Staying in the north east of Cuba near Guadalavaca at the Paradisus Rio del Ora for the last week of Jan and first week of Feb 2017. Not a birding holiday but a chance for some warmth !!! 30 degrees and blue skies full of Turkey Vultures !!
The hotel had well manicured grounds and was surrounded by woodland and scrub, best of all it bordered a saline lagoon which had a bridge across it leading though mangroves to another well manicured hotel complex and gardens, also a small sewerage works. I had a patch for 2 weeks !!
I went out everyday after breakfast for an hour about 8 o'clock, after parking the wife on a sunbed !!! Shorts, t-shirt and binoculars !!!
The hotel lobby was a roost site for Cuban and Tawny shouldered Blackbird and Grackles. The buffet had these and House Sparrows, so much so that. they employed a man to walk round with an American Kestrel on his wrist !!
I had 27 species within the hotel grounds, Red Legged Thrush and Mockingbird being the most obvious, I heard the machine gun rattle of Lizard Cuckoo but never actually saw it. Cuban Emerald was about on the flowers, and Smooth Billed Ani on the lawns. Warblers were aplenty but you had to look for them !! Mostly little yellow birds with varying spots and streaks !! I did my best and tentatively identified : Black Throated Blue, Black and White, Cape May, Palm, Prairie, Yellow Throated, Yellow, Northern Parula and American Redstart. Woodpeckers were around Cuban Green and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker although I had better views over the bridge at the other hotel.
The lagoon was best early morning, which I only did once, before the fishermen arrived. Herons and Egrets a plenty, Least Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Blue Winged Teal, Belted Kingfisher, Coot and Moorhen. Once or twice fishing Osprey and the odd Royal Tern. I had Anhinga flying over but never saw them land. 19 species in all for the lagoon.
Over the bridge, behind the stables was the small sewerage works, tip the guard a couple of peso and he lets you in. Three small lagoons of varying depth and cleanliness surrounded by sheep grazed lawns. Black Necked Stint, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Least and Spotted Sandpiper were there when I visited.
In the hotel gardens over the bridge I added Cuban Vireo, Magnolia Warbler, Zenieda and White Winged Dove, Yellow Faced Grassquit and Black Cowled Oriole.
We had two trip out to see the countryside and added Cuban Grassquit, Mourning Dove and Laughing Gull.
A lovely place for a holiday and relaxing birding in the sun. 59 species in total is probably poor for Cuba but I only stayed within walking distance of the hotel and I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, 17 lifers.
There are opportunities to go further afield if you book the services of Carlos through the holiday rep. I talked to some Canadians who'd been out with him and they praised him very highly !!
The hotel had well manicured grounds and was surrounded by woodland and scrub, best of all it bordered a saline lagoon which had a bridge across it leading though mangroves to another well manicured hotel complex and gardens, also a small sewerage works. I had a patch for 2 weeks !!
I went out everyday after breakfast for an hour about 8 o'clock, after parking the wife on a sunbed !!! Shorts, t-shirt and binoculars !!!
The hotel lobby was a roost site for Cuban and Tawny shouldered Blackbird and Grackles. The buffet had these and House Sparrows, so much so that. they employed a man to walk round with an American Kestrel on his wrist !!
I had 27 species within the hotel grounds, Red Legged Thrush and Mockingbird being the most obvious, I heard the machine gun rattle of Lizard Cuckoo but never actually saw it. Cuban Emerald was about on the flowers, and Smooth Billed Ani on the lawns. Warblers were aplenty but you had to look for them !! Mostly little yellow birds with varying spots and streaks !! I did my best and tentatively identified : Black Throated Blue, Black and White, Cape May, Palm, Prairie, Yellow Throated, Yellow, Northern Parula and American Redstart. Woodpeckers were around Cuban Green and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker although I had better views over the bridge at the other hotel.
The lagoon was best early morning, which I only did once, before the fishermen arrived. Herons and Egrets a plenty, Least Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Blue Winged Teal, Belted Kingfisher, Coot and Moorhen. Once or twice fishing Osprey and the odd Royal Tern. I had Anhinga flying over but never saw them land. 19 species in all for the lagoon.
Over the bridge, behind the stables was the small sewerage works, tip the guard a couple of peso and he lets you in. Three small lagoons of varying depth and cleanliness surrounded by sheep grazed lawns. Black Necked Stint, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Least and Spotted Sandpiper were there when I visited.
In the hotel gardens over the bridge I added Cuban Vireo, Magnolia Warbler, Zenieda and White Winged Dove, Yellow Faced Grassquit and Black Cowled Oriole.
We had two trip out to see the countryside and added Cuban Grassquit, Mourning Dove and Laughing Gull.
A lovely place for a holiday and relaxing birding in the sun. 59 species in total is probably poor for Cuba but I only stayed within walking distance of the hotel and I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, 17 lifers.
There are opportunities to go further afield if you book the services of Carlos through the holiday rep. I talked to some Canadians who'd been out with him and they praised him very highly !!