Posted July 3, 2017
Found what appeared to be a very pregnant opossum in our Mayan ethnobotanical garden (in the hills overlooking Guatemala City). It did not hiss, nor run away fast. It simply climbed up the vines on the wall (surrounding the property).
Posted June 20, 2017
Quetzal came to the Cecropia (Guarumo) tree for food, 5:10 pm, Ranchitos del Quetzal, June 15, 2017.
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, Nikon D5, AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens on Gitzo tripod with Wimberley WH-200 gimbal tripod head II), overcast sky. Pure sunlight (almost no flash would reach as far away as this bird was).
This is cropped down since a 400mm lens will simply not capture a view of any bird at this distance. We hope to have a 600mm lens by July, but frankly I estimate that the only way to photograph a bird this far away would be to use a Swarovski digiscoping system.
The quetzals come to feed on the guarumo treetops about 5 to 6 am and 5 to 6 pm (the worst possible times of day for “sunlight” photography in a rainy cloud forest).
Posted June 20, 2017
Photo of Egretta tricolor, Garza tricolor, en el Canal de Chiquimulilla.
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We are working on preparing tips and suggestions How-to do bird photography, or better titles, how to improve your bird photography. We will be working on this the entire year.
Today we offer a set of fine art giclee quality images of the tricolored heron, Egretta tricolor, photographed along the Canal de Chiquimulilla, near Monterrico, Guatemala, Central America. We list the camera, lens, ISO, speed, and f.stop used for freezing the bird in flight.
For many years we have cooperated with the pleasant and knowledgeable team at CECON in Monterrico. Alex Cuellar and other capable guides from Monterrico have taken us in boats so we can photograph Neotropical flowers, crabs, birds, tule swamps, and mangrove swamps.
CECON is a university institute dedicated to protecting the fragile eco-systems of several different parts of Guatemala.
Posted June 20, 2017
Photo of Yellow-winged Cacique, in Monterrico, Guatemala.
During the last 8 months we have focused our field trips on finding and photographing all birds of Guatemala which construct long hanging woven nests.
Montezuma oropendola nests are the most impressive, but we want to find every other genus and species with similar pendant woven nests. After finding many Chestnut-headed oropendola nest colonies, we then found many Altimira oriole nests.
Then two weeks ago we found lots and lots of hanging nests of cacique birds, thanks to the local knowledge of Axel Cuellar, CECON guide, Monterrico, Guatemala (on the Pacific Ocean coast of Guatemala).
Now we will be looking for hanging nests of all other oriole species (since we already have found Altimira oriole in many different locations). Of course some orioles have basket-shaped nests: these we are not looking for.
We hope that a zoology (or industrial design) student can be inspired to do a MS thesis or PhD dissertation to create a 3D video of how these birds weave such impressive nests. We will give such a student all our information on where to find each tree in Guatemala that has this kind of tall hanging woven nest.
Birdwatching is popular worldwide, and we recommend you come to Guatemala and visit Monterrico for more than the beaches. Enjoy the amazing birds and then explore the nearby Canal de Chiquimulilla.
Posted March 29, 2017
One of our many goals is to show to the world the remarkable and diverse Neotropical eco-systems of Guatemala (and adjacent parts of Mesoamerica).
One of many ways by which we can bring the fragile eco-systems to the entire world is to recreate a series of idealized renderings of the plants and animals. These scenes will eventually be in the animated films which we will produce with potential partners (with the FLAAR team providing the knowledge and inspiration for the Neotropical flora and fauna of Mesoamerica and an experienced animation company coordinating with us to bring this to a worldwide audience).
As soon as funds are available we will also do 360 degree panorama photographs of good examples of each eco-system of the Mayan and Xinca areas (the people who lived in Guatemala before the arrival of the Spaniards).
As soon as funds are available we will also do 360 degree panorama photographs of good examples of each eco-system of the Mayan and Xinca areas (the people who lived in Guatemala before the arrival of the Spaniards).
Here is a portion of our first 360 "moving" rain forest scene.
You can experience this best from your iPhone, iPad, Android, or comparable tablet, via this link to the full 360 scene on Mayan Toons on Facebook
We prefer to start with entertaining scenes, and we now show the first rendition of an idealized Neotropical scene of the Mayan areas. This is the work of many of the capable student intern illustrators and university-trained illustrators and graphic designers.
In the coming months we will present:
Posted March 16, 2017
Several months ago, while doing research on all pollinators other than bees, I learned that there is a "Mexican honey wasp," Brachygastra mellifica. So we went back into all recent photos of "bees and wasps" and found that we had photographed a honey wasp in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, the first week of November 2016.
Today I asked one of our plant scouts if he knew these insects, and I was really surprised that he was fully aware of these wasps which make honey. He lives in the Ixbolai river area of Peten (that is my rough phonetic spelling of the Q’eqchi’ word for this river).
He said that there was a giant nest of this honey wasp in his milpa and he had to burn it out since the wasps were stinging him every time he went to his milpa.
The Honey Wasp, on an Amaranth flower, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. Photo by Maria Alejandra Gutierrez Mendez, photographer at FLAAR.
