Day 04: February 21, 2014
Today we visited the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest specifically looking for the Orange-breasted Falcon. We had an early wake up around 6 a.m.; we ate coffee and bread before boarding the bus at 6:30. Alex packed a boxed breakfast of homemade yogurt and granola with fruit. We departed for the two hour drive to the Hidden Valley Inn located in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. After stopping at the reserve entry point, we had a picnic breakfast and used the restrooms, which were rustic but acceptable.
Shortly after arriving to the Hidden Valley Inn, we picked up the lodge guide and headed out to a point overlooking a 900 foot waterfall. Not too long after our arrival, we saw a male and female Orange-breasted Falcon sitting in a large pine tree. Once the 12 of us got out and started looking, the female got skittish and flew off, but the male was unfazed and sat there for us to observe.
He sat for so long that we left him there in that pine limb as we turned our attention to the famed King Vulture over the gorge of the 900 foot waterfall. The sun was shining on the rocks and made the King Vulture difficult to see, especially since it was approximately 100 yards away. But I finally spotted it with my binoculars and took a blurry picture; I can tell it’s a King Vulture and that is all that counts! We then rode back to the lodge and had a delightful lunch followed by a lecture before leaving for San Ignacio and the Cahal Pech Resort.
This evening we had another lecture from a local historian on the Mayan culture in Belize. It was enlightening and all enjoyed it.
Birds of the Day: Orange Breasted Falcon, Blue-winged Teal, King Vulture, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Limpkin, Plain Chachalaca, Gray-necked Wood Rail, Northern Jacana, Spotted Sandpiper, Red-billed Pigeon, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird to name a few.
