Brown Jay

We visited Xunantunich, a Mayan ruin in Belize, with our guide, Rene, on March 18, 2026. We had just started walking uphill toward the ruin when we heard the first brown jays making a racket in the tall trees behind us. Rene identified them and I got completely distracted, wanting to see them and get a good photo as the brown jay was a lifer for me. They were very active and vocal and I struggled to get photos. We continued uphill, entered into the ruins and eventually climbed up the tallest, El Castillo. From the top of El Castillo a whole flock of brown jays flew back and forth, from tree to tree and I took lots of photos, hoping some would turn out. Toward the end of our visit, a single brown jay landed in a tree above me and I was able to get some decent photos while it was quite close to me. 

I've loaded all of my photos. It is chocolate brown above with a dark hood, whitish underparts and white tips to the tail feathers. Immature birds have yellow eye-rings and varying amounts of yellow on the bill and legs, all of which become dark in an adult. It is common on the Caribbean slope and rare and local on the Pacific slope. "Very loud and raucous." 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Mangrove Swallow

The mangrove swallow looks quite a bit like the tree swallow which I've posted on twice before (Salton Sea - May 1, 2021) and (Bear River MBR - August 14, 2021). We recently visited the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich in Belize and had to cross a ferry over the Mopan River to reach it. Mangrove swallows were flying all around the ferry and landing on it in various place. 

It has a white rump, which you can't see in my photo, a thin white line over the eye and white edging on the tertials which you really can't see either. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World.

Jabiru

On our flight to Belize on March 15, 2026 I had my "Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America," by Jesse Fagan & Oliver Komar and I went through it, page by page, reviewing the birds and occasionally reading what it said about some of them. I was intrigued by the jabiru, a large white stork with a black head, a long black bill, and a red neck. I'd never heard of it before. A range map showed it was resident year round in portions of Belize and the text indicated it was "rare to uncommon on [the] Caribbean slope". I thought I would really like to see that bird. 

On Wednesday, March 18, we left Caye Caulker by water taxi to Belize City on the coast, and were picked up by Rene, our guide for the day, who was going to take us to Xunantunich, a Mayan ruin in western Belize near the border with Guatemala. I told him I was interested in birds and asked if we might see some at Xunantunich. He said yes, then said, if you are interested, we might be able to see a jabiru on the drive there. I immediately knew what he was talking about and said, "yes, I would love to see one." He said there were some swampy areas along the road and that he often sees jabirus driving through there. 

Some time later he stopped on the side of the road and pointed to a large bird far out to our left. He opened the door of the van we were in and we stepped to the back of the vehicle, on the side of the road. I took a couple of quick pictures, in case the bird flew when we crossed the road. 

As a large truck passed, we stepped across the road and the jabiru started to fly. I started to take photos of it as it did so. 

What an amazing bird. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of it flying from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. Note that where we were in Belize is about the furthest north the jabiru is found. It is found just a bit further north in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. 

Spotted Eagle-Owl

On July 19, 2025 I was with Judy and my granddaughter, Ella. We were in Uganda and drove from outside Kampala, near Lake Victoria and the Mabamba Swamp, to Murchison Falls NP. When we arrived at the Karuma entrance our guide William registered us and we drove in as it was getting dark. We drove east to west covering almost the entire length of the park, past Paraa and to Pakuba, where we stayed at the Pakuba Safari Lodge. During our drive we saw a hyena, a hippo and two spotted eagle-owls that were standing in the road and flew as we approached.

Illustration from Birds of the World. There is a brown morph and a gray morph. I selected the gray illustration, but it was night and I'm not sure what color they were. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

 

Northern Saw-Whet Owl

I grew up in the Avenues of Salt Lake City, on a road that rimmed a hill above City Creek Canyon and that canyon was the playground of my youth. I spent many hours exploring it, alone and with friends. In the summer of 1968, when I was between 5th and 6th grade, I took a summer school class from Howard Rogers, one of my teachers at Lowell Elementary School. During summer school we spent a number of days exploring City Creek Canyon, but from the road at the bottom, far below the road I lived on at the top of the canyon. We drove far deeper into the canyon than I'd been before. One morning I was walking down the side of a hill among scrub oak and encountered a small owl standing on a branch at about chest height. It appeared to be sleeping. I clasped it with both of my hands and carried it down the hill. I don't remember if I carried it the entire way in my hands, or if I had a bag I put it into. I transported it in Mr. Roger's car with the rest of our group and that owl became one of my cherished pets and a favorite of my mother. I named it "Gus," but it soon just became "Owl." I would take Owl out of its cage and perch it on my finger. The photo below is me with Owl at my grandmother's home on a Sunday afternoon. 

Owl is the only northern saw-whet owl I've ever seen. Owl's life ended tragically. We fed Owl a mouse we caught in a mouse-trap in our garage and Owl died shortly after. We think the mouse was sick, perhaps poisoned. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Barred Owl

On May 12, 2024 I was in the Croatan National Forest in Carteret County, North Caroline with my sons Sam and Andrew. We drove down a road deep into a heavily forested swamp and Sam and Andrew were busy looking for plants, probably carnivorous ones. I ventured away from them, following a stream which was difficult to follow because it was in an area with lots of water, lots of fallen and decaying trees and an overwhelming humidity that soaked me despite it feeling relatively cool. It seemed like a spot that would be easy to get lost in. An unfamiliar place for me, a place of some discomfort, with snakes, spiders and other creatures I don't know. A place closer to hell than heaven, sticky, noisy, foreboding. Then I heard the deep and powerful booming call of an owl and that sound propelled me deeper in to find it. I wanted to see and photograph that owl. I finally heard the whirring of wings and this big beautiful barred owl flew at some distance from me back toward the road, but at a different angle than I'd come in. I followed the direction of the flight, but I did not find it - did not hear it again. Wow. That is my most real experience in a serious swamp. It was not particularly comfortable, but seeing that owl was magic. I would go back again just to find and photograph that beautiful bird. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Rattling Cisticola

On July 19, 2025 I was near Nkima Forest Lodge above the Mabamba Swamp and Lake Victoria in Uganda with my guide Wilson. I saw a number of cisticolas and I can't identify them whatsoever, perhaps my least favorite birds because of that. Whether they are croaking, winding, zitting, rattling or otherwise, and I'm just scratching the surface, the cisticolas are a pain. I've got one horrible photo, I've submitted it to iNaturalist and no identifier has ventured out to substantiate or refute it. 

My sole, horrible photo. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Perhaps the sketchiest of my lifers and I've debated whether or not to include it and finally decided to go for it.