Belize for Birders With Mass Audubon Naturalist David Larson Feb. 27 – March 6 or 9, 2010 White collared manakin by D. Larson White whiskered Puffbird by D. Larson Travel with the Massachusetts Audubon Society 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773 800-289-9504 Belize Birding Febr/ March 2010 Tour Terms and Conditions Main Tour Price: $2800 per person, double occupancy, Single Supplement: $500 Singles are limited. Extension Price: $990, double occ. Single supplement: $500 Price Includes: All meals and accommodations as shown in the itinerary Services of Mass Audubon naturalist Local guide and naturalist All Tips and Gratuities All excursions, entrance fees Extensive trip preparation notes Medical Evacuation coverage Flight within Belize Price Excludes: International airfare Passport and visa fees; Trip cancellation insurance; Airport taxes; excess baggage charges; Items of a personal nature, including alcoholic beverages, laundry and telephone calls; other items not specifically mentioned as included. TRAVEL DOCUMENTS: A U.S. Passport valid for at least six months beyond the trip’s departure date is required. A departure tax must be paid (~ $35 US dollars) in cash when exiting. MASS AUDUBON NATURALIST LEADER: David Larson is the Director of Mass Audubon's Birder's Certificate Program, a college-level ornithology course, and is teaching a bird ecology course for naturalist guides in Belize. He is the Education Coordinator for Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport, where he designs and leads educational programs and field trips for participants of all ages. He holds a PhD in zoology from the University of Minnesota and has served on the faculty of Boston University. He is a member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club and is the Production Editor of Bird Observer. He has birded and led expeditions throughout North America, and in the Caribbean, Trinidad, Belize, Panama, Brazil, Botswana, and Japan. Please Note: This tour will provide financial support for Mass Audubon’s conservation partners in Belize. This trip is for those who would like to get a concentrated birding experience in Belize. While we will visit some of the ruins and always take note of other natural history delights, we will focus on birding. We will be joined by a first rate local Belizean birder and naturalist. There will not be long or especially strenuous hikes, but we will spend long days in the field and you should be generally physically fit. Travel with the Massachusetts Audubon Society 2 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773 800-289-9504 Belize Birding Febr/ March 2010 Daily Itinerary FEB 27 2010 : La Milpa Our Belizean Birding Adventure begins mid-day at the Goldson International Airport near Belize City. After clearing Immigration and Customs, we will be met by our in-country guide and driver, Nathan Forbes, and driven along the Northern Highway into Orange Walk District. We will stop at wetlands (looking for waders such as Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, White Ibis, Northern Jacana), agricultural fields (keeping a lookout for Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture), and riparian areas for birding before reaching the Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area (Programme for Belize). We will check into the La Milpa Field Station and get acquainted with some of the fabulous resident birds. Some of the big birds that have been extirpated in most of Belize are possible in this protected forest, including Ocellated Turkeys, Crested Guans, Great Tinamous, and Great Currasows. After dinner we will do a night walk or drive. [O/N La Milpa Field Station, L,D] FEB 28 La Milpa We will have an optional early morning bird walk at 6:00 a.m. to the background chorus of Black Howler Monkeys, followed by breakfast. We will then bird the open areas and forest trails at La Milpa, with good chances of seeing King Vulture, Spot-breasted and White-bellied wrens, Purple-crowned Fairy, Strong-billed and Ivory-billed woodcreepers, Plain Antvireo, White-bellied Wren, Chestnut-colored, Black-cheeked, and Golden-fronted woodpeckers, and a host of other forest birds. After lunch we will visit the nearby La Milpas Archeological Site searching for more woodland birds including White Hawk and, with any luck, a mixed foraging flock of tanagers or an army ant swarm with attendant antbirds. There is always a chance of finding a cat (ocelot, jaguar) as well. After dinner we will take a night walk or ride looking for nocturnal mammals and birds. [O/N La Milpa Field Station, B,L,D] MARCH 1 Lamanai, New River, and Crooked Tree We will have an optional early morning bird walk at 6:00 a.m. After breakfast we will drive through agricultural areas to the Lamanai Archeological Site. We will bird through the ruins, looking for Red-lored Parrots, Black-headed and Slaty-tailed trogons, Keel-billed Toucans, and other forest birds. After lunch, we will board a boat at the adjacent New River Lagoon and motor down the New River to the Northern Highway Bridge. This trip gives us a great opportunity to search for Belted, Ringed, Green, and American Pygmy kingfishers and other riparian birds, such as Snail Kites, roosting Yucatan Nightjars, Boat-billed Herons, and, with lots of luck, Agami Herons. After the boat ride, we will drive the Northern Highway to the Belize Audubon Society’s Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary where we will spend the next two nights. We will spend the rest of the day birding the sanctuary and the grounds of the Bird’s Eye View Lodge. We expect to see the ubiquitous Tropical Kingbirds and Social Flycatchers, as well as Ruddy Ground-Dove, Yucatan Bobwhite, Yellow-lored Parrot, Red-vented Woodpecker, Yucatan Flycatcher, Yucatan Jay, Barred Antshrike, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, White-collared Seedeaters, and Groove-billed Ani. In the fields and along the edge of the wetland, we will also look for one of the newest Belizean birds, Southern Lapwing. [O/N Birds Eye View Lodge, B,L,D] MARCH 2 Crooked Tree We will have a pre-breakfast boat trip into the Northern Lagoon. We should see a wide variety of wetland birds including White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Northern Jacana, Purple Gallinule, Least Grebe, Limpkin, Wood Stork, Boat-billed Heron, Black-collared Hawk, and Wood Stork. With luck, we could also find a Jabiru, the largest wader in the western hemisphere. Later in the day, we will drive out into nearby pine savannah areas to look for Yellow- headed Parrots, Azure-crowned Hummingbirds, Forked-tailed and Vermilion flycatchers, Aplomado Falcons and other birds characteristic of this habitat. [O/N Birds Eye View Lodge, B,L,D] MARCH 3 Crooked Tree to San Ignacio We will have an optional early morning bird walk at 6:00 a.m. After breakfast we will depart the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary to drive to San Ignacio. En route, we will visit birding locations near Burrell Boom and visit the Belize Zoo. This zoo provides a great introduction to Belizean wildlife, as well as a good woodland birding experience. We will bird along the Western Highway and then check into Black Rock Lodge. This lodge has over Travel with the Massachusetts Audubon Society 3 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773 800-289-9504 Belize Birding Febr/ March 2010 240 acres along the banks of the Macal River, with over 1100 feet of elevation change which lends itself to viewing nearly 300 species of spectacular resident and migratory birds. The diversity of the lodge’s geography and habitat will provide us with the opportunity to look for all three species of toucans, the Olive-throated Parakeet, the Orange-breasted Falcon, Lineated and Pale-billed woodpeckers, trogons, White Hawk, King Vulture, Golden-hooded Tanager, Purple-crowned Fairy, and both the Tody and Blue-crowned motmots, not to mention various tanagers, woodcreepers, flycatchers, vireos, manakins, and puffbirds. This lodge will be our base of operations for the next three days as we explore the beautiful Cayo District. [O/N Black Rock Lodge, B,L,D] MARCH 4 San Ignacio We will have early morning birding on the deck followed by breakfast. Then we will bird on the grounds of the Black Rock Lodge. The lodge is above the river and has well-maintained paths along the Macal River as well as the hillside above. We should have great opportunities to see forest and riparian birds such as Amazon, Green, and Ringed kingfishers, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Brown Jay, Great Kiskadee, Squirrel Cuckoo, Black Phoebe, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, and with luck, Sungrebe. After lunch, we will bird the local archeological site – Xunantunich (“Maiden of the Rock”). To reach this wonderfully restored Maya site, we will drive along the Western Highway toward the Guatemala border and then take a hand-cranked ferry across a small river to reach the ruins. The birding in the broadleaf forest surrounding the historic site and among the structures is very productive. [O/N Black Rock Lodge, B,L,D] MARCH 5 Mountain Pine Ridge We will have early morning birding on the deck followed by breakfast. Then we will explore the Mountain Pine Ridge region of western Belize – an area of great natural beauty and diverse wildlife. As the name implies, this area is very different from the broadleaf forest we have explored previously during our adventure and offers the opportunity to see many new species of birds. Target birds for the Mountain Pine Ridge include Orange-breasted Falcon, Rufous-capped Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Black-headed Siskin, King Vulture, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Rusty Sparrow, Hepatic Tanager, Yellow-backed Oriole, and the elusive Stygian Owl. We will drive south to the Thousand Foot Falls, (Hidden Valley Falls). Actually, the falls cascade 1,600 feet over a sheer cliff to a forest-lined pool below.