Thursday, February 27
At first light some of us were up and out, continuing to explore the grounds of the Blue Waters Inn. Al and Jerry worked the dripping water tank, getting good looks at several species.
After breakfast we walked out onto the dock and boarded Wordsworth Frank's glass-bottomed boat. The extra outboard motor on the stern was a comforting sight, as we had an ocean crossing between us and our destination for the morning, Little Tobago Island.
While we were underway, Frank explained the way the angelfish bite the coral and spit out bits of the minerals, which is what makes the sand in the coral reef. He pointed out tube sponge, brain coral, fire coral, and lots of fish.
Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Boobies soon were passing close to the boat. Well before we reached Little Tobago, our first Red-billed Tropicbirds had flown close enough to elicit ooh's and aah's from the group.
We had an easy, dry landing alongside the concrete dock at the landing site. Until about 1997, both the departure and arrival were performed from beaches. We routinely were drenched up to our thighs during the process, and in heavy swells there was a danger of being pushed over by the boat.
To me, except for the concrete steps and a few wooden buildings, Little Tobago Islands looks like a place no human has ever visited. Gigantic anthuriums, Anthurium hookeri, grow waist-high and six feet across, both on the dirt and as epiphytes in the trees.
As we slowly traversed the steps to the top of the island, we saw Venezuelan, Fuscous, and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Copper-rumped and Ruby-Topaz Hummingbirds, Tropical Mockingbirds, and all the usual species. Frank had carried a container of water with him, which he emptied into a bird watering trough made from a stout section of bamboo. Within seconds, the birds that had been waiting for him to move away had just about covered the trough. Everything from Bare-eyed Robins to Bananaquits seemed to materialize out of nowhere. In the intensely bright sunlight, the blue and purple hues of the Blue-gray Tanagers was particularly striking.
We followed a trail that took us from the western to the eastern side of the island, leaves from the partly bare trees crunching underfoot. We reached the first lookout and had a chance to watch tropicbirds and boobies flying over the crashing surf far below. Some were landing in the cactus and other kinds of thorny scrub that covered the steep sides of the island. Among the many Brown Boobies we picked out a surprising number of Red-footed Boobies, both the dark and the white morphs. We were a month too early for nesting terns but we saw what were probably the last of the nesting Laughing Gulls of the season. A lone Crested Oropendola made periodic flights at eye level, and a Chivi Vireo sang monotonously in the background.
Moving on to the second lookout, a substantial roofed enclosure that provided welcome relief from the sun, we were treated to the sight of Red-billed Tropicbirds hovering and gliding less than 30 feet from us. They were nesting on the ground under the vegetation and were returning from fishing. Frank led a few of us at a time about 50 feet from the lookout enclosure to view a nesting Red-billed Tropicbird. While we enjoyed the view, a different kind of tropicbird appeared, this one with a bright yellow bill -- a White-tailed Tropicbird. One or two individuals of this species have been seen on Little Tobago for the last two years. I'd missed it on the two trips where others had seen it, so I was very happy to be able to study it. It was a lifer for me, and I don't get many of those on either Trinidad or Tobago anymore.
When we were through, we hiked back across the island to the boat. Along the way Frank showed us an Audubon's Shearwater on the ground, partly hidden under a large fallen leaf. It was incubating a single egg. It turned its head away from us and utterly ignored us.
Our return trip was tranquil, with each of us reflecting on the unforgettable sights we had just witnessed. I found myself wondering what it had been like for John Dinsmore, who in the early 1970s had spent eight months alone on Little Tobago Island. His research there resulted in a fascinating article, Avifauna of Little Tobago Island [Quart. J. Florida Acad. Sci. 35(1):55-71].
Later, back at the Blue Waters, we had another excellent lunch (with ice cream!) and did more afternoon exploring along the ridge trail behind the inn. Our day had been an exceptional one, filled with verdant vistas and the sound of the sea.
As we slowly traversed the steps to the top of the island, we saw Venezuelan, Fuscous, and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Copper-rumped and Ruby-Topaz Hummingbirds, Tropical Mockingbirds, and all the usual species. Frank had carried a container of water with him, which he emptied into a bird watering trough made from a stout section of bamboo. Within seconds, the birds that had been waiting for him to move away had just about covered the trough. Everything from Bare-eyed Robins to Bananaquits seemed to materialize out of nowhere. In the intensely bright sunlight, the blue and purple hues of the Blue-gray Tanagers was particularly striking.
Later, back at the Blue Waters, we had another excellent lunch (with ice cream!) and did more afternoon exploring along the ridge trail behind the inn. Our day had been an exceptional one, filled with verdant vistas and the sound of the sea.