Bird of the Day
Red-billed Tropicbird
Flora/Fauna of the Day
We enjoyed our early morning ocean view.
Chris led a 6:30am birding expedition up the big hill and down the other side. Gladwyn had said that the gardens around the old mill were a good place to find a Ruby Topaz. Most of us did not see one, although Eva thought she might have. We did have a few other good sightings including Black-faced Grassquits, and Aaugun saw a nesitng pair of Red-crowned Woodpeckers. The birders returned for breakfast.
After breakfast, we hiked to the dock to take Frank's Glass Bottom Boat Tours to Little Tobago Island. Barbara propped up her leg with her beer box. She was comfortable on the wavy 30 minute ride. The cameras were busy. It was too fast to see much through the glass bottom windows, but there would be more time for this on the return voyage. Chris was the only one to spot a couple of sea turtles.
Barbara told the operator that she would be unable to make the leap from a ladder to the dock as the waves were very high. So he had the boat pass as close as possible to a perched Brown Booby and nesting Red-billed Tropicbird, so she would not miss the whole show.
She returned to the Blue Waters Inn in the boat and rested watching the news while the others hiked to the top of the island.
The rest of us hiked up a trail to a viewpoint at the top of the island for a view of nesting cliffs above a grand expanse of ocean. We were able to get eye-level views of Red-billed Tropicbird, Red-footed and Brown boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds. On the trail, we saw some interesting lizards and crabs.
On the return trip, we did see a few fish through the glass bottom of the boat - very hard to photograph. Confirming Barbara's suspicions, a woman from a different goup did fall off the ladder trying to disembark. Fortunately, she did not seem to be seriously injured.
The happy travellers returned for a late lunch. One last check of the feeders for the elusive Ruby Topaz; no, just a Copper-rumped Hummingbird, looking quite different here on Tobago. We noticed Ghost Crabs all over the beach.
After lunch we loaded our gear onto Gladwyn's bus. He drove us to the Tobago airport for our flight to Trinidad. We made a few short birding stops. The most notable one was where we spotted a pair of Great Black Hawks, one of them carrying a Rufous-vented Chachalaca it had just caught.
We checked with a local resident near the airport about the whereabouts of a Western Reef-heron that had been seen a few days ago, but there was no sign of it.
Soon we were on our way to Trinidad.
We spent a long time waiting for our shuttle bus to the Port of Spain Holiday Inn Express. When the van arrived, there was only room for two passengers. Barbara and Bill get the seats. Once they arrive at the hotel, they get busy organizing a take out pizza supper for us all. It was our last chance to socialize as Ted, Luke and Eva would be flying home early tomorrow morning. It is hard to say goodbye to these good birding friends.
Birds seen today: