Birds of Belize (Part Two), Eagle Eye Tours

The following pictures were taken in the vicinity of Crooked Tree, in Belize with Eagle Eye Tours in February and March of this year.

Gartered trogon

Yellow-tailed oriole
Barred antshrike
Northern jacana
White ibis and Snowy egret
Snail kite
Limpkin with snail
Yellow-crowned night heron (juvenile)
Great blue heron
Northern jacana adult flying to two juvenile northern jacanas
Agami heron
Yucatan woodpecker
Rufous-browed peppershrike
Vermillion flycatcher
Little blue heron
Ringed kingfisher
Ringed kingfisher
Snail kite with snail
Green heron
Yucatan jay
Jabiru. (A large stork that stands five feet tall and has a wing span of eight feet.)
American pygmy flycatcher
Common tody-flycatcher
Russet-naped wood rail with chick
Green kingfisher
Greater black hawk
White-necked puffbird
Black collared hawk
Yellow-headed Amazon (endangered)
Snail kite (mature male)
Black collared hawk
Greater black hawk
Greater black hawk
Acorn woodpeckers
Osprey
Jabiru
Black-crowned night heron

Birds of Belize (Part One), Eagle-Eye Tours

The following photos were taken on the February/ March tour with Eagle Eye Tours and were taken in the vicinity of the Jade Jungle Lodge and on day tours from this lodge.

Emerald toucanet
Slaty-tailed trogon
Squirrel cuckoo
Violet sabrewing
Black-headed trogon
Band-backed wren
Today motmot. (A very difficult bird to photograph, inhabiting dark undergrowth).
Central American pygmy owl
Acorn woodpeckers
Rufous-tailed hummingbird
Grace’s warbler
Lesser yellow-headed vulture
Ferruginous pygmy owl
Central American pygmy-owl
Swallow-tailed kite
Butterfly emerging from chrysalis
Keel-billed toucan
White hawk

A Visit to Tikal, Guatemala (Eagle-Eye Tours)

In late February, we travelled to Tikal, Guatemala and Belize with Eagle-Eye Tours. Tikal National Park is situated in the jungle of northeastern Guatemala and is one of the major sites of Mayan civilization. It was inhabited from the 6th Century BC to the 10th Century AD. Most of the larger Mayan buildings have been largely excavated, however the majority of structures remain covered by the jungle. The site is exceptional for biodiversity, with more than 300 species of birds, five species of cats, two species of monkeys, more than 100 species of mammals, more than 200 species of trees, as well as reptiles, amphibians, abundant insect types (I still have bites that itch!) and an incredible diversity of plants and flowers. The following photographs were all taken in Tikal. I will make subsequent postings from Belize.

Temple 1, also known as the Temple of the Great Jaguar.
Orange-breasted falcon. This falcon is about the size of a peregrine and roosts on the Mayan structures.
Orange-breasted falcon roosting on one of the Mayan ruins. This species is critically endangered.
Ocellated turkey. This bird has the most incredible feathers. The refraction of light from its feathers result in a metallic sheen and changing colours.
Ocellated turkey.
Keel-billed toucan, tossing back a seed
Tawny-winged woodcreeper
Tropical royal flycatcher
Yucatan spider monkey
Chestnut-coloured woodpecker
Black-headed trogon
Coatis

Roadside-hawk, on the nest.

American pygmy kingfisher
Agouti
Northern potoo
Boat-billed heron
Pale-billed woodpecker
Purple gallinule
Blue-grey gnatcatcher
White-crowned parrot
Red-lored parrot
Chachalaca
Brown jay
Barred forest falcon
Russet-naped wood rail, on the nest.
View of one of the courtyards of the Mayan ruins.
Mayan ruins “emerging” from the jungle.

Winter 2025- Photos from January and February

The Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island provide excellent opportunities for winter birding. These are some of my favourites from this year- so far. (I am also including some winter scenery shots. This is such a beautiful area of the country!)

Varied thrush
Northern hawk owl (a rarity for this area)
Common raven – performing its unique repertoire of strange calls!
Cedar waxwing. Some stay over in this area for the winter.
Surf scoter.
Mount Baker (Kulshan) as seen from Boundary Bay
Bald eagle. There are literally thousands of eagles in this region in winter months!
Anna’s hummingbird. This hardy species winters in the area, and by mid-February, many have started nesting.
Purple finch
Northern pygmy owl
Spotted towhee
Wood duck hen
American bittern
Northern pintail
Bewick’s wren
Ruby-crowned kinglet
The Salish Sea (Strait of Juan de Fuca) with the Olympic Mountains in the background.
Northern flicker
Fox sparrow
Marsh wren
The view from Port Renfrew
Trumpeter swans
Snow geese, with Mount Cheam in the background

Favourite Pygmy Owl Photos

I had not encountered pygmy owls before moving to the Fraser Valley of British Columbia in 2019. Since then I have been fortunate in seeing them every year, generally on logging roads. It has become one of my favourite owls to photograph, because they are challenging to find. When you do find them, they will generally let you watch them for a long time period, as long as you maintain a healthy distance. Indeed, they will ignore you and will hunt as if you are not present. I have watched them catch small rodents as well as lizards, and have had them dive to the ground a few feet from me and fly right past me as if I weren’t there. The following pictures have been taken over the last five years.

The fierce look of the hunter. Although the pygmy owl looks “cute” it is a very capable hunter and will take on birds that are considerably larger than it is.
The northern pygmy owl likes voles and shrews, as well as birds and lizards.
Note the vole the owl has in its claws.
This owl looks “innocent” until you notice the end of the rodent’s tail sticking out of its mouth.
When alarmed, the pygmy owl “stretches” out appearing larger and taller.
Commonly, you will see the northern pygmy owl, perched on top of a branch, from which it can see and listen for prey.
I see the northern pygmy owl most often in ares that have been logged out perhaps ten years earlier, and where trees have started to grow back.
This owl is guarding its prey, “mantling”, which is also something demonstrated by other species of owls.
The northern pygmy owl is a cavity nester, and has nests fairly high up in trees (often fir trees) near its hunting areas. I believe this owl was close to its nest although I did not attempt to find the nest. It flew into this area after successfully hunting lizards.
Southern cousins. Ferruginous pygmy owls, photographed in Costa Rica.

Some of My Favourite Nature Photos from 2024

The following photos span nature photography outings in 2024. It was a wonderful year for photography, and brought many surprises. These are a few of my favourite photos. I have posted some of them before. I start each week, month and year wondering what I might be able to see, and as we enter 2025, I have the same question. Wishing everyone who reads this blog, a healthy and happy year!

Mating red-eyed leaf frogs. Taken in Costa Rica on a night walk. Jan.uary
Juvenile red-tailed hawk. Taken in Delta BC, in February.
Great-blue herons on the nest. Taken in Abbotsford in February.
Snow geese taking flight during the “golden hour”. Skagit County, Washington. March.
Bobcat. Encountered while cycling the Vedder Trail in Chilliwack. March.
Great-grey owl. BC Interior, April. I had been looking for owls when I walked past this one. It was only a few feet away and when it took flight I jumped. It was not perturbed by my presence however as it subsequently flew by me.
Rocky Mountain bighorn ram. Jasper Alberta, April.
Anna’s hummingbirds at the nest. Delta BC, April.
Cinnamon teal. Ridgefield NWR, Washington. May.
Aurora Borealis. Looking straight up. Sumas Prairie (Abbotsford BC). May.
The amazing colours of the Lewis’s woodpecker. Grand Forks, BC. May.
Dancing grebes. (mating ritual). Salmon Arm, BC. May.
Northern gannet diving for fish. Saint Vincent’s, Newfoundland, June.
Common loon feeding its chick. Gander, Newfoundland, July.
Atlantic puffin. Elliston, Newfoundland, July.
Beaver feeding on water lilies. Gander, NL, July.
Humpback whale, lunge feeding. Trinity Bay, NL, July.
Brown (grizzly) bear. Hyder AK, August.
Brown bear getting a whiff of a more dominant bear, from which it ran. Hyder, AK. August
Salmon Glacier, north of Stewart BC. August. The glaciers in this area are receding rapidly.
Sooty grouse. Manning Provincial Park, BC. September.
Green heron with dragonfly. Abbotsford, BC. October
American bittern. Abbotsford BC. October.
Hooded merganser drakes, “performing” for a nearby hen. Delta BC. November.
Black bear with chum salmon. Lower Mainland, BC. November.
Bald eagles fighting for a piece of salmon. Harrison Mills, BC, November
River otter. Abbotsford BC. November.
Great-grey owl in the snow. BC Interior, December.
Northern pygmy owl. BC Interior, December.

December in Southern BC

For those that like birding, December is a good month to be in Southern BC. On the Coast, the weather is warm enough for many migrating species such as ducks, geese and raptors from more northerly climates. While the vast majority of birds that spend their summers in the area migrate further south, there are others that remain year round. All in all, it makes for an interesting mix of birds. So far this month (13 December), more than 210 bird species have been recorded in British Columbia, while in Southern BC i have managed to see more than 80 species. This certainly is in contrast to most of Canada in December! The following pictures have been taken this month, in the Metro Vancouver Region, Fraser Valley and in the Thompson Nicola Region.

American kestrel, with “lunch”.
Northern pygmy owl, looking down at me
Great-grey owl
Whooper swan with trumpeter swans. The whooper swan is a Eurasian swan and this is only the third recorded siting in BC.
Barred owl
Red-tail hawk
Brown creeper
Hooded mergansers
Great-grey owl. This owl had just devoured a rodent which it heard beneath the snow.
Northern pygmy owl. Only 6 inches tall, this is a fierce raptor and can take on species larger than it is.
Canvasback duck
Frost (from fog) covered trees
Townsend’s solitaire (which like to feed on juniper berries)
More frost covered trees
Hooded merganser hen
Sunrise from Abbotsford, over Mount Baker WA.
Bald eagle
Mount Judge Howay, north of Mission
Bewick’s wren
Great-grey owl

Short-eared Owls

This past week, we managed to see and photograph short-eared owls in Abbotsford and Skagit County Washington. I have seen short-eared owls in Alberta, Newfoundland, BC, Washington, Ontario, Indiana and Kentucky. This has prompted a retrospective review of short-eared owl photographs I have taken. The first one, taken in Indiana has been viewed on line some 13 million times and downloaded more than 140 thousand times. (I used to post photos on a photo sharing site, Unsplash, but no longer do so after it was taken over by Getty Photographs and they changed their policies.)

Taken at the Somerville Mine in Indiana in 2017. The owl was hunting over reclaimed strip mining leases.
Taken in Abbotsford this past week. I had been driving around trying to spot an owl when I noticed motion at the side of the road. This owl perched on a fence post beside the car.
Another photo taken from the Somerville Mine in Southern Indiana, 2016.
Short-eared owl at Boundary Bay, 2020. Not the greatest owl picture but a great backdrop!
Generally in Indiana, you could only see short-eared owls at dusk. The exception was on cold snowy days, when the owls had to work harder to find rodents. At the sea shore in Delta, the owl activity is often influenced by the tides, so often it is possible to find owls in broad daylight. This photo was taken in Delta in 2020.
This owl is protecting its catch. Taken in 2020 in Delta.
Evening hunt in Delta. taken in 2022.
Evening hunt in Delta in 2023.
Short-eared owls squabble amongst themselves and with northern harriers with which they compete for rodents. 2023
Short-eared owl chasing a northern harrier. 2023.
Diving for a rodent. 2023
Owl with the prize. 2023
Short-eared owl in Abbotsford. 2024

Great-blue heron fly-by. 2023

Black Bears and Salmon

There are many black bears in the Lower Mainland, at the edges of the mountains. Indeed we see them from time to time in Abbotsford and have had them in our driveway and knocking over our bird feeder. On almost all of our hiking and cycling trails we see bear warning signs. So it is no surprise for us to see or encounter bears, particularly in the autumn when the bears are fattening up for winter hibernation and the salmon are spawning. This week however was exceptional in that we were able to observe a bear across a small creek from where we were, while it rested, fished, climbed and feasted on salmon. Its actions made it quite clear that it was nervous of other more “dominant” bears in the area, and in fact we encountered a sow and two cubs as we left the site and returned to our car. The following is a sampling of photographs I took while watching.

October in the Lower Mainland

October marks the “rainy season” in the Lower Mainland, with lots of rain, occasional floods, shorter days, falling leaves, cooler temperatures and migrating salmon and birds. But it is also a time of incredible natural beauty, if you get out, explore and observe. The following photos represent some of the highlights for me of the natural beauty observed this month.

Great blue heron
Mushrooms and other fungi have been bursting out everywhere!
Fly agaric mushrooms
Black bear in its favourite “perch”, immediately over a prolific salmon stream.
With the return of the salmon, we have the return of the eagles.
Hooded merganser drakes
Steller’s jay
Migrating salmon
Black bear with chum salmon.
Autumn colours
Spectacular aurora borealis
Ferns growing from lichens on tree
Cackling geese in flight
American bittern
Green heron with dragonfly

Aurora Borealis

The following pictures were taken from Abbotsford (Sumas Prairie) on the night of October 10. Experts say the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are more visible right now due to the sun being at what astronomers call the “maximum” of its 11-year solar cycle.
What this means is that roughly every 11 years, at the peak of this cycle, the sun’s magnetic poles flip, and the sun transitions from sluggish to active and stormy. The variety of colours were astounding. In several photos, you can see the Big Dipper clearly. In many photos, the traffic on the Trans Canada Highway shows as a line of lights.