cassowary
Well-known member
A few notes on 2 days Birding in Trinidad - May 18th to May 20th 2014
Arrived POS 5:00 am – Picked up Car (SUV) – Hertz 5:45am. Free upgrade – they insisted – I wasn’t all that bothered –A good decision to accept it in the end as there are a couple of 4x4 trails and lots of potholes on the road to Grand Riviere
Great deal with hertz but I noticed on the contract they are looking to charge you very excessively for every ‘problem’ – I spent an hour detailing the car myself (no car washes etc were open) at the end so there wouldn’t be an issue. MY CC covers all insurance (LDW CDW etc but still I avoided a likely hassle)
Asa Wright – arrived early. I had already arranged to be there both days.
Immediately met the resident head naturalist Mukesh Ramdass. Great guy who really knows his stuff and birded with him. I didn’t go on a tour with him but I’m sure they are excellent if his birding skills are anything to go by. See: [email protected]
Highlights from both days:-
Black Hawk-Eagle
Grey-throated leaftosser
White bellied Antbird ( a Pair with Mukesh on the Oil Bird Trail)
Oilbirds with fat chicks in gorge (Trip arranged prior – Big thanks Neils for the heads –up regarding access)
Golden- headed Manakin Lekking
White-Bearded Manakin Lekking
Bearded Bell-Bird 4 or 5 very close
Tufted Coquette
All 3 Trogons
Lots of other birds
Telecom Area (a few minutes past Asa Wright) and nearby on Blanchisseuse Road – You can get up to the telecom area with normal car but a high clearance car/suv is easier. or you can walk – it says no trespassing but the guard at the top was quite friendly - Also Asa Wright guides drive to just outside the tower in those little vans.
Trinidad Piping Guan (missed) – apparently it has recently been seen quite regularly here
Highlights:
Speckled Tanager
Lots of birds called in using Ferruginous Pygmy Owl call
Trinidad Motmot fairly nearby (a couple of miles) on a 4x4 trail
Aripo Livestock Station –
Didn’t bother with a permit - no one asked anyway and the ‘guard’ was very friendly.
Saw most of the stuff that’s regularly recorded there except Pinnated Bittern – Too lazy to look in the area that it is sometimes seen
Highlights:
Red-bellied Macaw
Pearl Kite (nesting in tree on the opposite side of the entrance) (I know it’s a fairly common bird)
PAX Guest House 1st Night
Only had 10 mins of birding here but managed a double toothed kite and zone tailed hawk from the veranda.
Apparently Scaled Antpitta has recently been photographed on one of the trails – Good luck if you look for it – I didn’t bother.
Highlights
Nice views of ferruginous pygmy owl from the veranda. I heard it numerous times elsewhere.
Grand Riviere – It took me 1 ½ hrs to get from here to the airport but on some stretches there are very few overtaking areas so you could easily get stuck behind a slow vehicle. Very light traffic both ways.
Highlights:
Trinidad Piping Guan (at the stakeout)
Crimson Crested Woodpecker
Grey Headed Kite
Some other nice birds.
Nesting Leatherback Turtles. The leatherbacks come on to a protected beach mostly at night. Currently only very dim infrared lights are used by the ‘staff’ to view the turtles. They could improve the night experience for visitors by using more powerful infrared and allowing the occasional use of ‘normal’ light when the turtles are in the process of laying their eggs. This apparently doesn’t disturb the turtle and you actually get to see them properly and take a non-flash photo. Even the guide admitted it wouldn’t disturb the turtle.
No star alliance lounges in Trinidad but I was upgraded to first both ways which was nice.
The bird ‘spectacles’ in Trinidad are relatively easy to see and in season, the nesting leatherback turtles are pretty much guaranteed.
Arrived POS 5:00 am – Picked up Car (SUV) – Hertz 5:45am. Free upgrade – they insisted – I wasn’t all that bothered –A good decision to accept it in the end as there are a couple of 4x4 trails and lots of potholes on the road to Grand Riviere
Great deal with hertz but I noticed on the contract they are looking to charge you very excessively for every ‘problem’ – I spent an hour detailing the car myself (no car washes etc were open) at the end so there wouldn’t be an issue. MY CC covers all insurance (LDW CDW etc but still I avoided a likely hassle)
Asa Wright – arrived early. I had already arranged to be there both days.
Immediately met the resident head naturalist Mukesh Ramdass. Great guy who really knows his stuff and birded with him. I didn’t go on a tour with him but I’m sure they are excellent if his birding skills are anything to go by. See: [email protected]
Highlights from both days:-
Black Hawk-Eagle
Grey-throated leaftosser
White bellied Antbird ( a Pair with Mukesh on the Oil Bird Trail)
Oilbirds with fat chicks in gorge (Trip arranged prior – Big thanks Neils for the heads –up regarding access)
Golden- headed Manakin Lekking
White-Bearded Manakin Lekking
Bearded Bell-Bird 4 or 5 very close
Tufted Coquette
All 3 Trogons
Lots of other birds
Telecom Area (a few minutes past Asa Wright) and nearby on Blanchisseuse Road – You can get up to the telecom area with normal car but a high clearance car/suv is easier. or you can walk – it says no trespassing but the guard at the top was quite friendly - Also Asa Wright guides drive to just outside the tower in those little vans.
Trinidad Piping Guan (missed) – apparently it has recently been seen quite regularly here
Highlights:
Speckled Tanager
Lots of birds called in using Ferruginous Pygmy Owl call
Trinidad Motmot fairly nearby (a couple of miles) on a 4x4 trail
Aripo Livestock Station –
Didn’t bother with a permit - no one asked anyway and the ‘guard’ was very friendly.
Saw most of the stuff that’s regularly recorded there except Pinnated Bittern – Too lazy to look in the area that it is sometimes seen
Highlights:
Red-bellied Macaw
Pearl Kite (nesting in tree on the opposite side of the entrance) (I know it’s a fairly common bird)
PAX Guest House 1st Night
Only had 10 mins of birding here but managed a double toothed kite and zone tailed hawk from the veranda.
Apparently Scaled Antpitta has recently been photographed on one of the trails – Good luck if you look for it – I didn’t bother.
Highlights
Nice views of ferruginous pygmy owl from the veranda. I heard it numerous times elsewhere.
Grand Riviere – It took me 1 ½ hrs to get from here to the airport but on some stretches there are very few overtaking areas so you could easily get stuck behind a slow vehicle. Very light traffic both ways.
Highlights:
Trinidad Piping Guan (at the stakeout)
Crimson Crested Woodpecker
Grey Headed Kite
Some other nice birds.
Nesting Leatherback Turtles. The leatherbacks come on to a protected beach mostly at night. Currently only very dim infrared lights are used by the ‘staff’ to view the turtles. They could improve the night experience for visitors by using more powerful infrared and allowing the occasional use of ‘normal’ light when the turtles are in the process of laying their eggs. This apparently doesn’t disturb the turtle and you actually get to see them properly and take a non-flash photo. Even the guide admitted it wouldn’t disturb the turtle.
No star alliance lounges in Trinidad but I was upgraded to first both ways which was nice.
The bird ‘spectacles’ in Trinidad are relatively easy to see and in season, the nesting leatherback turtles are pretty much guaranteed.
