Trinidad and Tobago Birding Tour

January 4, 2015

Bird of the Day
Guianan Trogon



Flora/Fauna of the Day



We left Ottawa in a snowstorm with freezing rain on Saturday night. Rick drove us to the airport - very carefully. De-icing took some time. Luckily we just made our Toronto overnight connecting flight to Port of Spain. Unfortunately, Eva, coming in from Calgary did not make the connection and had to wait it out a whole day in a Toronto airport hotel.



Roodal Ramlal from Asa Wright Nature Centre greeted us at the Port of Spain Piarco airport early Sunday morning. We had some mocha coffee together while we waited for Estelle to arrive from Newark.



We did some airport birding (Carib Grackle & Ruddy Ground Dove).



Barbara spoke with a lady who was also waiting. She went to her car and brought us back a large beautiful hummingbird calendar from the National Library of Trinidad and Tobago. We gave her a bottle of maple syrup. A very pleasant start to our visit. Estelle arrived and we were off to Asa Wright.



Our first surprise was that Trinidadians drive "on the wrong side of the road" British style. A rainbow appeared as Roodal drove us up into the mountains - amazing scenery.



Breakfast was waiting for us at Asa Wright. We could bird and eat at the same time! We met Chris and soon learned that he was indeed a skilled birding guide.



After breakfast we settled into our room in the main lodge and checked out the legendary Asa Wright verandah. Asa Wright is a non-profit nature lodge and has been a prime birding destination since the 1960s. Formerly the Springhill Estate, the grounds have returned to a wild state from once extensive coffee, cocoa and citrus plantations. Some coffee, cocoa, and citrus plants are still maintained alongside the wild second-growth forest vegetation at the Centre. The whole effect is one of being deep in a tropical rainforest alive with birds.



Trinidad and Tobago is the "land of the hummingbird". Hummingbird feeders at Asa Wright bring in a never-ending array of colourful activity. The Centre uses a 5:1 water/sugar ratio for the feeders.
We quickly saw White-necked Jacobins, Copper-rumped Hummingbirds, Green Hermits, White-chested Emeralds, Blue-chinned Saphires and even the elusive Tufted Coquette.



As well, the Centre sets out tropical fruits which attract honeycreepers, tanagers and thrushes. We saw huge numbers of Purple and Green Honeycreepers, White-lined, Blue-gray, Palm, Silver-beaked and Turquoise Tanagers, Bananaquits and Violaceous Euphonias. Cocoa and Spectacled Thrushes were also common at the feeders.

We were also fortunate to see a Bearded Bellbird and Channel-billed Toucan from the verandah.



Crested Oropendolas were noisily nesting the the trees nearby and sometimes visited the feeders too.

Other birds visiting the feeders were Yellow Orioles and Tropical Mockingbirds, while Golden Tegus joined the Agoutis on patrol on the ground below.



After our introduction to the famous verandah, we took a short hike with Chris into the forest. Rich vegetation surrounded us. Hummingbirds were feeding on bright flowers. Chris's quick eyes spotted others birds - hawks, trogons, manakins, woodpeckers and flycatchers.



Then we hiked along the road to a trail leading down to a lovely waterfall and pool. Good for swimming. We planned to go on another day, but a busy schedule, rain and an injury precluded it.



By the end of our first day here we felt we had an amazing start to our birding trip - 18 lifers forBill! It was time to enjoy the daily special rum punch at the bar on the verandah and sample more local fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner.

Bird List for Today:

HERONS
Western Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
VULTURES
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
HAWKS & KITES
Common Black Hawk Buteogallus anthracinus
White Hawk Pseudastur albicollis LIFER #1
Zone-tailed Hawk Buteo albonotatus
PIGEONS & DOVES
Ruddy Ground Dove Columbina talpacoti
PARROTS
Orange-winged Amazon Amazona amazonica
CUCKOOS
Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani
OWLS
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl Glaucidium brasilianum HEARD ONLY
SWIFTS
Fork-tailed Palm Swift Tachornis squamata
HUMMINGBIRDS
Rufous-breasted Hermit Glaucis hirsutus LIFER #2
Green Hermit Phaethornis guy LIFER #3
Little Hermit Phaethornis longuemareus LIFER #4
White-necked Jacobin Florisuga mellivora
Tufted Coquette Lophornis ornatus LIFER #5
Blue-chinned Sapphire Chlorestes notata LIFER #6
Blue-tailed Emerald Chlorostilbon mellisugus LIFER #7
White-chested Emerald Amazilia brevirostris LIFER #8
Copper-rumped Hummingbird Amazilia tobaci
Long-billed Starthroat Heliomaster longirostris LIFER #9
TROGONS
Guianan Trogon Trogon violaceus LIFER #10 (Split from Violaceous Trogon)
TOUCAN
Channel-billed Toucan Ramphastos vitellinus LIFER #11
WOODPECKERS
Golden-olive Woodpecker Colaptes rubiginosus
Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus
ANTBIRDS
Barred Antshrike Thamnophilus doliatus HEARD ONLY
FLYCATCHERS
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
Grey Kingbird Tyrannus dominicensis
BELLBIRDS
Bearded Bellbird Procnias averano LIFER #12
MANAKINS
White-bearded Manakin Manacus manacus LIFER #13
GREENLETS
Golden-fronted Greenlet Hylophilus aurantiifrons LIFER #14
WRENS
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
MOCKINGBIRD
Tropical Mockingbird Mimus gilvus
THRUSHES
Cocoa Thrush Turdus fumigatus
Spectacled Thrush Turdus nudigenis LIFER #15
EUPHONIAS
Violaceous Euphonia Euphonia violacea
BLACKBIRDS
Crested Oropendola Psarocolius decumanus
Yellow Oriole Icterus nigrogularis
Carib Grackle Quiscalus lugubris
BANANAQUIT & CARDINAL
Bananaquit Coereba flaveola
TANAGERS & HONEYCREEPERS
White-lined Tanager Tachyphonus rufus LIFER #16
Silver-beaked Tanager Ramphocelus carbo
Blue-grey Tanager Thraupis episcopus
Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum
Turquoise Tanager Tangara mexicana LIFER #17
Bay-headed Tanager Tangara gyrola
Purple Honeycreeper Cyanerpes caeruleus LIFER #18
Green Honeycreeper Chlorophanes spiza

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