Susan Lala on the Birds of Ambergris Caye
I'm always careful not to over state my knowledge about birds. When
I moved to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye in Belize, I was amazed to discover
the four acres of land on which my husband and I were building a hotel was
hopping with birds of every description. Many more species than had come
to our feeders in Kansas.
My first level of interest was "isn't that a pretty bird?" I would twist
my neck in attempt to follow the flight of the birds passing. but I had no
idea what I was looking at. But I wanted to learn.
Then I began searching for bird books that could help me identify them.
My daughter Lisa called this my collecting phase. According to her I spent
more time buying books in an attempt to identify the birds around the hotel
than actually identifying them.
During construction my husband, Wil, was still in the states and I was
living here alone. One of the first birds I identified was the Tropical
Mockingbird. It's singing provided welcome company. Another bird I learned
about early on was the Magnificent Frigate bird. This is a bird that truly
lives up to its name. It looks like a bird that should have appeared in Jurassic
Park!
Soon I entered phase three. this is when I decided that we should build
a special tower that would allow hotel guests to get above the jungle canopy
where they would be able to see far more. This idea lead to construction
of a four story observation tower called the
"People Perch".
I still hesitated to call myself a birder as I didn't feel I knew enough
about birds but as one of guest said, "anyone that builds a four story tower
for birding is definitely a birder."
Over the years my knowledge has grown. From time to time I will share
my observations with fellow birders, so watch this site!
Susan Lala [List of birds from Ambergris Caye]
Column Number 1 2 3
Commons
Island
Community
History
Visitor Center
Goods & Services
Search
Messages
AIM Info
Copyright by Advantage Information Management |
