Wildlife in Belize

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

I have been to Mexico and Belize on a one week cruise last week.  I only took pictures while in Belize for a single day, and enjoyed a couple hours on the Belize River while en-route to the Mayan ruins at Altun-ha.  On the river we saw about 10 Little Blue Herons in different spots; a few black Howler Monkeys; several Iguanas (males are orange), two Crocodiles; a Yellow-crowned Night Heron and a few tropical song-birds.

It was really interesting to see all the exotic and familiar (Little Blue Herons) wildlife there.  I hope to return to Belize some day.  It is a lovely place with interesting friendly folks!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Insect Bats

Tropical Songbird seen at Altun-ha Mayan ruins (Couch’s Kingbird?)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

 

Male Iguana

Crocodile

Young Howler Monkeys

Monkeys at The Panama Canal Area

These White-faced and Howler Monkeys were one of the best parts of my visit to Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal.  We were on an excellent shore excursion by small tour boat that went into the back-waters of Lake Gatun along shorelines of some of the small islands there.  Our guide and the boat Capt. showed us where the monkeys live and actually drew a few of the White-faced Monkeys close to the water’s edge.

One super-bold White-faced Monkey actually jumped onto the boat with us to get a peanut that was offered by the guide.  Our guide mentioned that these monkeys seem to prefer peanuts in the shell to tie-bits of banana!  The White-faced Monkeys and Howler Monkeys eat nuts, fruits, leaves, ants, spiders, and small insects.  They primarily prefer fruits however.  The Howler Monkeys are the dark charcoal grey to black ones (mother and baby) and are very shy.  The Howler Monkeys did not come close to the boat at all.  I took these pictures at the Panama Canal on October 30, 2013 in the morning.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy