Sunday, September 20 Trinidad: Blanchisseuse Road Up at dawn as usual, coffee and birding from the veranda, and a wonderful breakfast of custom-made omelettes, fresh papayas and pineapple, cereal and milk, etc. We were on the road at 7am on this fine day, with a sapphire sky speckled with filamentous high clouds. A slight breeze kept us all comfortable. Our first destination was the nearby Textel site at the highest point along the Blanchisseuse Road. Here we drove to the very top, then after birding for awhile, slowly walked down the entrance road and for a stretch along Blanchisseuse Road. It was fairly quiet at the top. We found a mixed flock of species feeding in the treetops. In the area we observed our first Black-throated Mango, Streaked Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Speckled Tanager, and Bay-headed Tanager. We were able to look down from above on swifts, identifying Band-rumped Swift, Gray-rumped Swift, and Short-tailed Swift. Overhead flew our first Short-tailed Hawk and Blue-headed Parrots, while among the roadside flowers we found Rufous-breasted Hermit, Long-billed Starthroat, and Blue-chinned Sapphire. Birding was fun, and the Sunday traffic along Blanchisseuse Road kept us all hopping. Beyond the crest we made another lengthy stop to investigate a dirt road called Las Lapis Trace. Here we spotted a male Collared Trogon not too high above us, completely exposed. We heard our first White-necked Thrush, which we saw well when we got to Tobago later in the trip. An elusive White-bellied Antbird tantalized us with fleeting views. We stopped to examine an inch-wide, concentrated ribbon of ants across trail. More birding, then off down the Caribbean slope to Paria Junction for a picnic lunch of rice pilaf with chicken, salad homemade dressing, fresh fruit, fruit juice, and ice water. After lunch we birded along the road, where Marian found a very good bird -- Streaked Xenops. We heard our only Slaty-capped Flycatcher of the trip and caught glimpses of a furtive Long-billed Gnatwren in its preferred habitat, tangles of vines. Our final stop was just past the hamlet of Morne La Croix, where we nailed several good species including Blue-headed and Orange-winged Parrots, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Pale-breasted Spinetail (heard only), and hundreds of Fork-tailed Flycatchers streaming below us over the forest canopy. Then it was back to the AWNC for lovely dinner of lamb, rice, fresh garden salad, and a frothy papaya mousse dessert. Number of species seen: 82; new for trip: 21; running total: 158 Tropical Pewee at Morne Bleu Back   Home   Next Trinidad Birding