Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR, 11:08 am, Nikon D5 camera,
Nikkor (Nikon) 400mm, f/14, 1/1250, ISO 8000.
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR, 11:08 am, Nikon D5 camera,
Nikkor (Nikon) 400mm, f/14, 1/600, ISO 8000.
Dozens of waterbirds are around Lake Yaxha and adjacent Rio Ixtinto for you to see, photograph, and experience. Here is one example, the Snowy Egret (no snow in Peten, Guatemala, December, January, and February are nice temperatures here in the Neotropical seasonal rain forest).
Egretta thula can be found along the south shore, west end, and north shore of Lake Yaxha, plus along the Rio Ixtinto (which starts alongside the island of Topoxte).
Boats are available from hotel Ecolodge El Sombrero or from the visitor’s center of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo.
Pollinators are important to learn about because if they are exterminated by bulldozing or chopping down all the plants, or spraying pesticides and insecticide, then flowers will not be pollinated so no next generation flowers will appear.
So FLAAR Mesoamerica is making a list of all pollinators at Yaxha: bees, butterflies, bats, beetles, birds: plus even mammals (hint, the micoleon on the balsa flower).
Visit Yaxha to experience pollinators, and the beautiful flowers here. This particular flower is of the genus Cissus, possibly Cissus gossypifolia, a vine along the entire northern shore of Lake Yaxha and areas of the edges of Topoxte Island and Rio Ixtinto.
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR, 10:55 am, Nikon D5 camera,
Nikkor (Nikon) 200mm, f/14, 1/320, ISO 4000.
Great conference on Jaguars on Nov 7th, 2018, Guatemala City. Here is a hot link to samples of the presentation by Dr Nicholas.
Dr Hellmuth has lectured in Switzerland, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Dubai, Istanbul, Africa, China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.
He is available to lecture on waterbirds, felines, Mayan archaeology (he discovered the tomb of a king of Tikal in 1965), ballcourt architecture and ballgame outfits, etc.
Here are five of the speakers; Dr Nicholas is showing the front covers of 16 of the books his team have written for Q'eqchi' Mayan children in schools in the remote mountains of Guatemala.
The several kilometer wide Lake Yaxha (and adjacent Lake Sacnab) are home to many waterbirds. We show a sample here: the Green Heron, Butorides virescens, north shore of Lake Yaxha, Oct 31, 2018.
The Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo is open all year long; bird-watching guides are available, plus several bird-watching specialists organize field trips here (Yaxha has more diverse eco-systems so you see a lot of different flowers and birds). Hotel Ecolodge El Sombrero is where we stay every month (conveniently located at entrance to the park). Boats are available so you can experience and photograph the waterbirds.
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR, 10:05 am, Nikon D5 camera, Nikkor (Nikon) 800mm, f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 500. Since the boat rocks back and forth with the wind-generated waves, it’s a challenge to focus either automatic or manual.
Is this a cute groomed dog from a Dog Show? Or is this a Shetland Pony?
Cell phone photo by Pokomchi Mayan member of the FLAAR Mesoamerica team, Norma Estefancy Cho Cu, in the garden surrounding her parent’s home, aldea of Chilocom, Municipio of Santa Cruz Verapaz, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Photo taken Sept. 8, 2018.
Here is another view of this “Shetland pony” furry head.
Here are another views of this “Shetland pony” furry head.
This is even more photogenic: same garden, same day as the furry dog (the furry “Shetland Pony”)
If you are a student wanting to do a thesis or dissertation on moths and/or butterflies, we highly recommend Guatemala.