Posted January 12, 2021

We are interested in all flora and fauna that is shown in Classic Maya murals, stelae, ceramics, and figurines. Snakes, white tailed deer, and spider monkeys are the three most common animals in Maya art. There are no rattlesnakes known in the wetlands of the Caribbean part of Guatemala but plenty of pit vipers. Here is a nice example. We are also doing research and photography on all pollinators and we photograph all spiders and insects that we see during our hikes. Our primary focus is on waterbirds, since these are quite often pictured in Classic Maya paintings and on stelae. Rio Dulce and El Golfte, Municipio de Livingston, are great areas for waterbirds.

Click to Enlarge Photograph by Lucas Cuz, park ranger, FUNDAECO, Reserva Natural Tapon Creek using Google Pixel 3 provided by FLAAR Mesoamerica.

Posted January 18, 2021

We found and photographed two Great Blue Herons in the marshes inland from the Pacific Ocean coast of Guatemala. These tule reed marshes and mangrove swamps are west of Monterrico, Guatemala.

Next week we will be looking for waterbirds in Chocon Machacas Nature Reserve, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, so on the Caribbean side of Central America.

Click to Enlarge It sure helps to have an 800mm prime telephoto lens on a Nikon D5 camera. Because if you get closer, the birds simply fly away. This is not like Florida or other national parks where you can have a blind to hide in; here in the swamps and marshes of Guatemala there is nowhere to put a blind. All photography is from a boat (rocking in the wind and low waves). Photograph by Nicholas Hellmuth, January 17, 2021, FLAAR Photo Archive of Fauna of Guatemala.

We thank Axel Cuellar, CECON, and his colleagues and two sons for helping arrange the boat each day so we could find and photograph diverse species of waterbirds on January 16 and January 17, 2021.

Posted December, 2020

Happy Holidays! Our very best wishes to you this festive season. May 2021 bring you peace, joy and prosperity. From all staff members of FLAAR Mesoamerica.

Posted October 28, 2020

Find it in Livingston: Pelican Paradise

Second virtual presentation of FLAAR Mesoamerica Photo Essays.

As you approach the city of Livingston, you will see more pelicans and other water birds in Izabal than any other water area in Guatemala. This is an amazing destination for birdwatching.

One of the goals from the FLAAR Mesoamerica photography team is to document and register different water bird species as a support for the ecological data base. During an expedition in February they managed to capture several photographs of Brown Pelicans. For this reason, the photographic report was made: Paraíso de Pelicanos.

In this second launch the team provided a brief explanation to organize an expedition to photograph birds and tips on photography.

You can see it here:

And you can download the Photo essays, english or spanish, here:

Download Photo Essays

Posted October 21, 2020

There are several basilisk lizards in Guatemala:

• Guatemalan helmeted basilisk, Corytophanes percarinatus
• Golden-colored Smoothhead helmeted basilisk, Corytophanes cristatus
• Yellow Striped Basilisk, Basiliscus vittatus
• Common Basilisk, Basiliscus basiliscus, Peten, Guatemala

Basilisk lizard, Corytophanes cristatus, Municipio de Livingston, Departamento de Izabal, Guatemala, Central America. Notice the change in color on this Corytophanes cristatus, basilisk lizard at Tapon Creek nature reserve, capably managed by Fundaeco, in Municipio de Livingston, photographed Oct. 10, 2020 with iPhone 11 Pro by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR Photo Archive.

While on a field trip to the Caribbean coastal area of the Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, someone noticed a basilisk. UVG university student Boris Llamas identified this as a Corytophanes cristatus. You can see lots of photos of this camouflaged lizard on our webpage.

We are now preparing a photo essay with dozens more photos, especially to show the various colors it changed to (it’s not a chameleon, but it can change from brown gray to green).

Bats of Guatemala like to sleep under palm fronds
like coconuts at the beach

Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala

Posted October 14, 2020

FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala) are working together with the personnel of the Municipio de Livingston, on a project of cooperation via the Alcalde de Livingston, Daniel Pinto.

On our one-week long field trip to swamps, wetlands, and associated biodiverse ecosystems along the coast of Amatique Bay groups of bats were photographed by Boris Llamas, student of Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG).

Photographs by Boris Llamas, on project of FLAAR Mesoamerica, in Aldea Buena Vista Camera: Nikon D850, Lens: Nikon VR ED AF-P NIKKOR 70-300 mm 1:4.5-5.6 E , Settings: RAW, 300 mm, f/stop: 8, speed: 1/100th, ISO: 250, October 12, 2020.

Since we did not wish to disturb them, we did not use a net to capture them, so no measurements. But Boris estimates they are Artibeus lituratus (great fruit-eating bat) from the subfamily Stenodermatinae family Phyllostomidae.

In other areas of the Maya Lowlands other species of bats sleep hanging from the fronds of other palm species. As soon as a biologist can suggest Genus, we will update this NEWS.

Posted September 04, 2020

I go to the rain forests of Guatemala to see spider monkeys and howler monkeys. And I must admit I like to see and photograph crocodiles in the rivers and lakes (yes, crocodiles around the Maya cities of Peten; not alligators; the alligator relatives are caimans near the Pacific Ocean).

But when I walk through my garden it’s butterflies that I like to see. It reminds me of a Disney animated paradise.

An excellent place to experience butterflies (and do selfies with them in the background) is at Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo, Municipio de Flores, Peten, Guatemala.

So we have posted an entire page on these friendly, peaceful, fluttery insects. They are also helpful pollinators. You will want to visit Yaxha to experience the sunset, the majestic Temple 216, the causeways, palaces, acropolises. But when here, also enjoy the butterflies. We hope in the future to publish a full-color photo album of all the species we have photographed so far.

Posted August 03, 2020

	Butterflies with “owl eyes” are well known around the Americas. The evolution of this owl eye is to scare off predators. While doing research for an upcoming FLAAR report on owls of Mesoamerica I came across this photograph in our ethnozoology photo archive, so I would like to post it now because I noticed the snake-like face (with “reptile scales’ at the top back of it’s wings.

	I turned the wing 90 degrees so you could more easily see the two eyes of the snake (and it’s “nose”). To understand the third eye I would need to find this butterfly again elsewhere and photograph from an extra angle.

This was photographed at Auto Safari Chapin, a park with lots of interesting local plants and insects (plus animals). I was able to identify it as the Yellow-fronted Owl-Butterfly, Caligo telamonius.

There are lots of other butterflies with owl eye tricks on each lower wing. As soon as we return to continue fieldwork in the Caribbean area of the Municipio de Izabal, Guatemala, we will see how many butterflies we can find, photograph, and identify.

Posted June 16, 2020

We highly recommend these books. The identification guide is a super helpful checklist. We are sending each of our flora-and-fauna scouts a copy of this essential book. This way they can more easily identify insects in areas so remote there is no Internet to search on Google. We thank Jiichiro Yoshimoto for providing these books for our team.