The Green Knee Club: Belize

We spent a week in the steamy, hot jungle in the Cayo District of Belize, adding another 42 species of birds to my life list. Did I mention that it was HOT? ... and HUMID? Here are a selection of the sights, birds, mammals, reptiles and insects I saw. Remember that you can click on any picture below to enlarge it.

We stayed at Table Rock Jungle Lodge in the Cayo District of Belize

Here is the entrance to Table Rock

We stayed in the Oropendola Jungle View Cabana

One of the many yummy dinners

Groove-Billed Ani (Crotophus sulcirostis)

Social Flycatcher ( Myiozetetes similis)

Black-Headed Trogon (Trogon melanocephalus)

Black Damselfly

Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus)

Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)

Black-Cowled Oriole (Icterus prosthemelas)

Yellow-Backed Oriole (Icterus chrysater)

Yellow-Tailed Oriole (Icterus mesomelas)

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Small Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Gray-Necked Woodrail (Aramides cajanea)

Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives)

Termite nest ... some of these were a good four or five feet across

Black-Headed Saltator (Saltator atriceps)

Greater White-Lined Bat (Sarcopteryx bilineata)

Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) on the Macal River

One of the bazillions of butterflies we saw

Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) over the Macal River.

Brown Jay (Cyanocorax morio)

Sweat Fly nest at the top of a magnificent Ceiba tree

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons)

Spiny-Tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura similis)

Masked Tityra (Tityra semifasciata)

Black-Crowned Tityra (Tityra inquisitor)

Large, hairy spider I had to remove from the front door of our cabana. The photo, as shown above, is just slightly smaller than in real life.

Sulpher-Bellied Flycatcher (Myiodynastes luteiventris)

A rather large wasp nest

Blue-Crowned Motmot (Momotus momota)

Mayan ruins at Xunantunich (pronounced similar to shoe-non-two-niche), or the Maiden of the Rock.

Mayan pictographs at Xunantunich

White-Collared Seedeater (Sporophilia torqueola)

Blue-Black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina)

Extra large beetle, at least four inches long, that dropped out of a tree with an audible thump and then crawled away

Another view in case the first one didn't freak you out

Clay-Colored Robin (Turdus grayi)

Clay-Colored Robin nestlings (Turdus grayi)

Brown Basilisk (Basilicus vittatus), also known as the "Jesus Christ" lizard because of its ability to run across the surface of a body of water without sinking