Wildlife is Abundant in Belize

Wildlife in Belize

I'm not all that good with wildlife. Normally wildlife picks on me. In fact, I spent most of my time in Belize trying to capture birds on film digital, but ended up with empty sky, just water, or a blurry wing in the lower, right-hand corner. By the time we got to Laughingbird Caye, my shipmates took pleasure in showing me all the bird pictures they were getting. Sheila said, "Oh, Melanie, look. I was trying to get a picture of all the different colors of the water and this bird flew into the picture."

It was a beautiful shot.

I really don't care for birds.

But, being a loyal blogger, I sat in Starbucks today with my trusty National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America and tried to pick out the types of birds in the following photos. (Yes. I know Belize is in Central America, but I don't have one of those books.) I do not pretend to be an expert and I'd welcome any corrections.

It is my guess that this is a juvenile Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

(and I liked him because he encouraged me to take his photo)

This guy loved being photographed. He is a Great-tailed Grackle and you can see he was singing.

The is the bird that first began playing cat and mouse with me. Everytime I lifted my camera, he'd disappear. I think he is a Great Kiskadee, but he could be a Bananaquit.

Two Brown Pelicans sitting in a tree on Laughingbird Caye

Sandpiper

Now this appears to be a Great Blue Heron to me, but others say it is a Sandhill Crane. Normally Sandhill Cranes have a red head, however. I snagged several people in Starbucks and asked their opinions, but no one knew.

Gray Catbird

I'm pretty sure this and the picture below are Frigatebirds and I deleted over a hundred pictures that were not as good as these, trying to shoot them.

Great Egret

Adult male brewsteri Brown Booby

Bird of Paradise

Brown Pelican

The pelican on the rock is oblivious to the one coming in

He never moved. I think he must be a stuffed bird for the tourists.

But what a pretty sight

Mountain lion seen from my hotel door

Crab (yeah, okay, I don't have a crab book)

Another crab

Frog (don't have a frog book either)

Squirrel

Cabana Boys (I threw this in to see if you were still with me)

There are lizards and iguana all over the place,

but not in troublesome places.

This guy was along the path at the hotel

I call this "Wood Toucan," kind of like a wood duck. This should have been easy to photograph, but even this one moved.

Thanks for stopping by.