Little Blue Heron on the Belize River
On October 24th at 8:45 a.m. on our second official bird scouting trip, we headed to our favorite bird watching spot, the confluence. The Confluence is where the Belize and Big Barton Creek run together. There are several downed trees and semi-submerged branches, a favorite of water birds.
Little Blue Heron searching for lunch.
After about 15 minutes of quietly waiting for some birds to arrive, we were visited by a Little Blue Heron. We observed as he perched on branch just above the Belize River, eying out his next meal.
Little Blue Heron backside view.
Birds of Belize by H. Lee Jones, identifies the Little Blue Heron as a wader and describes the bird for identification as follows: “Medium sized; distinctly different adult and juvenile plumages. In all plumages, has black tipped blue grey bill, greenish yellow legs and feet. The adult is dark slaty blue grey with dull purplish blue head and neck. The juvenile is all white except for dusky tips to outer primaries.”
Guanacaste tree on the banks of the Belize River
The Little Blue Heron usually likes un-forested and sparsely forested areas. It can also been seen congregating around shrimp farms, rice fields and less commonly along forest-lined streams and rivers. I suppose we were quite lucky to catch it along the forest-lined banks of the Belize River.
Lower Dover Field Journal 