Thursday, November 12 Trinidad: Aripo Livestock Station, Nariva Swamp, Waller Field At 6:15 a.m., on her way from her cabin to the veranda, Pat Petersen slipped on a patch of wet asphalt and fell. She broke her right kneecap and injured her ribs, coccyx, and right elbow. It took until Monday night for Pat and Pete's travel insurance company to finesse them back to their home in North Carolina, where Pat underwent surgery, but that's another story for another time. Our group of 10 was now down to eight. Pat and Pete remained a constant topic of conversation for the rest of our tour, as we sent mental care packages their way. A sober group gathered for breakfast today. We enjoyed the usual three kinds of cereal (corn flakes, raisin bran, and muesli), slices of fresh pineapple and watermelon, bananas (called "figs" in T&T), toasted homemade bread, and a savory creole dish made with hot dogs, carrots, onions, and peppers. Today our itinerary took us down the Arima Valley, east to the Atlantic Ocean, south to the Nariva Swamp, and then back north to end the day at Waller Field, a former U.S. airbase. At the Aripo Livestock Station, we watched Grassland Yellow-Finches through the scope from 40 feet away. The weather was dynamic, changing every half hour or so, from sunny to cloudy to showery and back to sunny. Aripo Livestock Station. Photo by Joan Cwi. Joan picked out a Pinnated Bittern skulking in the high grass, a real coup, as this cryptically patterned bird often goes unseen, well camouflaged and moving very slowly. The greatest surprise of the day came when we checked out a small sparrowlike bird that landed on a barbed wire fence a stone's throw from us. At first glance it appeared to be just another Grassland Yellow-Finch. On second glance, its orangey-red crown and various other characteristics proclaimed it to be a Saffron Finch, by far the northernmost individual I had ever observed. Male Saffron Finch. Photo by Terry Williams. Farther on, we spotted a Cocoi Heron in the fields east of the the cattle barns. This South American long-legged wader is solitary and scarce. Yellow-chinned Spinetails were ridiculously abundant and vocal. Yellow-chinned Spinetail. Photo by Debby Harriman. We returned to the van for a short time because of a brief, warm, but intense rain shower. Rainy-season shower. Photo by Joan Cwi. We birded the flat areas and then the second-growth forests of the lower foothills, where we had close views of male and female Black-crested Antshrikes. Male Black-crested Antshrike. Photo by Terry Williams. Everyone was intrigued by the hybrid cattle being reared at the station. The hybrid is known as "buffalypso", a combination of the words "buffalo" and "calypso". Buffalypsos and Cattle Egrets. Photo by Debby Harriman. Buffalypso food on its way. Photo by Debby Harriman. Debbi with the buffalypso herd. Photo by Joan Cwi. Leaving the station, we stopped at the Ponderosa Bar in Valencia, where I bought everyone cold drinks and picked up three kinds of cookies for group snacks. As has been the case on every T&T trip that I have led this decade, a beverage called LLB (Angostura lemon-lime bitters) instantly became the favorite of most members of the group. Ivan spotted two Yellow-rumped Caciques flying across the road, so we made a brief stop in Lower Manzanilla. We worked very hard to spot the two black-and-yellow birds, which were perched deep in the far side of a mango tree. While we were working on the caciques, Jay spotted a beautiful adult Yellow-headed Caracara that had just perched in a mango tree on the opposite side of the road. (One of the benefits of keeping my birding groups small is that we can stop whenever we want to.) After a drive of about an hour, we arrived at Manzanilla Beach, where Ivan and I unloaded the coolers of food and beverages and served lunch. Our repast consisted of potato casserole with ground beef and corn (shepherd's pie), fresh garden salad with homemade dressing, bananas, and cold fruit juice. Our lunch stop on Manzanilla Beach. Photo by Debby Harriman. Ivan enjoying some alone time at lunch. Photo by Terry Williams. Anticipating a need to use the restrooms, I had stashed a wad of TT$1 bills in my pocket. I handed them out to members of our group to use to pay the TT$1 entry fee into the government-run comfort station. We're all set! Photo by Terry Williams. After lunch we scanned the Atlantic Ocean, finding a view distant birds such as Brown Pelican and Royal Terns coursing over the waves, and then we reboarded our maxi taxi. The next 10 miles took us through millions of coconut palms, among which we searched for perched raptors. Our first find was a Yellow-headed Caracara perched obligingly close to the road. Yellow-headed Caracara. Photo by Joan Cwi. As we passed over the Nariva River Bridge, we found an Anhinga sunning itself on a fallen mangrove log, and at the mouth of the Nariva River we found a lone first-year Snowy Egret. In the swamp proper, we spotted an adult White-tailed Hawk. This bird had been present in Nariva Swamp for at least a year. It was likely the only one of its species on the island. We had superb and repeated views of a Zone-tailed Hawk hunting, banking, and showing us its lovely two-toned underwings, barred hindwings, yellow cere, yellow legs and feet, and black-and-white banded tail. Near the village of Kernaham, deep in the swamp, a Turkey Vulture landed very near the bus, giving us repeated views from 30 feet away of its pale yellow nape, the diagnostic character of the South American race. We returned late in the afternoon to the northern part of Trinidad, to a patch of Moriche palms at Waller Field. There we studied a perched falcon that presented some identification problems because of its distance in the dim lighting. When we got it in the scope, we were able to discern a mustachial streak, heavily striped underparts, and solid brown back -- a Merlin. We also found 16 Red-bellied Macaws, a few Yellow-bellied Elaenias, 8 Sulphury Flycatchers, 6 Yellow-headed Caracaras dodging in and out of the Moriche palms, and a distant, calling Rufous-tailed Jacamar. Red-bellied Macaws feeding on moriche palm fruit. Photo by Debby Harriman. Moriche palms at sunset. Photo by Debby Harriman. Dinner at Asa Wright included fresh rolls, cabbage soup, rice with chives and corn, steamed chopped okra, chunks of okra with pumpkin and carrots, black beans with cubed carrots, lamb chops, and shredded cabbage-and-carrot salad with fresh dressing, finished off with caramel flan. We were privileged to have another fine resident naturalist and longtime friend of mine, Mukesh Ramdass, join us at dinner. Jay surprised me by wearing the 23-year-old Bill Murphy's Peregrine Enterprises T-shirt that I had given him in 1986 for leading a weekend walk on Maryland's Eastern Shore for me. The shirt portrayed a Peregrine Falcon in flight, an image I had commissioned Smithsonian artist Mary Lou Cooley to draw for me. Amazingly, the shirt looked brand new. Pat and Pete had returned to Asa Wright while awaiting instructions for returning to the U.S. After visiting with them, I spent the remainder of the evening on the telephone with their travel insurance company, AccessAmerica, attempting to organize their return to North Carolina while the group reviewed the day's sightings. Between the Petersen's nightmarish experience and now my own attempts to work with this sleazy company, I have ceased recommending or using their travel insurance services. New for the trip: Blue-winged Teal, Brown Pelican, Anhinga, Magnificent Frigatebird, Pinnated Bittern, Striated Heron, Cattle Egret, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Osprey, Gray Hawk, Savanna Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Yellow-headed Caracara, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Purple Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Wattled Jacana, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Rock Pigeon, Red-bellied Macaw, Lilac-tailed Parrotlet (h), Squirrel Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Striped Cuckoo (h), White-collared Swift, Fork-tailed Palm-Swift, Rufous-tailed Jacamar (h), Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Black-crested Antshrike, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Pied Water-Tyrant, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Sulphury Flycatcher, White-winged Swallow, Gray-breasted Martin, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Saffron Finch, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Carib Grackle, Red-breasted Blackbird Number of species seen: 85; new for trip: 55; running total: 118 Back   Home   Next Trinidad Birding