allanpcameron
Well-known member
Birding in Caya Coco, February 2019. (Part 1)
Just returned from two weeks in the Hotel Playa Paraiso on Caya Coco. While it was just a holiday, I managed to do a wee bit of birding. It basically falls into three areas. The first was casual sitting on the balcony and letting the birds come to me. The second was a full day’s guided tour, and thirdly a half day guided tour.
The balcony faced a line of trees and bushes that separated the hotel from the beach. So basically, there was some flying traffic along the treeline, and a variety of visitors into the scene. The immediate and permanent residents were a Palm Warbler who was there most mornings quartering the grass between the balcony and the bushes and a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves. The regular fly overs included Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls, also much in evidence at the pool. The two highlights for me were a Caracara and a few sightings of Magnificent Frigatebirds. There were also a few glimpses of Royal Terns, though I got a better view of them from the beach itself.
It seemed that the was a different visitor to the balcony patch each day. Loggerhead Kingbird one day, immature Little Blue Heron another, Common Ground Doves, White Winged Dove, Zenaida Dove, Northern Mockingbird all appeared on separate days, not to be seen again. A small flock of Smooth Billed Anis were a bit more repetitive, passing by every few days. The usual problems of getting glimpses of things not quite seen nor identified, though I was eventually able to get a proper photo of a Yellow-Throated Warbler to be able positively identify it. However, the highlight for me was a Northern Flicker which gave a great view of it going about its business. Around the grounds of the hotel the other ubiquitous guest were a noisy flock of Greater Antillean Grackles and the sky was regularly filled with Turkey Vultures.
Just returned from two weeks in the Hotel Playa Paraiso on Caya Coco. While it was just a holiday, I managed to do a wee bit of birding. It basically falls into three areas. The first was casual sitting on the balcony and letting the birds come to me. The second was a full day’s guided tour, and thirdly a half day guided tour.
The balcony faced a line of trees and bushes that separated the hotel from the beach. So basically, there was some flying traffic along the treeline, and a variety of visitors into the scene. The immediate and permanent residents were a Palm Warbler who was there most mornings quartering the grass between the balcony and the bushes and a pair of Eurasian Collared Doves. The regular fly overs included Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls, also much in evidence at the pool. The two highlights for me were a Caracara and a few sightings of Magnificent Frigatebirds. There were also a few glimpses of Royal Terns, though I got a better view of them from the beach itself.
It seemed that the was a different visitor to the balcony patch each day. Loggerhead Kingbird one day, immature Little Blue Heron another, Common Ground Doves, White Winged Dove, Zenaida Dove, Northern Mockingbird all appeared on separate days, not to be seen again. A small flock of Smooth Billed Anis were a bit more repetitive, passing by every few days. The usual problems of getting glimpses of things not quite seen nor identified, though I was eventually able to get a proper photo of a Yellow-Throated Warbler to be able positively identify it. However, the highlight for me was a Northern Flicker which gave a great view of it going about its business. Around the grounds of the hotel the other ubiquitous guest were a noisy flock of Greater Antillean Grackles and the sky was regularly filled with Turkey Vultures.
