Monday, September 21
Trinidad: Grounds of the AWNC, Caroni Swamp
Trinidad: Grounds of the AWNC, Caroni Swamp
This day was split between a morning of birding on the grounds of the AWNC and an afternoon boat trip into the Caroni Swamp, on the western side of Trinidad. As usual we assembled on the veranda before breakfast to enjoy the morning chaos of feeding birds. And again as usual, eventually we broke for breakfast, which consisted of the traditional weekday menu that included custom-made omelettes along with cereal and milk, fresh watermelon, and saltfish with herbs and vegetables and a tiny bit of pepper sauce.
After breakfast we took a stroll to Blanchisseuse Road along the very birdy entrance drive. Among our best birds were a perched juvenile Gray Hawk crying hour after hour to be fed, an Ornate Hawk-Eagle soaring overhead, White-flanked Antwren, and a pair of Yellow-olive Flycatchers that apparently had nested along the entrance drive. This species is rarely found on birding tours, so we were quite happy to view it. A quick view of a Red-crowned Ant-Tanager was the only look we had of that species. By midmorning the birds had begun their siesta, so we turned the return walk into a botany/fruit lecture. We made a brief visit to the pool just off the entrance road, a fine place to soak and relax.
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| Paul relaxing on the veranda |
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| Marian and Fred at the Asa Wright pool |
After lunch we packed our bags for the afternoon boat trip and boarded Ivan's maxitaxi. He drove us through Arima and then west to the Caroni Swamp Visitors Center. The most numerous birds flying overhead were Eared Doves, new for the trip. David Ramlal, one of the AWNC's excellent contract bird guides, assisted us by using a recording to pull out a pair of Black-crested Antshrikes. I pulled out another Clapper Rail.
We boarded the wide, flat-bottomed boat at 3pm., along with several British couples and a small group from the Netherlands. Our boatman was Shawn Madoo, a very young but incredibly gifted birder who knows the swamp like his own backyard. As well he should, because it is. Before we had traveled any distance at all he had pointed out Red-capped Cardinals and an immature Common Black-Hawk. Along the shores on our way into the swamp we saw lots of Spotted Sandpipers, an amazing group of three American Pygmy Kingfishers, called in a cooperative Straight-billed Woodcreeper with a recording, saw more Bicolored Conebills, and studied a sleeping Cook's Tree Boa from a respectful distance. At the Scarlet Ibis roost site we watched scores of all kinds of herons and egrets flying in, endless streams of Fork-tailed Flycatchers high overhead arriving for the night, and of course the highlight of the evening, hundreds of brilliant Scarlet Ibis gathering in the tops of the dark green mangroves. Sitting in the boat in the midst of all this splendor we enjoyed rum punch and cookies.
On our return trip to the AWNC, Ivan related to us a very detailed story of slavery, soca music, steel pan music, the educational system, and race relations on Trinidad. It was an amazingly concise and lucid biography of Trinidad, and everyone enjoyed it.
Dinner at the AWNC included BBQ chicken, stewed pigeon peas, garden salad, and a whipped coconut gel dessert. Martyn reviewed the details of tomorrow's birding, and I conducted the tally.
Number of species seen: 100; new for trip: 10; running total: 168
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| Great Egret at Caroni Swamp |
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| Snowy Egret at Caroni Swamp |
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| Adult Scarlet Ibis at Caroni Swamp |
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| Adult Scarlet Ibis at Caroni Swamp |
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| Adult and young Scarlet Ibis at Caroni Swamp |
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| Adult and young Scarlet Ibis at Caroni Swamp |