Yellow #1

Seems that things yellow have been predominant lately.  First up is this formidably handsome Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture.

The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture is similar to turkey vultures, but has this fantastic colored head!

 They often perch low or even on the ground.  This one was on a 15 ft tall dead tree next to the marsh.  They are not as abundant as turkey vultures.

This profile view shows the orange to yellow to blue and purple color on the featherless head.

They like to hang out with turkey vultures, which are abundant around here.  In the evenings, the vultures soar in mixed groups on the thermals right along the coast. They are full-time residents of Belize

The adults have red eyes. You can also see some of the lighter grey feathers of the tail and primaries.

Some of the winter birds are beginning to show up.  Some will migrate on through to their way further south and some will stay here.  The yellow warblers showed up in large numbers and made a small ruckus as they flew back and forth between the palm trees and sea grapes. 

They made their chipping calls as if they were doing a roll call to see who made it here so far.

Some of the yellow warblers will be around all winter.  This one seems to like the sea grape right next to our veranda. 

They are never still for very long. 

This fellow just finished his bath in the raindrops caught on the leaves of the sea grape.

Keeping with the yellow winged creatures is this lovely black and yellow butterfly - the Polydamas Swallowtail,  Battus polydamas.  It is also called the tail-less swallowtail.

Hard to get a good photo of this very active butterfly.

I took lots of shots, counting on luck that one or two would be useable.

It never did alight on anything, just flitted around.

Hard to believe they are the same species of butterfly; they looks so colorful on the underside. 

I love the bright orange Ss at the edge of the wing.  And its thorax is polka dotted!

The beautiful Allamanda cathartica vine is growing wild at the edges of the jungle.

The yellow flowers are large and stunning.

In addition to the flowers, the seed pods are quite noticeable. 

Here, I focused on the seed pod in the background of the flowers. 

This spiky seedpod is an impressive 3 inches in diameter.  

I got a three-for-one deal with the Allamanda - flowers, seed pod, and surprise flower resident! 

A big spider had made a temporary home hanging upside down inside the flower. 

One of the most entertaining of the yellow-themed entities was this energetic yellow-throated warbler.

It hopped along the edge of the deck, just a few feet away from me.

It was actively hunting for insects on the outside of the cabana.  In one of my bird guide books there is a comment on finding it at the eaves of buildings. 

It hopped all along the gutter.

It was very conversational with me.

Definitely one of the friendliest wild birds I have encountered.

I'll end with a rainbow that appeared to the west over the jungle after a morning rainstorm.

 

Belize Birds of the Week #13 and #14– Black and White Warbler, Mniotilta varia and Yellow-throated warbler, Dendroica dominica

These appealing little warblers both winter in Central and South America after breeding in North America. I have never had the pleasure of seeing either of them in North America, but I will sure be on the look out for them. The yellow-throated warbler is found mostly in the southeastern US while the black and white warbler is found throughout most of the US and into Canada.

The black and white warbler was a little shy when we sw it in the jungle near our casita at DuPlooy’s Lodge; I got only a couple of pictures.

It is accidental in n. Europe, usually in fall and has even been seen in Iceland (1 record, Chris – another vagrant for you to be on the lookout for!), also in Faeroe I. (1 record, Jul 1984), Britain (9, Sep–Dec, once in Mar), and Ireland (1 record, Cape Clear, Co. Cork, Oct 1978; 1 record, Loughermore Forest, Co. Derry, 30 Sep–2 Oct 1984). (source – Birds of North America, Cornell Bird Lab).

The yellow throated warblers were a little more visible and I took these photos of one foraging on the door to the generator shed at our place in South Englishtown.

So this is very, very cool -- I am posting this using wifi onboard a Delta airlines flight from San Jose California back to Minnesota.  There has been some frustration with losing connection frequently, but not too bad.  I will probably come back and make some edits later because my laptop is almost out of juice.  My first post while airborn!