Posted April 2, 2020

If you are an ornithologist, lots of birds of every size and kind here. If you are a birder: birds you will not see at landlocked areas elsewhere. Here in the Municipio of Livingston, Departamento of Izabal, Guatemala, Central America you have Lago Izabal, Rio Dulce, El Golfete, Rio Dulce Canyon, and then Amatique Bay. So a helpful diversity of ecosystems: mangrove swamps to canyons to lagoons, rivers, creeks.

Lots of hotels everywhere: Rio Dulce, along both sides of El Golfete, and in the peaceful town of Livingston. Every hotel offers boat service and there are local guides who know the birds. If you are an ornithologist or a bird watching club, we can recommend local specialists.

Nycticorax nycticorax, parent elsewhere on El Golfete, nicely photographed by David Arrivillaga, FLAAR Mesoamerica.	Baby bird, shown crisply by photographer David Arrivillaga. There are so many “bird islands” from the highway bridge of Rio Dulce through El Golfete that it’s waterbird paradise.

Lots of species of birds have their nests on the same “bird islands” here. So if you have prime telephoto lens you can get great photographs. Plus you can study these birds up-close, since the nests are in trees not far from the shore.

I have studied waterbirds in rivers and lakes and Pacific Ocean shores for decades. But be sure you include Municipio de Livingston in your travel plans if you want to see lots of waterbirds. The Caribbean is at the east end; Lake Izabal is at the western end. So you get “seabirds” and waterbirds of freshwater areas. We hope to return soon (we did initial exploration in February and mid-March 2020).

Posted March 11, 2020

While hiking several hours from Plan Grande Tatin to Cueva del Jaguar (Cave of the Jaguar) I had pure luck to find a butterfly sucking nectar from a flower along the trail.

We will identify the butterfly and flowers as soon as we have strong Internet available.

Our goal in the Municipio of Livingston is to find and photograph as many native flowers and native butterflies (and other insects) as possible, and indicate where botanists, entomologists, students, and visitors can find the remarkable flora and fauna of the diverse ecosystems of this Caribbean corner of Guatemala, Central America.

Posted March 3, 2020

During 59 years of visiting different areas of Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize, the areas where I have seen the largest mass of birds are in coastal lakes and swamps of the Yucatan Peninsula and in the lakes, rivers, and bay of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala. I would rate Lake Izabal, Rio Dulce, and especially the El Golfete area, as having “more water birds per square meter than anywhere else in this part of Mesoamerica.” Amatique Bay would be included in the Rio Dulce water bird area.

So if you are interested in seaside, riverside, lakeside hotel relaxation, plus experiencing many species of friendly pelicans, cormorants, and lots of other energetic water birds, plan a trip to the Rio Dulce-Livingston part of Central America.

We (FLAAR in USA and FLAAR Mesoamerica in Guatemala) have undertaken field trips to photograph water birds during February and then during April of 2018 and again in February 2020. We return to the Municipio of Livingston with our 200mm, 300mm, 400mm, 600mm, and 800mm prime telephoto lenses (plus zoom telephoto lenses) the second week of March.

About 80 species just of water-related birds have been noted here by the helpful work of FUNDAECO by Cerezo, Ramirez, Lopez, Javierm, and Barrientos (2012). On our field trips we photographed 12 species of water birds (and in our previous field trips we found two water birds not in their list). Our goal is accomplish high-resolution photography of all 80 species. If you would like to help fund our field trips, please contact us.

Posted February 27, 2020

Pokomchi Mayan plant scout Norma Estefany Cho Cu not only is helping us find wild Coyo, Persea schiedeana, a wild Mayan avocado species, but she is also very adept at finding and photographing larvae of moths and butterflies.

We hope some day that a university, foundation or kind soul could help fund this project so we can get entomological identification of each Family, Genus and species. And then publish a book on these photogenic creatures. But in the meantime, here are three photos she took with a Google Pixel 3XL.

We at FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala) are dedicated to accomplishing research on all pollinators. It is crucial to create educational material in the local Mayan, Garifuna, Xinca and Spanish (and English) to explain to school children the importance of not killing potential future pollinators.

Posted February 21, 2019

The Biotopo Chocón Machacas CECON-USAC, El Golfete, Livingston, is paradise on earth for trees, vines, mosses, flowers, mushrooms, and larvae of moths and butterflies. Here is a remarkable aggrupation of large sized larvae surrounding three horizontal smaller “baby” caterpillars.

Photograph by David Arrivilaga, FLAAR Mesoamerica, with Sony Alpha A9 II, Lens 90mm F2.8 Macro G. Settings: 90mm, 1/250, f/10, ISO 640 using a flash on camera, with a softbox, Biotopo Chocon Machacas CECON-USAC, Municipio Livingston, Departamento Izabal, Guatemala, Central America.

Our visit to this Biotope was arranged by Edwin Mármol Quiñonez, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston (Izabal, Guatemala). The flora and fauna research team from FLAAR Mesoamerica had been invited to visit the Municipio of Livingston by the new Alcalde the Municipio of Livingston, Daniel Esaú Pinto Peña. We are discussing undertaking a joint project to record the flora and fauna of the entire municipio, and to prepare educational material for the local schools, and to prepare material for the tourists so they know what photogenic waterbirds and gorgeous plants can be found in this part of Guatemala. This would be a four year project of cooperation between FLAAR Mesoamerica and the various entities of the Municipio of Livingston.

Posted February 20, 2019

Over the recent two years we have tested various mobile phone cameras, to learn which is best for panoramas, which is best for general photographs, and which is best for macro photos of flowers and insects. iPhone Xs is excellent for general photos and panoramas (even though we have a Nikon D5 and a Canon EOS 1D X Mark II and a 61 megapixel Sony Alpha a7R IV mirrorless full frame). Google Pixel 3XL and Google Pixel 3 are excellent for macro photos.

Courtesy of a donation by Scott Forsythe, we were able to acquire a Google Pixel 3XL that we could loan to one of our plant-and-animal scouts. Our “scouts” are individuals in various parts of Guatemala who search for, find, and photograph the rare endangered flora and fauna that we are recording throughout Guatemala (especially in Peten and Alta Verapaz, and now we have added Izabal).

It is not realistic for a plant scout in a remote mountain area to carry a regular camera. A mobile telephone is far more practical.

These larvae were photographed on Feb. 19, 2020 by Norma Estefany Cho Cu, a helpful Pokomchi Mayan plant-and-animal-scout in southern Alta Verapaz. She, her husband, and her father have worked with FLAAR Mesoamerica in recent years.