Cuba or Mexico? (1 Viewer)

I am still trying to locate an e-mail for Paulino Delgado. I have found a couple of addresses on the net but these haven't worked.

If anybody has an up-to-date e-mail for him, it would be appreciated.

Cheers

Steve

Just got back from a fantastic two weeks in Cuba. We stayed at the Hotel Sol on Cayo Guillermo. This was not primarily a birding trip but I managed to get out regularly amongst the beer drinking and chilling out around the pool. The timing certainly appeared to be excellent for birds with many of the specialities easily secured, many warblers being evident, and loads of herons, waders, wildfowl etc.

I would certainly recommend this hotel to anybody with a non birding partner or family as there is immediate birding on the doorstep. I often spent just an hour or so early morning or late afternoon very locally.

In and around the hotel, I birded the following areas :

1) Hotel grounds and beach.
2) The track bordering the lagoon near to the hotel leading westwards and back onto the 'main' road. This was done almost daily and often turned up a few surprises.
3) The entrance road to the hotel and the main road leading as far as the causeway to Cayo Coco(passing a number of lagoons on the way). This is approx a 2 mile walk.
4) Playa Pilar. A few miles down the road at the West side of the island accessed by the regular open top bus($5per person).

By doing the sites mentioned on the previous post, I managed to locate the following species(those in bold may be of particular interest being range restricted species). The warblers in particular were superb and made every walk really enjoyable with several species being seen on most walks and often really well(reacting well to pishing and my Audobon Squeaker).

Brown Pelican
Magnificent Frigatebird
Ring-Billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Little Blue Heron
Tricoloured Heron
Snowy Egret
Reddish Egret
Great Blue Heron
Great White Egret
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
Green Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
CARIBBEAN FLAMINGO
Semi-P Plover
Killdeer
Grey Plover
Stilt Sand
Short-Billed Dowitcher
Dunlin
Semi-P Sand
Least Sand
Sanderling
Spotted Sand
Knot
Willet
Hudsonian Whimbrel
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Turnstone
Black-Necked Stilt
American Avocet
Sora
American Coot
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-Crested Cormorant
Shoveler
American Wigeon
Blue-Winged Teal
Red-Breasted Merganser
WEST INDIAN WHISTLING-DUCK
American Kestrel
CUBAN BLACK HAWK
Crested Caracara
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-Winged Dove
Collared Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Zenaida Dove
Mourning Dove
CUBAN EMERALD
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Northern (CUBAN) Flicker
LA SAGRA'S FLYCATCHER
LOGGERHEAD KINGBIRD
CUBAN PEWEE
Cave Swallow
Barn Swallow
CUBAN GNATCATCHER
BAHAMA MOCKINGBIRD
Northern Mockingbird
CUBAN VIREO
Black-And-White Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Ovenbird
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-Throated Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Northern Parula
American Redstart
Black-Throated Blue Warbler
Worm-Eating Warbler
WESTERN SPINDALIS
GREATER ANTILLEAN GRACKLE
Yellow-Faced Grassquit
House Sparrow
CUBAN BULLFINCH

I hope this gives a good idea on what can be seen from the hotel at this time of year without travelling any distance.

I also took a couple of half day trips out with local guide Paulino Delgado. He collected me in his vintage Chevrolet which was a pretty good experience. He was a superb guide, with good English and great knowledge of local sites and bird calls.

My first trip was around Cayo Coco. During this trip, we noted the following species. I have not included all as many(such as the wildfowl, waders, warblers) duplicated the list on the post above. I have therefore condensed these into the additional species encountered to the above list and most desirable for the travelling birder :

CARIBBEAN FLAMINGO
Clapper Rail
Least Grebe
Merlin
Peregrine
CUBAN BLACK HAWK
Red-Tailed Hawk
WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON
KEY WEST QUAIL-DOVE
GREAT LIZARD-CUCKOO
Smooth-Billed Ani
CUBAN EMERALD
CUBAN TODY
WEST INDIAN WOODPECKER
CUBAN GREEN WOODPECKER
LA SAGRA'S FLYCATCHER
LOGGERHEAD KINGBIRD
CUBAN PEWEE
Cedar Waxwing
CUBAN GNATCATCHER
Grey Catbird
RED-LEGGED THRUSH
CUBAN VIREO
Black-Whiskered Vireo
Louisiana Waterthrush
ORIENTE WARBLER
Tennessee Warbler
WESTERN SPINDALIS
CUBAN ORIOLE
ZAPATA SPARROW
CUBAN BULLFINCH
Indigo Bunting

This gives a good feeling on how many of the sought after species can be seen on this island. Adding numerous herons, ducks, waders and warblers made it a superb half day.

My other trip with Paulino was to the mainland around the town of Moron visiting a lake, fish farm and woodlands. This was up to a couple of hours from the furthest point back to Cayo Guillermo. We encountered the following additional species during this half day(I have omitted regular species like the Emerald, Pewee, Bullfinch etc to save an exhaustive list). The below species were not seen at all on the Cayos.

Common Gallinule
SNAIL KITE
MANGROVE CUCKOO
CUBAN PYGMY OWL
CUBAN TROGON(Wow!)
Grey Kingbird
CUBAN BLACKBIRD
Shiny Cowbird
TAWNY-SHOULDERED BLACKBIRD
(CUBAN) EASTERN MEADOWLARK

Given the species encountered on Cayo Guillermo and Coco, this visit wrapped up the vast majority of the possible endemics and range restricted species possible within a reasonably short distance from our hotel.

Doing the touristy thing, we did a 3 day(2 night) excursion by coach to Havana. This again yielded some decent birds(additional species and most noteworthy only) :

American Herring Gull
GUNDLACH'S HAWK (over the roadside near Santa Clara - see other thread)
Broad-Winged Hawk
Feral Pigeon
GREAT LIZARD-CUCKOO
ANTILLEAN PALM SWIFT
CUBAN MARTIN
CUBAN BLACKBIRD

If anybody wants further details on quantities and precise locations for specific species, I will be more than happy to pass info on.

I also have phone numbers and e-mail for Paulino Delgado who I would strongly recommend if visiting the area as he can locate many specialities quickly and save time for you to savour the bird rich area of the Cayos.

Sounds like you had a great time.
I hope the hotel and birdwatching met the expectations I raised.
I had little information about the area before I went last year.I couldn't quite believe how good it was when I first arrived.
Did you see much on the bridge to the 'disco island' and the island itself?
I used to see American Redstarts and a few good warblers there.
Not sure if you managed the Punta Playeula track i.e the path west from the hotel skirting the coast to the seaweed strewn deserted beach.
This was excellent for dense coastal scrub where I found the Cuban Gnatcatcher,Oriente Warbler,American Redstarts and the Gray Catbird.
Most surprising of all was the American Oystercatchers which were a first for Guillermo apparantly.
There were 3 species of Plover on the beach including Piper Plover.
If you fancy going back to Cuba see my vacation trip repoert on Playa Esmerelda just posted on the vacation forum.
You are unlikely to see anything different but it has the advantage of being on the mainland and like the SCG it is very close to great birding spots.
The Luna side of the hotel is actually better than the SCG but the Mares side is poorer.They will find you a room on the Luna side once you get there.
You may also enjoy the Sheraton Brufut Heights Gambia or the Dona Sylvia South Goa,both AI hotels with great birdwatching close by.
Please let me know if you want any more information.
All the best

Hi Pratincol,

The info you provided was really useful and provided the basis for my birding around the hotel so thanks for that.

I went down the track West from the hotel many times. I went both to the dead end and also all the way back to the main road. As you mentioned, new birds often appeared on different visits. Passerines and landbirds seen along this track were as follows :

American Kestrel
CUBAN BLACK HAWK - on several occasions.
Crested Caracara - on several occasions inc 2 actually walking on the track!
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Common Ground-Dove
Zenaida Dove
Mourning Dove
CUBAN EMERALD - many
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
LA SAGRA'S FLYCATCHER - several times
LOGGERHEAD KINGBIRD
CUBAN PEWEE - several times and extremely tame.
Barn Swallow
CUBAN GNATCATCHER - only once
Northern Mockingbird
CUBAN VIREO - a pair responding really well to pishing.
Black-And-White Warbler - on several occasions.
Northern Waterthrush - every visit.
Ovenbird - Just one.
Prairie Warbler - Several on every visit.
Palm Warbler - Several on every visit.
Yellow-Throated Warbler - Just a couple early in the holiday.
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Magnolia Warbler - Just one as the track reached the main road.
Cape May Warbler - Several occasions.
Common Yellowthroat - A few on every visit.
Yellow Warbler
Northern Parula - A few on every visit.
American Redstart - A few on every visit inc a superb male which was tame.
Black-Throated Blue Warbler - Just two sightings at this particular spot.
Worm-Eating Warbler - Just one on the last but one day.
WESTERN SPINDALIS - A few on every visit.
GREATER ANTILLEAN GRACKLE
Yellow-Faced Grassquit - A few on every visit.
House Sparrow
CUBAN BULLFINCH - A couple on most visits. Responded very well to pishing.

Unfortunately, I missed out on Wilson's and Piping Plovers despite searching all beach areas as well as scouring the Semi P flocks on the nearby lagoons.

Thanks again for your help.

Steve