Trip
Information
Date: January
12 - 24, 2009
Duration: 13
days
Leader: Colin
Jones and Peter Burke
Limit: 12 people
Cost: $4475
USD/CDN, Single supplement $725 USD/CDN
From: Belize
City, Belize
Highlights:
•
Wonderful,
often easy birding, with some highly localized and scarce species
numerous and obvious (e.g. Ocellated Turkey)
• Stunning historical ruins
• Magnificent nature lodges
• Large areas of unbroken tropical forests and wetlands with a
rich and diverse fauna
Featured
birds:
• Ocellated Turkey
• Orange-breasted Falcon
• Tody Motmot
• Great Curassow
• Sungrebe
• Jabiru
• American Pygmy Kingfisher
• King Vulture
• Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
• Ornate Hawk-Eagle
• Yucatan Nightjar
• Yucatan Parrot
Summary:
• Easy to moderate walking
• Warm days, hot on some afternoons, warm nights
• Good to outstanding accommodation
• Moderate amounts on driving, one long day
• Easy neotropical birding, lots of other wildlife
• Two boat trips
• 4 – 8 participants with one leader, 9 – 12 with two leaders
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We
plan our tour around four outstanding birding locations: Chan Chich
Lodge, Crooked Tree, Hidden Valley and Tikal. Imagine awakening
to Ocellated Turkeys gobbling outside your door, Bat Falcons perched
on a snag in the lodge grounds, Ornate Hawk-Eagle nesting close
by,
or a Jaguar ambling across the road. We look for Boat-billed and
Agami Herons, Sungrebe and Jabiru and take a night-time spotlighting
exploration
for potoos, pauraques and owls  as
well as Morelet's Crocodile and Hickatee-a large river turtle-.
In Tikal National Park over 200
species occur, including woodcreepers, tanagers, cotingas, manakins,
toucans,
trogons, and much more. Imagine sitting atop a magnificent Mayan
pyramid with King Vultures and White Hawks circling close by, Orange-breasted
Falcons in sight, and tropical forest canopy stretching as far the
eye can see! This tour is what dreams are made of!
See detailed itinerary
below
Click here to download a checklist
from our 2007 Belize and Tikal tour
Click
here to download a checklist from our 2002 Belize and Tikal tour
Click
here to download a registration form
Photos by
Cam Gillies |
Itinerary
Day
1 - Arrival in Belize City
Our trip begins after supper at our hotel close to the airport. Night
near Belize City.
Day 2 – Monkey Bay and travel to Hidden Valley
We first visit the waterfront at Belize City to look for coastal species
such as Sandwich and Royal Terns and maybe a booby. Flowering gardens
nearby host Cinnamon Hummingbirds and Black-cowled and Hooded Orioles.
Then we head inland to the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for our first
introduction to neotropical families such as woodcreepers, honeycreepers,
motmots, manakins, maybe a puffbird. Commoner birds include Pale-vented
Pigeon, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Golden-fronted Woodpecker and Spot-breasted
Wren. Our trip along the road to Mountain Pine Ridge will be punctuated
with frequent stops, as this area is excellent for raptors – from
White Hawk to Bat Falcon to Black Hawk-eagle. Night at Hidden Valley Lodge.
Days 3 & 4 - Hidden Valley
We explore the pine forests, broadleaf stream valleys and cliffs of this
wonderful area. In the pine forests around the lodge we look for mixed
flocks containing Grace’s Warbler amongst the northern migrants
and, with luck, we may even find a roosting Stygian Owl or Ferruginous
Pygmy-Owl. The broadleaf gullies are home to Little Hermits and Blue-crowned
Motmots, and on past tours we’ve found Tody Motmots and White-throated
Spadebills there, and the gardens of the lodge are frequented by Acorn
and Golden-olive Woodpeckers, Rusty Sparrows, Azure-crowned Hummingbirds,
Black-headed Saltators, and Yellow-tailed and Yellow-backed Orioles. We
take excursions to the nearby Thousand Foot Falls (the highest waterfall
in Central America), where we search for the rare Orange-breasted Falcon,
and to King Vulture Falls, where we will hopefully see the vultures that
gave it its name.
An early start the next morning will allow us to reach the forests and
ruins at Caracol where we will search in particular for the rare Keel-billed
Motmot amongst the ruins. The foothill forests here support a diverse
array of birds, from Crested Guans to Black-crested Coquettes, and we
should have a great day exploring this beautiful area. Nights at Hidden
Valley Lodge.
Day 5 - Travel to Tikal
Before breakfast we investigate once again the areas around the Hidden
Valley lodge, looking for mixed species flocks. We then drive to the international
border and, after crossing into Guatemala, we will bird some of the roadside
marshes and lakes. In the mid- to late afternoon we should arrive at Tikal
National Park, an internationally renowned site for both its magnificent
Mayan ruins and its incredible wealth of wildlife. We will have some time
to do a little birding around the lodge, where we should see Ocellated
Turkeys feeding close to our lodge at dusk. Night in Tikal National Park.
Days 6 and 7 - Tikal National Park
There are few more exhilarating experiences than walking among the fabulous
Mayan ruins at Tikal and watching a wealth of wildlife, often surprisingly
unconcerned about our presence. The view atop Temple VI is amazing as
one looks in all directions over the top of unbroken tropical forest and
observes several raptors circling over the canopy. The list of potential
raptors is so impressive that it even includes Crested Eagle! Ocellated
Turkeys and Great Curassows stroll through the clearings. Motmots and
puffbirds perch quietly along forested trails and Thrush-like Manakins
(Schiffornis) whistle melodiously from the undergrowth. Mixed-species
flocks containing an interesting mixture of tanagers (led by Black-throated
Shrike-Tanagers), warblers and flycatchers move through the canopy, while
woodcreepers, ant-tanagers, and antbirds follow army ant swarms. Our time
at Tikal will be full and exciting. Nights in Tikal National Park.
Day 8 - Tikal to Chan Chich
We do some early morning birding along the old airstrip before taking
a bus to Flores where we will catch a commercial flight to Belize City.
Upon arrival we will take a short charter flight to Gallon Jug, from where
we transfer by van to Chan Chich Lodge, which is in the middle of a 130,000
acre private reserve. We arrive in time for lunch and after we will do
some birding around the lodge and along the entrance road. Night in Chan
Chich.
Days 9 and 10 - Chan Chich and Surroundings
At Chan Chich (“little bird” in Mayan) we explore over 9 miles
of trails and experience the same sights, sounds and smells that the ancient
Maya enjoyed more than 1200 years ago. Birding starts as soon as one wakes
up. Our cabañas are situated in a clearing in the forest, which
is used as a thoroughfare for a whole suite of birds, from Ocellated Turkeys,
Great Curassows and Crested Guans to parrots, flycatchers and tanagers.
Howler and Spider Monkeys regularly parade around the perimeter of the
clearing. The lush jungle surrounding the lodge is also home to Brocket
Deer and Coatimundi. The trails are wide and well-kept, and traverse marvelous
tropical forest with several excavated and unexcavated Mayan ruins, and
birding is superb. There are lots of tanagers, hummingbirds, toucans and
araçaris, flycatchers, cotingas—Chan Chich is a good spot
for finding Tody Motmot, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird and Northern Royal
Flycatcher. Raptors could include Black and Ornate Hawk-Eagles, Bat Falcon,
Collared Forest-Falcon, Laughing Falcon, and Black-and-white Owl. The
Montezuma Oropendola is a common sight and can often be seen at their
three-foot-long nests that hang from the lower canopy. And there is always
an outside chance of glimpsing a cat—Jaguarundi, Ocelot, Puma or
even Jaguar. In total, over 300 bird species have been recorded at Chan
Chich. Nights at Chan Chich.
Day 11 - Transfer to Bird's Eye View Lodge
After breakfast, we leave Chan Chich and head for the remarkably productive
wildlife areas at Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. En route, we stop at
the rice paddies and Property For Belize, where we look for Lesser Yellow-headed
Vultures among the very similar Turkey Vultures. Black-belliedand Fulvous
Whistling-ducks are often found in the huge flocks of Blue-winged Teal
which overwinter in the area. Night at Bird's Eye View Lodge.
Day 12 - Crooked Tree
The Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary is a superb area of marshes, lagoons, and
pine and hardwood forests. It has an extensive complex of shallow lagoons streams,
rivers and marshes, linked to Belize River via Black Creek and Mexico Creek.
The aquatic and riverine habitats are a highlight of our visit; we could encounter
tiger-herons, Agami and Boat-billed Herons, Snail Kite, Black-collared Hawk,
Great and Common Black-Hawks, Muscovy Duck, Sungrebe, and American Pygmy Kingfisher.
There are nesting Jabirus on Western Lagoon, which we will make a special effort
to locate. Our night-time Spotlight River Safari should turn up potoos and pauraques
as well as lots of other interesting wildlife including crocodiles, turtles and
fish-eating bats. During our stay, we visit the pine savanna, with its strong
Yucatán assortment of birds—Yucatán Woodpecker, Yucatan Parrot,
Yucatán Flycatcher and Yucatán Jay. Aplomado Falcons cruise the
grasslands, and Grace’s Warblers grace the pines. The short tropical and
second-growth forest support Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Squirrel Cuckoos, Gray
Hawks, Laughing Falcons, and an array of orioles, saltators, flycatchers and
seedeaters. Night at Bird's Eye View Lodge.
Day 13 - Depart Crooked Tree
After breakfast we head back to Belize City, arriving around noon at the Belize
International Airport, where our wonderful tour concludes.
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