28 Feb--Birding

Sun, 28 Feb great night's sleep !!!!! got up early to join the 6:30am watching group. there were 5 of us, and we all got binoculars, and our guide, Allen, had a telescope. we stayed close to the 'lodge' and saw some birds right away. most of them similar to 'our' birds, but different of course. this is a list of the birds we saw that i did not get photos of: Baltimore Oriole, Black Cowled Oriole, Yellow Billed Cacique, Yellow Throated Euphonia, Masked Tityra, Yellow Winged Tanager, Red Throated Ant-Tanager, Summer Tanager, Collared Aracari, Rufus-Tailed Hummingbird, Magnolia Warbler, Social Flycatcher, Melodious Blackbird, Red Billed Pigeon i did get some photos .... this is a Grey-Necked Wood Rail ... found mostly along the river banks this is a Clay-Colored Robin this is a Black-Headed Trogon and the Great Kiskadee and ... the highlight of the morning had to be the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. our guide, Allen, heard it calling. he called and called until he finally located it. it is so tiny ... about 6in. i tried to get a few shots on my own .... then he suggested i put my camera up to his telescope lense and try it that way .. what a cool idea, and it worked after breakfast we hiked one of the trails that took us through an open field .... beautiful countryside out here, with the mountains in the background ... purple ageratums, and bright yellow sunflowers then we were on our way down the road to visit with Marta, who had invited us to come for lunch. we were early, and wandered over to the house next door to look at their flowers. Eddi started a conversation with Cesario ... starting conversations are easy for Eddi ... stopping them are not :) they were speaking Spanish, Eddi said he is also a 'healer' .... this is Cesario and his poor little dog that had something wrong with his eyes, but it didn't seem to bother him ... and he LOVED his master, Cesar .... Cesario's wife and grandson .. aren't they all beautiful people .... Marta has worked at Chaa Creek for 20 years. she is now a 'hostess' in the dining room in the evenings. photo of Marta, i call her the Maya Princess for those of you who need a 'cat fix' .... Marta has a beautiful young cat named Milo ... he was so sweet ... Eddi and i both gushed over to him when we saw him on the chair! her home is a bright turquoise ... for those of you who need a 'kid fix' ... her grandson had HUGE brown eyes and was quite entertaining ... we had Salbutes for lunch. it's a Mexican dish that i had while in Caye Caulker. they are corn tortillas fried crispy and airy, then topped with chicken, chopped cabbage, and salsa. they were very good. i like the fact that they use cabbage here instead of lettuce, ... it's much crunchier and stays nicer than lettuce ... something for you to try in your Mexican dishes. after leaving her, we went to the Butterfly House back at Chaa Creek. most of you know about my Monarch Butterfly rearing activities during the summer ... so i will tell you more on the Morph Butterflies with photos in a separate blog. after leaving there, we rushed down to the river to go on a sunset canoe trip up the Macal River. the walk down the River Trail was beautiful with HUGE stands of bamboo ... did not see any Panda Bears though :) the canoe trip itself was rather uneventful, but peaceful. we saw some iguanas, egrets, and bats. awesome bamboo dinner tonight .... was a burger and french fries !!!!!!!!! WOW ! ...the first since i've been here. ...and ... Death by Chocolate for dessert. not near as good as what Terri or Deb makes ... but it was chocolate !!!!!!!!!!!! i'm helping Eddi set up her blog and add photos, etc. .... we worked in the conference center until 11:30 ... another full day came to an end !