capped Flycatcher  
Brown Crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee                
Boat Billed Flycatcher      
Social Flycatcher                
Sulphur Bellied Flycatcher  
Tropical Kingbird              
Couch's Kingbird              
Rose Throated Bicard        
Masked Tityra                  
Red Capped Manakin        
Yellow Green Vireo              
Lesser Greenlet                  
Brown Jay                        
Purple Martin                    
Gray Breasted Martin        
Mangrove Swallow            
Spot Breasted Wren          
White Bellied Wren          
White Breasted Wood Wren
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher      
Black Catbird                    
Tropical Mockingbird        
Prothonotary Warbler        
Gray Crowned Yellowthroat
Blue Gray Tanager            
Yellow Winged Tanager    
Yellow Throated Euphonia
Blue black Grassquit          
White Collared Seedeater
Olive Sparrow                  
Green Backed Sparrow    
Botteri's Sparrow            
Grayish Saltator                
Black headed Saltator        
Blue black Grosbeak        
Red Winged Blackbird      
Eastern Meadowlark        
Melodious Blackbird        
Great Tailed Grackle        
Black Cowled Oriole        
Hooded Oriole                
Yellow Backed Oriole      
Altamira Oriole                  
Yellow Tailed Oriole          
Yellow Billed Cacique        
Spotted Sandpiper            
Semi palmated Plover        
Clay coloured Robin          

 The kids with our excellent guide Eduardo

Me and Eduardo after another successful birding session   

            

Lamanai Outpost Lodge, Belize - Day 4

Our final morning at Lamanai, and we were being picked up at the dock at 11.30am. Not to waste a minute, Sophie and I booked a sunrise canoe safari. We paddled across the lagoon, with our guide, (but no camera) and silently glided along a small inlet getting good views of birds and crocodiles.

The main birds of note was my one and only Bare Throated Tiger Heron, that showed well in a tree as we drifted past and a pair of smart Prothonotary Warblers. Once back, after breakfast and packing I spent the last 90 minutes birding the gardens.

(f) Blue Black Grosbeak

Another Prothonotary Warbler high up in the foliage

Brief views of 2 Barred Antshrikes

Lamanai Outpost Lodge, Belize - Day 3

Day 3 at Lamanai was a busy day. It started at 5am for me with a private Savannah birding walk. At the cost of just $30, guide Eduardo took m by speed boat to the other side of the lagoon to new habitat where we hoped to catch up with some new species of birds.

We spent a great couple of hours pre-breakfast adding around 15 species to the trip list. A full list of the birds seen at Lamanai will be posted shortly.    

My first Green Kingfisher

Grey Crowned Yellowthroat

Vermilion Flycatcher - very smart and one of 4 seen that morning

Black Headed Trogon

Green Kingfisher

After breakfast we headed to the famous Lamanai Mayan ruins, which was fantastic. Some pics to be posted later.

Owl Butterfly - I wonder why it's called that?

I am still working on the ID of this one?

Awwww - a baby Howler

Before dinner we headed out on a sunset cocktail cruise, just the 4 of us, with a guide and a few rum punches. It turned out to be a good excursion with quite a few birds seen. Including:

 it    

Great Black Hawk - be interested if anyone has any other view on the ID of this bird - one seen, it was large had two white bars on the tail

Muscovy Duck

Sophie and Jamie enjoying the relaxing cruise

After another delicious dinner we were back out again on another spot light boat safari.   Roosting Kingfishers and another Northern Potoo were seen as well as this cracker below!

ID competition: before you look at the (crap) pic below can you work out what this roosting bird is?

Sun Grebe - very smart in the bins - unfortunately I was unable to do it justice with a decent pic 

Lamanai Outpost Lodge - Day 2

We were woken at 5am by Howler Monkeys scaring the life out of us, in trees outside our cabin. At 6am we were at the lodge tucking into early morning coffee and hot muffins, before our 6.30am guided jungle dawn walk, with our excellent guide, Eduardo.

Bat Falcon - distant and in poor early morning light - one of a pair on site

Me and Eduardo birding

Dense habitat - the lack of bird photos paints a very different picture to what it was like. Over 2 hours we had around 50 species of birds, almost all of them were difficult to photograph in dense foliage and or high up in the canopy.   

 White Collared Seed Eater - common along edges and open brush

Jamie checking out a Keel Billed Tucan

 Tropical Kingbird - relatively common

After another afternoon exploring the grounds, Sophie and I went on a night walk around the grounds while Jamie and Julia went on another night boat safari. I was left slightly jealous as they came across a Northern Potoo, which showed down to c12 feet.   

 

Red Eyed Tree Frog

Kinkajou - one of 2 seen 

Cane Toad

 Also seen were a Possum, a Turantula and a family party of roosting Rufous Bellied Chachalaca.

Lamanai Outpost Lodge, Belize - Day 1

After two nights in Tulum Mexico, where it was very quiet bird wise, but beautiful and restful, we headed south, by road, across the Mexican border into Belize. After 4 hours we were dropped off at an inland boat dock where we were were met by a ranger from Lamanai Outpost Lodge, boarded a speed boat and headed into the jungle.

During the 1 hour 15 min journey we saw plenty of wildlife along the way.

Boat Billed Heron 

Snail Kite

Northern Jacana

We arrived at the lodge around 2pm where a tasty lunch was laid on and we spent some time  looking at the activities on offer. Included in the price are two activities per person, per day, including a dawn birding walk, night safaris by foot or boat, spear fishing and a visit to the Mayan temples. Further activities could be also be done at extra cost. 

Over lunch Rufus Tailed Hummingbirds buzzed around the feeders, occasionally joined by a stunning Long Tailed Hermit.

 Long Tailed Hermit - this bird was a bugger to photograph, never staying still for long and almost always on the same feeder with bright light behind  

 Rufus Tailed Hummingbird 

 After unpacking we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds, seeing our first Howler Monkeys of the trip. After a delicious dinner we headed out on our first activity; a spot light boat safari.      

We spent two hours cruising the lagoon and inlets. A number of Moreletes Crocodiles were found as well as some cracking roosting birds.    

 

 (American) Pigmy Kingfisher - tiny, the size of a wren

  

Proboscis Bat

Mexican Tree Frog

Grey Necked Wood Rail

Ringed Kinfisher - what a brute at 17 inches!

Many other birds were seen but not photographed at Lamanai on day 1 including of note a White Breasted Hawk, Keel Billed Tucan, Brrown Jays, a Northern Potoo in flight from the spot light safari, and on route from Mexico, by car my one and only Turquoise Browed Motmot.