Special Episode: Not Colorado Wildlife

in which your author took a trip to Belize

You may have noticed that you didn’t receive any animal newsletters for a few days. The reason why is because I went to Belize with one of my best friends. This was the first time in my adult life that I have been to a warm weather beach type destination. It was amazing! I also feel very lucky to have had my first international trip since 2019.

Of course there was really cool wildlife. I even took pictures of about 1/50th of what I saw (not for lack of trying, more lack of being able to take a picture fast enough). Since I’m sad my holiday is over, I thought I would feature a few of the animals I saw today and get back to Colorado tomorrow.

First, I saw some little bats hanging out on the shady side of a large log over a river in the jungle:

I do not know what species of bat these are. Belize has over 75 species of bat, who make up 58% of the total mammal population there. One of these species is called the Mesoamerican Mustached Bat which I think is a great name.

Second, I saw a wintering Common Nighthawk, a bird that I could see nesting in Colorado but who (like me!) traveled south for warmer climes. Not sure if this bird also flew United and heard several threatening messages about passengers not wearing masks, but they seem pretty relaxed now that they’re here in Belize. (Thanks to Amanda for the bird ID!)

Third, I saw this handsome iguana:

Iguanas - from the Caribbean Taino word “iwana” - are abundant in Belize. We saw many of these - the Green Iguana (for that is their color when they are female/in youth) in the few days we were there. They are also eaten by many people in Belize, though I could not find any to sample :(. A cool thing about iguanas is that they have a third, parietal eye, located on the top of their heads, that allows them to sense a predator approaching from above.

My traveling companion’s favorite bird was the Northern Jacana:

These birds, who live from Mexico to Panama, have long toes that allow them to run on water or on vegetation on the surface of water, like lily pads, as you can see here.

This trip was also my first time snorkeling outside of once in Orkney in 2008. This was a very different experience! I have a brand new GoPro Hero 8 that I was able to use to take hundreds of mostly blurry photos during this experience. For example, this sea turtle, which I believe is a Loggerhead:

These Spotted Eagle Rays, who truly looked like birds flying underwater with their graceful bodies:

I think these rays were my favorite things I saw on the entire trip. I am not a strong swimmer so I found snorkeling with the strong currents in the area to be a little stressful but when I was watching these animals move through the water with complete grace and beauty I truly felt awed and at peace. I highly recommend checking out this photo of an eagle ray’s jaws.

And finally these amazing nurse sharks:

Nurse sharks are extremely cute. They have two little fangs that hang out over their bottom lips that make them look like goofy vampires. Their jaws are pretty cool too.