Caye Caulker Pelicans Stopped in Motion
On my first trip to Belize, we stayed in Caye Caulker for the whole time. We had plans to explore further afield but we settled in and really enjoyed spending all of our time exploring this special island. The birdlife around the water was fantastic and I had great opportunities to photograph the brown pelicans daily.
That worked well for me, I love these birds and they often share something new that catches my eye whenever I get to photograph them in motion.
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Green kingfisher fishing in Belize
A recent encounter with a Belted kingfisher near my home made me think of another encounter earlier this year in Belize. We spent a few days in Hopkins and found this Green kingfisher fishing on edge of a marsh just after sunrise one morning.
A small, beautiful bird. With explosive speed he dove through the long grass – escaping from my view each time. After one he reappeared perched with a surprisingly large catch.
He gave me a few moments to frame his trophy catch before swallowing it and flying across the water.
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Keel-billed Toucans in the Treetops of Belize
We had a tumultuous last couple of months but are excited to get into spring’s positive vibes with the weather starting to warm. It makes looking at my library of images from our trip to Belize, and the warmth of central america in February, easier to look at.
I have dreamt of photographing toucans in the wild for a long time. Probably goes back to the cover of the Fruit Loops cereal box as a kid. It was absolutely magical to have multiple opportunities on a morning on the backroads near Hopkins.
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Belizean Night lights
A nightscape from the eastside of Caye Caulker. It’s a beautiful island during the day and the night keeps up as well. The wind from an approaching storm put some motion into the palms and stirred the water. Photographically there is a lot to work with, and play with, there. I’m looking forward to returning.
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Shaking and spraying in Belize
We spent a lot of time on the dock at the Anchorage Resort in Caye Caulker. We were there for most of our stay in Belize. The dock extends out into the sea and was usually surrounded by pelicans, cormorants, a variety of shorebirds and a few osprey. It was a wonderful place to photograph these birds throughout their days. Watching the cormorants cycle of diving, fishing and then drying off always held my attention. This cormorant surfaced and then rose up to shake off the water. The droplets flew chaotically while the surface boiled around his tail. With the piercing blue eye sharply contrasting the blur of the wings and the spray, this photograph was one of my favorites from many overlooking the Caribbean.
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Daybreak in Belize
The sunrises on Caye Caulker in Belize are amazing. When we were there in December, we woke up early enough to see most of them during our stay on the island. This morning, on the 11th, I was there before dawn and watched the storm from the night before blow out to sea.
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A cormorant perched
Double-crested cormorants fish, nest and fly all over Caye Culker where we stayed in Belize. There were a few wooden posts where they would often stop to preen, dry off and then watch for their next meal. Here I got off the dock, waded a bit closer to the bird and put the camera low to the water for this shot.
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A brown pelican perspective
We were in Belize last month and I had some great opportunities to photograph the wildlife there. I have always loved Brown pelicans – the way they fly, their mannerisms and particularly how they dive to fish. There was one that perched on the roof above me on a dock. Leaning over to look down into the water, this pelican offered me a great view at its long beak. The water drop made it one of my favorite photographs from last year.
