aythya_hybrid
real name Jonathan Dean
Have recently returned from two amazing weeks in Cuba. Mostly non-birding, but managed to see a decent range of birds, including a good number of endemics. It was with Explore, as part of their “Cuba Libre” tour, which took in the entire length and breadth of the country. Whilst it was mostly non-birding (and thus saw far fewer birds than would have been seen on a dedicated birding trip), there don't seem to be many Cuba trip reports, so I thought I'd put it on here.
So, here we go - birds marked with an asterisk were "lifers" for me:
Havana, 26th October.
During sightseeing around Havana we saw:
Black Vulture – pretty common around central Havana
Turkey Vulture – abundant around Havana and indeed the whole country
*Cuban Blackbird – the first endemic, and proved to be very common around the country, seen pretty much everywhere.
*Red-legged Thrush – first one was seen near our hotel (Hotel Plaza in central Cuba, and proved to be common everywhere)
*Tawny-shouldered Blackbird – several seen in flight at various spots around Havana, and common across most of the country
Smooth-billed Ani – several seen in the suburbs, and common in open areas across the country
Royal Tern – several fishing in the water off Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro
*Common Ground Dove – the first of many seen during the trip was seen on the ground near Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro
*Cuban Emerald – ditto!
American Kestrel – common around Havana and across the country. Confusingly, the Cuban subspecies comes in two colour morphs (dark and white). Saw a dark morph bird on the dot of the “i” in the ‘hasta la Vitoria sempre’ slogan beneath the image of Che in Revolution Square.
*Antillean Palm Swift – several seen around Havana
Palm Warbler – several in Havana and proved to be one of the most abundant species in the country.
Some distant gulls in the harbour were, I think, Laughing Gulls, but too far to identify for sure.
Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove and House Sparrow all common in Havana.
27th October
En route from Havana to Bay of Pigs we saw:
Greater Antillean Grackle – lots, everywhere
White Ibis – c10 seen from the bus whilst crossing Zapata Marshes
Northern Mockingbird – common in open areas throughout the country
Great, Cattle and Snowy Egret – all common
*Loggerhead Kingbird – odd individuals seen throughout the trip. Fairly conspicuous.
Antillean Palm Swift – saw loads of these in a thatched roof by a roadside cafe where we stopped for respite, and was seen periodically throughout.
Playa Giron:
Did my first proper birding in the wooded area just inland from Playa Giron. I saw:
*Cuban Bullfinch – at least two seen well
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher – several seen, but elusive and difficult to keep track of.
*Black-throated Blue Warbler – was delighted when I saw my first of these, a really striking warbler. After a few days they proved so common I was starting to tire of them a little!
*Yellow-throated Warbler – a similar story to the above
*American Redstart – and again. The males are really smart though.
Northern Parula – one seen in mixed warbler flock, and seen regularly throughout
Black and White Warbler – 2 or 3 seen and also seen regularly throughout
*Cuban Pewee – one seen. Very exciting at the time but proved to be quite common
*Cuban Trogon – 2 seen well. Again, very exciting at the time but proved to be common in woodland areas
*Cuban Oriole (the book calls it Black-cowled Oriole) – one pair seen well. Also turned out to be common!
*Western Spindalis (book calls it Stripe-headed Tanager) – two seen well. Seen reasonably regularly throughout the trip.
On the drive from Playa Giron to Cienfuegos I saw:
Smooth-billed Ani, Little Blue Heron, Northern Mockingbird and Red-tailed Hawk.
Driving between Cienfuegos and Trinidad I saw:
Several Brown Pelican and Laughing Gull on the shore near Cienfuegos
White-collared Swift – big flock of them in the mountains approaching Trinidad
*Cuban Crow – at least two seen from the bus approaching Trinidad (another was seen and heard giving its bizarre parrot-like call by our accommodation at Finca Maria Dolores on the outskirts of Trinidad).
28th October
An early morning walk around our accommodation at Finca Maria Dolores, Trinidad, produced:
*West Indian Woodpecker – one seen high in a tree, the first of many
Cuban Crow – several...
Assorted herons on the river included Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Little Blue Heron
Spotted Sandpiper – one on the river
Also: American Redstart, Tawny-shouldered Blackbird, Yellow-throated Warbler, Mourning Dove
In Trinidad town:
In the courtyard of a cafe where we had lunch there were several Cuban Emeralds and one *Cape May Warbler.
Also 1 unidentified large brown swallow/martin (maybe Cuban Martin, but not sure)
Back at Finca Maria Dolores in the afternoon:
Killdeer – one on the river
Pied-billed Grebe – one on the river
Peregrine – one overhead
*Cuban Tody – two of this spectacular looking endemic were seen in trees by the approach road: it proved to be quite common in wooded areas.
*Baltimore Oriole – at least one male seen loosely associating with Cuban and Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds in tall trees in the centre of the cabin complex.
*Northern Crested Caracara – at least two seen distantly, and badly, in flight
Also: Double-crested Cormorant, Moorhen, one Cape May Warbler on approach road, Cuban oriole, Black and White Warbler and American Redstart.
29th October
Today we drove from Trinidad to the Topes de Collantes. Near the Topes de Collantes “reception” I saw a *Great Lizard Cuckoo from our bus.
Whilst exploring the area between the main Topes de Collantes and the Codina Hacienda I saw:
*Cuban Amazon (or “Cuban Parrot) – 2 seen distantly in flight
Cuban Tody and Cuban Trogon – several of each
*Black-throated Green Warbler – one female seen near the spot where everyone except me swam in the cave!
Also Western Spindalis, Cuban Pewee, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler
Hacienda Codina:
Exploring the area around Hacienda Codina we saw:
*Ruby-throated Hummingbird – one female from the veranda, white tail tips securing the identification, but apparently quite rare in Cuba
*Cuban Green Woodpecker – one individual of this charismatic endemic seen well in trees above the Hacienda
*Scaly-naped Pigeon – one in the same tree as the CBW
Sadly, the cave near the Hacienda didn’t produce the hoped-for Cuban Screech Owl.
Also seen around the Hacienda: Grey Catbird, American Redstart, Cuban Crow, Greater Antillean Grackle, Cuban Trogon, Cuban Oriole, Black-throated Blue and Yellow-throated Warbler, Palm Warbler
In the evening a medium-large dark owl over the Hacienda was, presumably, a *Stygian Owl, but views were not great.
30th October
Early morning birding around the Codina Hacienda produced 2 Scaly-naped Pigeons plus more of the same – Western Spindalis, Cuban Bullfinch, Black and White Warbler, Northern Parula, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Cuban Emerald, plus one juvenile *Blackpoll Warbler which showed well was new.
After breakfast we left the Codina Hacienda and went for a big walk which eventually led us to the Hacienda Guanayara. This produced the sound of a noise *Cuban Pygmy Owl (which we couldn’t see), as well as assorted things we had already seen (including Red-tailed Hawk, Cuban Tody, Cuban Bullfinch, Cuban Trogon etc).
Afternoon exploring around Hacienda Guanayara produced White-winged Dove, West Indian Woodepcker, several Common Yellowthroat and one Louisiana Waterthrush along the river.
31st October
Early morning birding around Hacienda Guanayara produced:
Cuban Parrot – about ten seen reasonably well, if rather distantly, in nearby treetops
Also Cuban Pewee, Loggerhead Kingbird and usual warblers.
On the drive to Sancti Spiritus it was a case of more of the same: White-winged Dove was seen several times, and Eastern Meadowlark was added to the list (and was seen several times in open areas during what remained of the trip).
Between Sancti Spiritus and Camaguey Anhinga and Great Blue Heron were seen from the bus.
1st November
In the morning a tour of Camaguey was quiet for birds, but there were lots of hirundines flying around the church which I couldn’t identify as I lacked binoculars, although they looked like Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
In the afternoon we reached Santo Domingo in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the far east of Cuba. We arrived into Santo Domingo for proper birding but I did see Osprey, Great Blue Heron and Red-legged Thrush, among other things. A large flock of swifts high overhead were, I think, Black Swifts, but I couldn’t be 100% sure.
2nd November
Santo Domingo, early am:
More of the same – assorted warblers, Cuban Pewee, Loggerhead Kingbird, other stuff. Big bonus was a small group of *Cuban Grassquit, a very welcome endemic feeding on the ground near our accommodation.
A morning walk around Che and Fidel’s hideout (Commandancia La Plata) was quiet in terms of birds, just more of the same (hummingbirds, warblers, pewees, trogons etc).
3rd November
Mostly non-birding around Santiago de Cuba. In the evening we went to Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca near Santiago where we saw 2 Brown Pelican, one Royal Tern and lots of swallows but in the fading light I couldn’t identify them for sure (but their high pitched melodious twittering was distinctive).
4th November
Driving north-west from Santiago de Cuba I was astounded to spot a *Gundlach’s Hawk hunting over bushes in fields by the road about 30km west of Santiago. Not seen for very long but reasonable views of this elusive endemic in the binoculars.
The rest of the long journey west to Santa Clara produced Short-billed Ani, Eastern Meadowlark, egrets, vultures etc, several Crested Caracara.
5th November:
Santa Clara:
1 Peregrine
A long drive from Santa Clara to Viñales produced usual stuff plus one male Northern Harrier and several Crested Caracara.
6th November
The grounds of the Rancho San Vicente Hotel in Viñales were good for birds and before breakfast I saw:
*Red-legged Honeycreeper – one female seen reasonably well loosely associating with some warblers in some trees.
Also one male Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Cuban Emerald, one Scaly-naped Pigeon, Cuban Pewee etc
Driving from Viñales to the port for the departure to Cayo Levisa I saw Shiny Cowbird, the only one of the trip.
At the port for the boat to Cayo Levisa I saw a whole load of *Yellow-faced Grassquit and we found one Yellow Warbler in the mangroves.
The rest of the day was spent pottering about on Cayo Levisa. This produced:
*Northern Waterthrush – one in the mangroves near the jetty, the supercilium clearly narrow behind the eye (not “flared” like on Louisiana)
Black and White Warbler – at least one in the mangroves
Yellow Warbler – one adult male in the mangroves
Sandwich Tern – 2 or 3 feeding offshore
American Herring Gull – 2 flew along the beach
*Cuban Black-Hawk – one seen reasonably well in a bare tree in the mangroves and heard to give its call (rendered as “ba-ti-sta” in the field guide!). An excellent endemic, recently split from Common Black-hawk.
Whilst waiting for the boat back, we saw at very close range a baffling small dark heron, identical to Green Heron in terms of size and shape, but uniform dark purply green. I was genuinely flummoxed, but a google search when back suggests several records of apparent “dark morph” Green Heron from northern Cuban cayos, see here: http://www.heronconservation.org/resources/1-McLachlan-melanism.pdf. Unfortunately the bird in question slipped into the mangroves before I was able to get a shot.
7th November
In the grounds of the Rancho San Vicente Hotel in Viñales before breakfast I saw 2 Red-legged Honeycreeper (this time including a male), one Black-throated Green Warbler and 5 Scaly-naped Pigeon.
During the morning we did a walk through the Viñales valley which produced:
Lesser Yellowlegs – one on a small pool, which also hosted a peep sp which I couldn’t identify...
Yellow-faced Grassquit – lots in field edges
*Cuban Vireo – finally managed to get good views of one of this endemic, thanks to the eagle eyed observations of two other members of our group!
*Tennessee Warbler – good views of one in a bush. Much brighter green than I had expected!
The return to Havana was bird free, apart from Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot on a roadside lake when approaching Havana.
8th November
During the final day in Havana I saw several Laughing Gull and Royal Tern, and a few unidentified smaller tern species. The final addition to the trip list was a pair of Magnificent Frigatebirds circling over the Avenida del Puerto
Here’s the full list – 84 in total, 39 new for me, 10 endemics, plus a further three species not 100% identified
Magnificent Frigatebird; Brown Pelican; Double-crested Cormorant; Anhinga; Great Blue Heron; Yellow-crowned Night Heron; Great Egret; Snowy Egret; Cattle Egret; Little Blue Heron; Green Heron; White Ibis; Black Vulture; Turkey Vulture; Red-tailed Hawk; Gundlach’s Hawk; Cuban Black-Hawk; Northern Harrier; Osprey; Peregrine; Northern Crested Caracara; American Kestrel; Moorhen; American Coot; Killdeer; Lesser Yellowlegs; Laughing Gull; American Herring Gull; Sandwich Tern; Royal Tern; Mourning Dove; Scaly-naped Pigeon; Feral Pigeon; White-winged Dove; Common Ground Dove; Smooth-billed Ani; Cuban Amazon; Great Lizard-Cuckoo; Antillean Palm Swift; White-collared Swift; Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Cuban Emerald; Cuban Trogon; Cuban Tody; Cuban Pygmy Owl; Stygian Owl; Cuban Green Woodpecker; West Indian Woodpecker; Cuban Pewee; Loggerhead Kingbird; Cuban Vireo; Cuban Crow; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; Grey Catbird; Red-legged Thrush; Northern Mockingbird; Tennessee Warbler; Yellow Warbler; Cape May Warbler; Black and white Warbler; Blackpoll Warbler; Palm Warbler; Black-throated Blue Warbler; Black-throated Green Warbler; Northern Parula; Yellow-throated Warbler; Common Yellowthroat; Louisiana Waterthrush; Northern Waterthrush; American Redstart; Red-legged Honeycreeper; Western Spindalis; Cuban Grassquit; Yellow-faced Grassquit; Cuban Bullfinch; House Sparrow; Eastern Meadowlark; Shiny Cowbird; Greater Antillean Grackle; Tawny-shouldered Blackbird; Cuban Blackbird; Cuban Oriole; Baltimore Oriole; Collared Dove
Attached pics: Western Spindalis, Cuban Tody, Cuban Trogon, West Indian Woodpecker.
So, here we go - birds marked with an asterisk were "lifers" for me:
Havana, 26th October.
During sightseeing around Havana we saw:
Black Vulture – pretty common around central Havana
Turkey Vulture – abundant around Havana and indeed the whole country
*Cuban Blackbird – the first endemic, and proved to be very common around the country, seen pretty much everywhere.
*Red-legged Thrush – first one was seen near our hotel (Hotel Plaza in central Cuba, and proved to be common everywhere)
*Tawny-shouldered Blackbird – several seen in flight at various spots around Havana, and common across most of the country
Smooth-billed Ani – several seen in the suburbs, and common in open areas across the country
Royal Tern – several fishing in the water off Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro
*Common Ground Dove – the first of many seen during the trip was seen on the ground near Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro
*Cuban Emerald – ditto!
American Kestrel – common around Havana and across the country. Confusingly, the Cuban subspecies comes in two colour morphs (dark and white). Saw a dark morph bird on the dot of the “i” in the ‘hasta la Vitoria sempre’ slogan beneath the image of Che in Revolution Square.
*Antillean Palm Swift – several seen around Havana
Palm Warbler – several in Havana and proved to be one of the most abundant species in the country.
Some distant gulls in the harbour were, I think, Laughing Gulls, but too far to identify for sure.
Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove and House Sparrow all common in Havana.
27th October
En route from Havana to Bay of Pigs we saw:
Greater Antillean Grackle – lots, everywhere
White Ibis – c10 seen from the bus whilst crossing Zapata Marshes
Northern Mockingbird – common in open areas throughout the country
Great, Cattle and Snowy Egret – all common
*Loggerhead Kingbird – odd individuals seen throughout the trip. Fairly conspicuous.
Antillean Palm Swift – saw loads of these in a thatched roof by a roadside cafe where we stopped for respite, and was seen periodically throughout.
Playa Giron:
Did my first proper birding in the wooded area just inland from Playa Giron. I saw:
*Cuban Bullfinch – at least two seen well
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher – several seen, but elusive and difficult to keep track of.
*Black-throated Blue Warbler – was delighted when I saw my first of these, a really striking warbler. After a few days they proved so common I was starting to tire of them a little!
*Yellow-throated Warbler – a similar story to the above
*American Redstart – and again. The males are really smart though.
Northern Parula – one seen in mixed warbler flock, and seen regularly throughout
Black and White Warbler – 2 or 3 seen and also seen regularly throughout
*Cuban Pewee – one seen. Very exciting at the time but proved to be quite common
*Cuban Trogon – 2 seen well. Again, very exciting at the time but proved to be common in woodland areas
*Cuban Oriole (the book calls it Black-cowled Oriole) – one pair seen well. Also turned out to be common!
*Western Spindalis (book calls it Stripe-headed Tanager) – two seen well. Seen reasonably regularly throughout the trip.
On the drive from Playa Giron to Cienfuegos I saw:
Smooth-billed Ani, Little Blue Heron, Northern Mockingbird and Red-tailed Hawk.
Driving between Cienfuegos and Trinidad I saw:
Several Brown Pelican and Laughing Gull on the shore near Cienfuegos
White-collared Swift – big flock of them in the mountains approaching Trinidad
*Cuban Crow – at least two seen from the bus approaching Trinidad (another was seen and heard giving its bizarre parrot-like call by our accommodation at Finca Maria Dolores on the outskirts of Trinidad).
28th October
An early morning walk around our accommodation at Finca Maria Dolores, Trinidad, produced:
*West Indian Woodpecker – one seen high in a tree, the first of many
Cuban Crow – several...
Assorted herons on the river included Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Little Blue Heron
Spotted Sandpiper – one on the river
Also: American Redstart, Tawny-shouldered Blackbird, Yellow-throated Warbler, Mourning Dove
In Trinidad town:
In the courtyard of a cafe where we had lunch there were several Cuban Emeralds and one *Cape May Warbler.
Also 1 unidentified large brown swallow/martin (maybe Cuban Martin, but not sure)
Back at Finca Maria Dolores in the afternoon:
Killdeer – one on the river
Pied-billed Grebe – one on the river
Peregrine – one overhead
*Cuban Tody – two of this spectacular looking endemic were seen in trees by the approach road: it proved to be quite common in wooded areas.
*Baltimore Oriole – at least one male seen loosely associating with Cuban and Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds in tall trees in the centre of the cabin complex.
*Northern Crested Caracara – at least two seen distantly, and badly, in flight
Also: Double-crested Cormorant, Moorhen, one Cape May Warbler on approach road, Cuban oriole, Black and White Warbler and American Redstart.
29th October
Today we drove from Trinidad to the Topes de Collantes. Near the Topes de Collantes “reception” I saw a *Great Lizard Cuckoo from our bus.
Whilst exploring the area between the main Topes de Collantes and the Codina Hacienda I saw:
*Cuban Amazon (or “Cuban Parrot) – 2 seen distantly in flight
Cuban Tody and Cuban Trogon – several of each
*Black-throated Green Warbler – one female seen near the spot where everyone except me swam in the cave!
Also Western Spindalis, Cuban Pewee, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler
Hacienda Codina:
Exploring the area around Hacienda Codina we saw:
*Ruby-throated Hummingbird – one female from the veranda, white tail tips securing the identification, but apparently quite rare in Cuba
*Cuban Green Woodpecker – one individual of this charismatic endemic seen well in trees above the Hacienda
*Scaly-naped Pigeon – one in the same tree as the CBW
Sadly, the cave near the Hacienda didn’t produce the hoped-for Cuban Screech Owl.
Also seen around the Hacienda: Grey Catbird, American Redstart, Cuban Crow, Greater Antillean Grackle, Cuban Trogon, Cuban Oriole, Black-throated Blue and Yellow-throated Warbler, Palm Warbler
In the evening a medium-large dark owl over the Hacienda was, presumably, a *Stygian Owl, but views were not great.
30th October
Early morning birding around the Codina Hacienda produced 2 Scaly-naped Pigeons plus more of the same – Western Spindalis, Cuban Bullfinch, Black and White Warbler, Northern Parula, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Cuban Emerald, plus one juvenile *Blackpoll Warbler which showed well was new.
After breakfast we left the Codina Hacienda and went for a big walk which eventually led us to the Hacienda Guanayara. This produced the sound of a noise *Cuban Pygmy Owl (which we couldn’t see), as well as assorted things we had already seen (including Red-tailed Hawk, Cuban Tody, Cuban Bullfinch, Cuban Trogon etc).
Afternoon exploring around Hacienda Guanayara produced White-winged Dove, West Indian Woodepcker, several Common Yellowthroat and one Louisiana Waterthrush along the river.
31st October
Early morning birding around Hacienda Guanayara produced:
Cuban Parrot – about ten seen reasonably well, if rather distantly, in nearby treetops
Also Cuban Pewee, Loggerhead Kingbird and usual warblers.
On the drive to Sancti Spiritus it was a case of more of the same: White-winged Dove was seen several times, and Eastern Meadowlark was added to the list (and was seen several times in open areas during what remained of the trip).
Between Sancti Spiritus and Camaguey Anhinga and Great Blue Heron were seen from the bus.
1st November
In the morning a tour of Camaguey was quiet for birds, but there were lots of hirundines flying around the church which I couldn’t identify as I lacked binoculars, although they looked like Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
In the afternoon we reached Santo Domingo in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the far east of Cuba. We arrived into Santo Domingo for proper birding but I did see Osprey, Great Blue Heron and Red-legged Thrush, among other things. A large flock of swifts high overhead were, I think, Black Swifts, but I couldn’t be 100% sure.
2nd November
Santo Domingo, early am:
More of the same – assorted warblers, Cuban Pewee, Loggerhead Kingbird, other stuff. Big bonus was a small group of *Cuban Grassquit, a very welcome endemic feeding on the ground near our accommodation.
A morning walk around Che and Fidel’s hideout (Commandancia La Plata) was quiet in terms of birds, just more of the same (hummingbirds, warblers, pewees, trogons etc).
3rd November
Mostly non-birding around Santiago de Cuba. In the evening we went to Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca near Santiago where we saw 2 Brown Pelican, one Royal Tern and lots of swallows but in the fading light I couldn’t identify them for sure (but their high pitched melodious twittering was distinctive).
4th November
Driving north-west from Santiago de Cuba I was astounded to spot a *Gundlach’s Hawk hunting over bushes in fields by the road about 30km west of Santiago. Not seen for very long but reasonable views of this elusive endemic in the binoculars.
The rest of the long journey west to Santa Clara produced Short-billed Ani, Eastern Meadowlark, egrets, vultures etc, several Crested Caracara.
5th November:
Santa Clara:
1 Peregrine
A long drive from Santa Clara to Viñales produced usual stuff plus one male Northern Harrier and several Crested Caracara.
6th November
The grounds of the Rancho San Vicente Hotel in Viñales were good for birds and before breakfast I saw:
*Red-legged Honeycreeper – one female seen reasonably well loosely associating with some warblers in some trees.
Also one male Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Cuban Emerald, one Scaly-naped Pigeon, Cuban Pewee etc
Driving from Viñales to the port for the departure to Cayo Levisa I saw Shiny Cowbird, the only one of the trip.
At the port for the boat to Cayo Levisa I saw a whole load of *Yellow-faced Grassquit and we found one Yellow Warbler in the mangroves.
The rest of the day was spent pottering about on Cayo Levisa. This produced:
*Northern Waterthrush – one in the mangroves near the jetty, the supercilium clearly narrow behind the eye (not “flared” like on Louisiana)
Black and White Warbler – at least one in the mangroves
Yellow Warbler – one adult male in the mangroves
Sandwich Tern – 2 or 3 feeding offshore
American Herring Gull – 2 flew along the beach
*Cuban Black-Hawk – one seen reasonably well in a bare tree in the mangroves and heard to give its call (rendered as “ba-ti-sta” in the field guide!). An excellent endemic, recently split from Common Black-hawk.
Whilst waiting for the boat back, we saw at very close range a baffling small dark heron, identical to Green Heron in terms of size and shape, but uniform dark purply green. I was genuinely flummoxed, but a google search when back suggests several records of apparent “dark morph” Green Heron from northern Cuban cayos, see here: http://www.heronconservation.org/resources/1-McLachlan-melanism.pdf. Unfortunately the bird in question slipped into the mangroves before I was able to get a shot.
7th November
In the grounds of the Rancho San Vicente Hotel in Viñales before breakfast I saw 2 Red-legged Honeycreeper (this time including a male), one Black-throated Green Warbler and 5 Scaly-naped Pigeon.
During the morning we did a walk through the Viñales valley which produced:
Lesser Yellowlegs – one on a small pool, which also hosted a peep sp which I couldn’t identify...
Yellow-faced Grassquit – lots in field edges
*Cuban Vireo – finally managed to get good views of one of this endemic, thanks to the eagle eyed observations of two other members of our group!
*Tennessee Warbler – good views of one in a bush. Much brighter green than I had expected!
The return to Havana was bird free, apart from Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot on a roadside lake when approaching Havana.
8th November
During the final day in Havana I saw several Laughing Gull and Royal Tern, and a few unidentified smaller tern species. The final addition to the trip list was a pair of Magnificent Frigatebirds circling over the Avenida del Puerto
Here’s the full list – 84 in total, 39 new for me, 10 endemics, plus a further three species not 100% identified
Magnificent Frigatebird; Brown Pelican; Double-crested Cormorant; Anhinga; Great Blue Heron; Yellow-crowned Night Heron; Great Egret; Snowy Egret; Cattle Egret; Little Blue Heron; Green Heron; White Ibis; Black Vulture; Turkey Vulture; Red-tailed Hawk; Gundlach’s Hawk; Cuban Black-Hawk; Northern Harrier; Osprey; Peregrine; Northern Crested Caracara; American Kestrel; Moorhen; American Coot; Killdeer; Lesser Yellowlegs; Laughing Gull; American Herring Gull; Sandwich Tern; Royal Tern; Mourning Dove; Scaly-naped Pigeon; Feral Pigeon; White-winged Dove; Common Ground Dove; Smooth-billed Ani; Cuban Amazon; Great Lizard-Cuckoo; Antillean Palm Swift; White-collared Swift; Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Cuban Emerald; Cuban Trogon; Cuban Tody; Cuban Pygmy Owl; Stygian Owl; Cuban Green Woodpecker; West Indian Woodpecker; Cuban Pewee; Loggerhead Kingbird; Cuban Vireo; Cuban Crow; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; Grey Catbird; Red-legged Thrush; Northern Mockingbird; Tennessee Warbler; Yellow Warbler; Cape May Warbler; Black and white Warbler; Blackpoll Warbler; Palm Warbler; Black-throated Blue Warbler; Black-throated Green Warbler; Northern Parula; Yellow-throated Warbler; Common Yellowthroat; Louisiana Waterthrush; Northern Waterthrush; American Redstart; Red-legged Honeycreeper; Western Spindalis; Cuban Grassquit; Yellow-faced Grassquit; Cuban Bullfinch; House Sparrow; Eastern Meadowlark; Shiny Cowbird; Greater Antillean Grackle; Tawny-shouldered Blackbird; Cuban Blackbird; Cuban Oriole; Baltimore Oriole; Collared Dove
Attached pics: Western Spindalis, Cuban Tody, Cuban Trogon, West Indian Woodpecker.
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