Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico

 We skirted the eastern side if Central America from Costa Rica with our first stop in Roatan, Honduras and the Carolimba Gardens on a thickly overcast and slightly drizzly norning.

It was not a very birdy morning but we did see two species. An American Redstart male in non-breeding plumage teased us in the foliage. 

At the small visitor center we saw two Canviet's Emeralds, male and female, at the hummingbird feeders. This is the male below:

 The next day we sailed into the port at Belize City, Belize.

We took a bus ride from the port to the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha. 

 

 It was nicely birdy in such a beautiful and historic place. In addition to a few migratory species we see at home in spring and summer, we saw several new to us species including a Northern Jacana in a pond when we took a less traveled but well-marked path behind the ruins.

 

Back among the ruins we saw  Great Kiskadee:

 

 Yellow-winged Tanager:

 And Bat Falcon:

Two days later we arrived at the very touristy and bustling port of Cozumel, Mexico. The port, we would soon learn, would be our only opportunity that day to photograph birds. We took a bus tour to the Mayan ruins of San Gervasio only to find out that the Mexican government officials don't allow "professional" cameras but cell phones are ok, from an archaic law of the 1970's. We did bird the ruins and saw more migratory species from home in spring and summer like Grey Catbird, Palm Warbler, and Cape May Warbler. In the parking I saw a Cozumel Emerald but had no camera but a cell phone to capture this diminutive beauty.

 

Back in the bustling port we looked in the palms and found a few species as well as attracting attention with the big camera lens.

Yellow-throated Warbler:

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker:

 Tropical Kingbird:

We got a taste of all of these beautiful places and would love to return and do more in depth birding with experienced guides.

Costa Rica: Tortuguero Canal and Puerto Limon

 November 30th found us in Puerto Limon, Coast Rica. We took a shore excursion of the Tortuguero Canals aboard a flat-bottom boat. We sat in the stern to observe from the side and the back. 

 

Mangrove Swallows dashed around the boats, having built nests in some of them!

The foliage, including many banana trees with green fruit, yielded some good birds, some are migratory to our area at home like the Bay-breasted Warbler:

And the Yellow-crowned Night Heron:

Adult.

Juvenile.

And the Little Blue Heron (above).

 New to us was a Bare-throated Tiger Heron:

 

And an Amazon Kingfisher:

 

And a bird we saw in Panama but was delighted to get closer views along the narrow waterway: the Great Kiskadee:

 There were other animals too, Two-toed Sloth, Howler Monkeys that howled back when the captain gunned the twin Yamaha outboards, and a baby crocodile A sneaky and hissy Cayman  peered at us before disappearing into the water foliage:

On the wharf where our ship was docked we observed Magnificent Frigatebirds soaring, and Turkey Vultures and a raptor which on closer inspection was a Hook-billed Kite:

 

Swooping low over the water and under the wharf were Gray-breasted Martins:

We left the port, walked through security, and into Vargas Park:

Most tourists go there hoping to see a sloth way up high, but we were looking for birds. We saw the boisterous Great-tailed Grackle, Rock Doves (aka pigoens), Tropical Kingbird, and a new one for us, the Clay-colored Thrush:

There are so many more birds to see in this beautiful country. We got a nice taste and look forward, if the stars align, to return!

Pipeline Road, Panama

 At 6 a.m. we boarded a mini bus with a very knowledgeable guide and headed to Parque Nacional Soberania which runs along the Panama Canal and the Pipeline Road, an unpaved track that goes for 17 kilometers through lush jungle.

Our first stop was a wetland known as the Ammo Dump, a leftover from WW2. It's now a thriving wetland with lots of birds.

 

Our first sighting was a Rufescent Tiger Heron sticking out of the green like a periscope.

And the sights in this open habitat just kept coming...

Muscovy Duck, preening.

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture flyover, a rare sight in this part of Panama.

Two Purple Gallinule walking on top of the water vegetation.

Southern Rough-winged Swallows in a not so neat row on a power line.

Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet.

Thick-billed Seed Finch (female).

Yellow Warbler, a familiar springtime migrant back home. Now in Panama for winter.
 

Wattled Jacana.
 

The wetland was an excellent preview of coming attractions. We walked to the Pipeline Road up a small rise into jungle and some open land.

Here are most of what we saw on this amazing road...

Blue Dacnis.

Golden-collared Manakin (female).

Greater Ani, noisy, crow like birds.

Red-capped Manakin.

Red-throated Ant Tanager.

Rufous Motmot. That tail!

Social Flycatcher being social sharing a branch.

 

White-necked Puffbird.

Buff-throated Saltator.

Cinnamon Woodpecker.

Fasciated Ant-shrike.

Blue Dacnis (female).

Golden-hooded Tanager. Those colors!

Plain-colored Tanager with insect.

Squirrel Cuckoo.

While birding a group of White-faced Capuchin scrambled up into the tree tops, knocking dead branches to the ground.

 

And a Two-toed Sloth hung from a tree slowly observing the scene below.

A truly magical place with an incredibly lush ecosystem. It was honor to observe it for several hours.