Venomous pit-viper in protected nature reserve Tapon Creek, Izabal, Guatemala
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias waterbird Pacific Ocean inland marshes Monterrico Guatemala
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.
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.
Photo Essays "Encuéntralo en Livingston"
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:
Basilisk, Corytophanes cristatus, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal
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
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 Tapon Creek nature reserve, FUNDAECO
Bats of Guatemala like to sleep under palm fronds
like coconuts at the beach
Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala
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).
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.
Butterflies in Yaxha park are friendly, photogenic, and relaxing
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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.
Yellow-fronted Owl-Butterfly, Caligo telamonius, Guatemala
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.
Several helpful books on insects available from entomologist Dr Jiichiro Yoshimoto and colleagues
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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. |