Yellow-faced Grassquit

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am sharing  the Yellow-faced Grassquit from Belize.

It is hard to believe but I never finished sharing all the lifers I saw while in Belize.. The Yellow-faced Grassquit was seen on the grounds of the Sleeping Giant Rainforest resort.. The few times I saw this bird they were poking around in the grass finding seeds or food.

The Yellow-faced Grassquit is a passerine bird seen in the Central America tropics. A small bird with a conical bill. The adult male has an olive-green back, it's face and breast are black. They have  a bright yellow throat, supercilia and lower eyelid spot. The rest of its underparts are a greyish olive.

They feed on grass seeds, insects and some berries..

Their main breeding season is in the summer, but they may nest February-April. Sometimes they may form loose nesting colonies.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my Belize  lifer the Yellow-faced Grassquit..

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.

Thanks to both of our hosts... Michelle for Nature Notes and our host Stewart of Wild Bird Wednesday.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Social Flycatcher & Boat-billed Flycatcher

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For my post this week I am sharing two Belize birds..the Social Flycatcher and another Belize lifer the Boat-billed Flycatcher.

The Social Flycatcher at 6.3 to 7inches is the smallest out the three Flycatchers that look similar.. They are the Social Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee and the Boat-billed Flycatcher..  I have some shots of my   Great Kiskadee in Bermuda   to show more comparisons.

 The Social Flycatcher has yellow underparts, crown stripe and a white throat.

The Social Flycatcher has a small stubby bill.

 

These Social Flycatchers were trying to build a nest inside the umbrellas near the pool.

Going thru my Belize photos I just noticed I have another lifer the Boat-billed Flycatcher. This bird has a heavier and broader bill and is about 9.3 inches compared to the smaller Social Flycatcher which is 7 inches. I am sorry this shot is so fuzzy. It was taken from the lodge's restaurant and the bird was way down on the trees next to the river.. They are known to sit high in a tree to catch bugs..

This is the Great Kiskadee seen during my Bermuda trip.. a large flycatcher at 8.3 to 10 inches. Their wings and tail are brown with some rufous fringes..

As you can see these three flycatchers all look similar in colors, just different bills and sizes..starting on the left is the (4) Boat-billed Flycatcher, (5) Great Kiskadee and on the right is the (6) Social Flycatcher.

 Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Masked Tityra

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


For this week's wild bird I am sharing another lifer from Belize the Masked Tityra. We saw this bird from the open air dinning room of the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge. I saw many  of my Belize lifers just from the lodge's dinning room..

 Sorry for the quality of these shots, it was a gray day and I had to zoom in quite a distance to the tree.. But, you can definitely make out the id of this Masked Tityra. A medium sized passerine bird, placed in the Cotinga family and found on the forest-edge and woodlands of Mexico and Central America.

The Masked Tityra has black and white plumage, black face and a red eye ring. It also has a pinkish-red bill.

I hope you enjoyed my Belize lifer.. the Masked Tityra.

 Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Crimson-collared Tanager

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

 This week I am sharing another Belize lifer the Crimson-collared Tanager. All my sightings of this bird were at our Belize Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge.

On a pretty day, this bird was gorgeous! Black with a red collar, tail coverts are also red. Habitat is the edges of humid evergreen forest.

 Looks like I captured this Crimson-collared Tanager singing.. In the morning at breakfast, these birds were hopping around in the trees..

They have a pale colored bill. The plumage is identical in both sexes..This bird is found from Mexico south to Panama..

 Above is the same bird on a rainy morning at our Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge. Even on a gray day the Crimson-collared Tanagers red nape and neck really stand out. I hope you enjoyed my Belize lifer.


Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Saturday's Critters #27

Saturday's Critters #27

Hello and happy weekend!  It's that time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in with the Saturday Critter Party.

Wow, I just read that this is my 800th post.. I can not believe I have made 800 post..

I am sharing some more birds and critters I saw while vacationing in Belize..

 Some of these birds were included in a previous post but a smaller photo in a mosaic. I thought it would be nice to see the birds in a larger photo..  Above is the Brown Jay one of my Belize lifers.

The Social Flycatchers seem to be a common bird seen all around Belize. Many were seen at our Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge.

 Another lifer is the Yellow-Green Vireo..was seen while eating breakfast every morning in a nearby tree. I was not kidding before when I said it was difficult to eat while my eyes were following birds around and seeing new life birds.

The iguanas were seen in several places. Some of these critters can be very large in size.

Another Belize lifer the Yellow-faced Grassquit..also seen at our rainforest lodge. I hope you enjoyed my critter post. Now, I want to see your critters..   I wish everyone a happy weekend.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends..


To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

White-collared Seedeater

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


This week I am sharing one of my Belize lifers the White-collared Seedeater. A Passerine in the typical seedeater genus.. It seemed to be a common bird seen around our Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge and all around Belize..

The White-collared Seedeater has a broad white collar, white rump and a black hood. It is native to Mexico and Central America.

 Another male White-collared Seedeater, this one looks like it was a little wet from the rain.

 They are found in savannahs, grasslands, shrub lands and vegetation along rivers.

 The female White-collared Seedeater. Their diet consists of seeds and insects.

  Another shot of the cute female White-collared Seedeater. The females wings and tail are brown, whitish wingbars. I saw these birds often around the grounds, mostly in the grass and sometimes perched in a small bush.. I hope you enjoyed my new wild bird.  


Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

A tower view

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences
I hope you have a chance to check out both of these fun memes.

We are happy to be home now with our Goldie Girl. Hubby and I had a great vacation in Belize. These are some scenes from the Gazebo Tower and some scenes from around our Sleeping Giant Rainforest resort.   On a hot humid day, the hike up to the Gazebo tower was rough..At times there was a rope along the side to hold onto as we hiked up the mountain.. Once we arrived at the top the views were beautiful and then we got stuck there until a passing storm went by..It was an adventure.

A view from the tower, you can see the cows way down there. The road is called the Hummingbird Highway, I love that name..

I was glad I decided to zoom in for a look at these cows, I captured a fence for Tex's Good Fences.

Here is a view looking up at the Gabezo tower from when we did some birding along the orchard road. The tower is at the tippy top almost in the middle of the photo above the white cliff rocks.

After we climbed to the top of the tower we noticed the rainstorm approaching.. It makes sense, we saw rain during our vacation. After all we were in a rainforest..So, my vacations are not totally rain free anymore..

We could see the rain coming towards us...a cool looking Skywatch shot..

Here I am waiting for the rain to stop so we can hike back to the resort and our room.. Looks like another fence for my Good Fence post.

I took some shots of the foilage around the tower while we waited for the rain to stop..I like these heart shaped leaves..they were huge.

Not sure what kind of berries these are but I spooked some bird away taking a photo.

Neko was our birding tour guide one morning at the resort. His company is  Belize Inland tours  in case you are interested in visiting Belize check out their website for various tours. They are located at the Blue Hole National Park on the Hummingbird Hwy. Hubby and I also did a tour at the Blue Hole Nat'l Park more on that tour on another post.

Above is one of my Belize lifers..it is called the Black-headed Saltator. A resident from Central Mexico south to Panama .  It has a large black bill and head, a pale supercilium, pale gray underparts. They eat both fruit and insects. This Black-headed Saltator can be seen foraging with a flock of mixed species..

A view from the opposite side of the tower. There is an orange orchard and you can see the river. On the bottom of the photo you can see the dirt road we walked along to do our birding. I hope you enjoyed my post..


To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences


Thanks to Tex @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.

Belize Vacation

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

Hubby and I just returned from a week in Belize. We started our trip with 4 nights at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Resort.  A beautiful resort with lovely landscaped gardens, the rainforest,  a view of the mountains and river.  I will do a review of our stay on Trip Advisor but I wanted to start my post with the first day of our vacation in Belize.

The resort was located in the Belize rainforest.. lovely trees and flowers surrounded the resort and hotel rooms..

The bougainvillea  in Belize is gorgeous, so many pretty colors..

The ducks and turkeys roamed freely around the resort, the flowers attracted all kinds of birds. I will share more of the lifers and new birds I saw while in Belize.

The Flamboyant trees were one of my favorite trees, also known as the Royal Poinciana.

The Social Flycatchers were silly trying to build a nest inside an umbrella near the resorts pool.

A view of the Sleeping Giant and mountains surrounding the rainforest resort..We had a busy week, touring the Mayan ruins, birdwatching, caving and hiking in the rainforest.. I have over a thousand photos to go thru and this is just the start.. Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.

Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!