Sunday, November 15 Trinidad: Grounds of the AWNC, Caroni Swamp As on every day so far, the predawn star-studded sky was partly obscured by fast-moving, low rainclouds. Shortly after dawn the clouds dissipated, leaving behind a sparkling sapphire sky, with large cumulus clouds forming around lunchtime and providing welcome shade along with brief rain showers in the afternoon. For a weather forecast, all one has to do at Asa Wright is look east to see the advancing clouds, if there are any. Breakfast this morning included the usual three kinds of cereal, sliced fresh watermelon, bananas, and flatbread with a spicy sauce of okra and tomatoes. At 8:30 a.m. we met Mukesh Ramdass, an expert guide who led us down the Discovery Trail in search of Bearded Bellbirds. One of the less common birds that we found at the Centre that morning was Yellow-olive Flycatcher, a species usually missed on these trips but which we had seen in September in nearly the same place. On the way to the bellbird area, we met a British couple returning to the lodge, having been unsuccessful in seeing a bellbird. I urged them to join us for at least 15 minutes in another attempt to spot a bellbird. Mukesh was very successful in his quest. He pointed out a calling Bearded Bellbird to us all from one angle, while I located it from another and soon had it in the scope. The robin-sized bird was on a branch about 40 feet high, uttering its incredibly loud "BOK!" periodically, but incredibly difficult to actually see. All of us, including the British couple, were able to return to the lodge having had very satisfying views of this challenging species. Today for lunch we had fresh homemade rolls, cream of corn soup, vegetable rice, cheese biscuits, pigeon peas, callaloo --a soup made with okra, dasheen (green leaves that look like those of Caladium), "ground provision" (tubers such as potatoes, cassava, and taro), barbecued creole-style chicken, and a fresh garden salad, with chocolate cake garnished with shredded carrots for dessert. After lunch, we boarded Ivan's maxi and headed for the Caroni Swamp. We made a brief but rewarding stop at the TrinCity ponds, which hosted Snowy Egrets, Southern Lapwings, Yellow-hooded Blackbirds, White-winged Swallows, Purple Gallinules, and another lovely adult male Long-winged Harrier. Southern Lapwing. Photo by Debby Harriman. Adult male Long-winged Harrier. Photo by Debby Harriman. Adult male Long-winged Harrier. Photo by Debby Harriman. Lush growth of water hyacynth covered most of the ponds. Photo by Joan Cwi. We continued west on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and drove to the Caroni area by way of the Caroni rice fields. As we passed through the extensive plantings, we saw an enormous flock of Rock Pigeons feeding on the ground and flying around. Suddenly a bulky first-year female Peregrine Falcon came rocketing in, slashed through the flock, wheeled, came alongside the bus, and finally went down in a burst of speed and out of sight over a slight grass-covered rise. It stayed down, presumably with a pigeon in its talons. Caroni rice fields. Photo by Joan Cwi. While in this area, we saw four more adult male Long-winged Harriers. This raised an interesting question -- do the males migrate separately from the females and young, as do Northern Harriers in North America? However, ornithologists consider this species resident, not migratory, so perhaps a migratory race temporarily floods Trinidad for short periods each year. We parked at the Caroni Swamp information station to use the restrooms. Here we found a couple of Northern Waterthrushes and caught a quick glimpse of an American Pygmy Kingfisher. Arriving at Madoo's boat dock, we boarded a flat-bottomed boat and headed into the Caroni Swamp. Blue River drain and boat docks, entranceway into the Caroni Swamp. Photo by Debby Harriman. One of our first new birds for the trip during this foray was a Pale-vented Pigeon in a mangrove along the canal. Both banks were lined with the emergent roots of red mangrove. Red mangrove in the Caroni Swamp. Photo by Joan Cwi. On the mangrove roots we found mangrove oysters and mangrove crabs. Mangrove crab (left) and hermit crab (right). Photo by Joan Cwi. As our young guide, Shawn Madoo, explained, we were between high and low tides, a condition he called "check" tide. Shawn pointed out Bicolored Conebills and Little Blue Herons, and at one point had me use my MP3 player to attract one of our target birds, the mangrove-loving Straight-billed Woodcreeper. On the way to the Scarlet Ibis roost, Shawn diverted from the traditional route to show us a roost he had recently discovered of thousands of Eared Doves, perhaps most of the Eared Doves in the Caroni region. He mentioned that he had seen Greater Ani there recently, and as we approached, a Greater Ani flew out of the mangrove hummock. It was the only Greater Ani of our trip. Unfortunately, this diversion cost us the best opportunity to photograph Scarlet Ibis, since the sun had dropped behind a cloud by the time we returned to the ibis roost, never to reemerge. We did enjoy watching hundreds of adult and immature Scarlet Ibis fly in and perch in the upperstory of a mangrove hummock, with hundreds of Cattle Egrets, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, and Tricolored Herons occupying the lower level. We returned to the Centre for a late dinner, which this evening was a traditional Trinidadian dish called "Buss Up Shut"(see http://www.tntisland.com/bussupshut.html for details). Tonight's ingredients included white rice, dahl (dried peas or lentils), pumpkin, chopped potatoes (aloo) and chickpeas (channa), bodi (long beans), and curried lamb, with crème caramel for dessert. New for the trip: Neotropic Cormorant, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Scarlet Ibis, White Hawk, Scaled Pigeon, Pale-vented Pigeon, Eared Dove, Greater Ani, Red-rumped Woodpecker (h), Chestnut Woodpecker (h), Lineated Woodpecker (h), Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Yellow-olive Flycatcher Number of species seen: 106; new for trip: 13; running total: 174 Back   Home   Next Trinidad Birding