Birding Tobago (1 Viewer)

[sbrasuel]

I'll be going to Tobago Nov 20. Can anyone recommend a good field guide? Also, any helpful advice would be appreciated.

 

[bittern]

Tobago

I'll be going to Tobago Nov 20. Can anyone recommend a good field guide? Also, any helpful advice would be appreciated.

I have a field guide but its not where I am located today, I can let you know the title tomorrow if you don't hear from anybody else. I was in Trinidad and Tobago about 5 years ago and I can let you have my sightings list if you are interested. Little Tobago is also interesting because of the sea birds, I saw both Tropic Birds there from the cliffs.

A fantastic place to stay in Tobago is Cuffie River Resort.

http://www.cuffie-river.com/

Delightful people and fantastic food as well as being located in good birding territory.

Mike

 

[infopt2000]

Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by Richard ffrench is the standard guide. There are better illustrations in Hilty: Birds of Venezuela, but it's a huge book and you will only get a subsection of the birds in Tobago. The text of the ffrench book is excellent.

 

[njlarsen]

I visited Trinidad and Tobago in April/May 2004 bringing both the Ffrench guide and a guide to Venezuela (deSchauensee & Phelps; I am not sure of the spelling of the first author), and I did not regret bringing both. Several raptors would not have been identified without the bigger Venezuela guide.

In Tobago, I would second the proposal of going to Little Tobago for the seabirds. I went out with the Bird Guide Newton George for one day into the Rain forest, and that was well worth it. We missed one of the endemics, but saw the rest, including some that I probably would have missed had I gone alone.

In the Gallery, there has been a series of really nice pictures taken from the veranda at Arnos Vale Hotel by IanE. That is a place worth considering for where to stay.

If you are serious about birding and have the time, consider the option of jumping over to Trinidad for some more birds. The flight is not expensive; a stay at Asa Wright is not cheap but worth the money, and with a 3 night stay you get a trip down to the oilbird cave, the most accessible of the kind in the world. Alternatively, stay at the Pax Guest House, which also has some nice feeders (we stayed about 3 days each of these two places).

Hope this helps
Niels

 

[sbrasuel]

Thanks!

Thanks to all of you for the good advice. I went to my local Audubon chapter library and viewed the FFrench book. I was disappointed in the illustrations. Its good to know the text is good. I willl go see if they also have the book on Venesuela. Thats a good tip I might not have thought of. Our main focus for this trip is scuba diving, but one cannot be underwater all the time so top-side I hope to get several days of good birding in. We will be there for 2 weeks. Since I am carrying a ton of scuba gear so a few more books just won't matter much.
If you think of anything else let me know!

Summer

 

[njlarsen]

There is a book called A Birders guide to Trinidad and Tobago, which is due to come out in a new version soon. Your local Audobon might have a copy of the old version that you can look at for site information.

Niels

 

[sbrasuel]

Niels

Thanks! They do have an old copy. I plan to check them all out and bring them with me. Good reading for the long flight.

It's so great to have this resource at the click of a mouse!
Summer

 

[murph3000]

There is a book called A Birders guide to Trinidad and Tobago, which is due to come out in a new version soon. Your local Audobon might have a copy of the old version that you can look at for site information.

Niels

Neils, you are correct. The third edition of A Birdwatcher's Guide to Trinidad and Tobago, which I first produced in 1986, was published in August by Prion Ltd. of Norfolk, U.K. It's being sold by Natural History Book Service in the U.K. -- check out http://www.nhbs.com/xbscripts/bkfsrch?search=124159 -- and in the U.S. by American Birding Association Sales -- http://americanbirding.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ASBS&Product_Code=744.

I'd be delighted to answer questions about birds and birding in T&T. In January I'll be making my 52nd birding trip there. Richard ffrench and I have served on the T&T Rare Birds Committee since its inception.

Besides the publication of my book, another resource that became available earlier this year is a superb 3-disk 179-species CD set, Bird Song of Trinidad & Tobago, by John Hammick and Richard ffrench (Mandarin Productions, Dorset, U.K. -- http://www.mandarinproductions.com/trinidad.htm). It's the best I've heard.

Another birding resource about T&T that came out this year is a remarkably professional video, Birding Tobago -- Jacamars, Jacobins & Johnny Jump-Up, by Malcolm Rymer (http://www.wildlifevideos.net/films/tobago.htm). He also produced a video called In Pursuit of the Pawi--Birding Trinidad, which I haven't seen but have heard is also excellent.

[With the mind-numbing election results here in the U.S. last week, many of us have been seriously considering the fact that we might feel more comfortable in some other country. I'm thinking of T&T...]

Bill Murphy, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
The Great Corn Desert

 

[sbrasuel]

Bill,

Thanks for the update on the latest books available. I'm arriving in Tobago Nov.21. We are staying at Blue Waters Inn in Speyside. What birding areas are close by? Do you recommend a guide (if so, can you recommend someone?) or is hiking on my own good enough? Since our main focus is diving I will only have a few days to bird so I want to make the most of those few days.

Thanks for responding to my inquiry. I'll see if I can get a copy of the latest
A Birdwatcher's Guide to Trinidad and Tobago from ABA. I hope they can get it to me in time.

Summer

 

[murph3000]

Bill,

Thanks for the update on the latest books available. I'm arriving in Tobago Nov.21. We are staying at Blue Waters Inn in Speyside. What birding areas are close by? Do you recommend a guide (if so, can you recommend someone?) or is hiking on my own good enough? Since our main focus is diving I will only have a few days to bird so I want to make the most of those few days.

Thanks for responding to my inquiry. I'll see if I can get a copy of the latest
A Birdwatcher's Guide to Trinidad and Tobago from ABA. I hope they can get it to me in time.

Summer

Hello Summer,

You might also contact Natural History Book Service and see how long it would take to get the book from them.

The Blue Waters Inn is as famous for underwater life as it is above-water life if not more so. The world’s largest brain coral lies not far offshore, and it’s not at all uncommon to find sea turtles. By private email I’ll send you the address of a friend of mine who started out birding at the BWI but has now spent more time scuba diving there than birding. He thinks it’s outstanding. I’ve had nothing but excellent trips using Wordsworth Frank’s boats. He has a small office in the car park at BWI, just as you get to the bottom of the hill.

You don't need a bird guide for the area immediate to the BWI, but I'd highly recommend at least one day with a guide along the Roxborough-Bloody Bay Road, which takes in the Main Ridge Reserve, the oldest nature preserve in the Western Hemisphere. Birding guides aren’t abundant on Tobago, but among the ones I’ve found to be excellent are Adolphus and Gladwyn James, Newton George, and Peter Cox. Newton lives in Speyside, only two or three km from the Blue Waters Inn, so probably he would be the most convenient. The other guides live much farther south, at least an hour away.

The BWI is a bit confined in that you’re in your own paradise, formed by high hills to the north, west, and south and the ocean to the east. That makes birding a bit of a climb unless you’re going to sea. In the immediate area there’s one place I always check – a dripping pipe behind a staff building directly across the lane from the kitchen area. Sometimes migrants from North America line up for a drink and a bath. I’ve seen quite a lot of Northern Waterthrushes there.

The best birding outside the complex is along a trail that runs from the highest point along the driveway, near the cannon, up through the scrub and back around to the old waterwheel at the entrance to the driveway. You can also walk from the cannon northeast along a dirt track that follows the hills for a long way. I won’t even try to describe the breathtaking scenery that awaits you there.

A bit farther afield (you'll need to catch a ride) but even better for birding, Murchison Trace runs basically east from the you-can't-miss-it lookout along the road way above Speyside. Newton George has had White-winged Becards there.

Here are a few shots -- BWI from the sea, showing the trail along the hillside; Wordsworth Frank and his boat; and a view from the hillside above the BWI.

 

[rka]

Neils, you are correct. The third edition of A Birdwatcher's Guide to Trinidad and Tobago, which I first produced in 1986, was published in August by Prion Ltd. of Norfolk, U.K. It's being sold by Natural History Book Service in the U.K. -- check out http://www.nhbs.com/xbscripts/bkfsrch?search=124159 -- and in the U.S. by American Birding Association Sales -- http://americanbirding.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ASBS&Product_Code=744.


Bill Murphy, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
The Great Corn Desert

Hi Bill,

Does your book have trail information or directions to the most popular birding locations?

 

[murph3000]

Hi Bill,

Does your book have trail information or directions to the most popular birding locations?

Hi... What's your name?! You're from Chaguanas? I go through there sometimes when I'm birding the rice fields. To answer your question, yes. Here's the Table of Contents:

Introduction
How to Use This Book
History
Environment
Geography
Natural History
Pre-Tour Information
Immigration and Customs
Money
Innoculations
Travel Information
How to Get There
Airports
Travelling in Trinidad and Tobago
Driving in Trinidad and Tobago
Renting a Car
Trinidad-Tobago Ferry
Accommodation
In Trinidad
In Tobago
Climate and Clothing
Health and Medical Facilities
Maps
When to Go
Recommended Books and Tape
Organized Tours
Photography
Attracting Birds to the Observer
Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Board Offices
Embassies in Trinidad and Tobago of the
United Kingdom, the United States, and
Canada
Trinidad and Tobago Embassies and
High Commissions in the United Kingdom,
the United States, and Canada
Introduction to Site Information
Birding in Trinidad
Northern Range
Asa Wright Nature Centre
Blanchisseuse Road
Heights of Aripo
Hollis Reservoir
Foothills and Savannahs
Aripo Livestock Station
Arena Forest
Mount St. Benedict
Waller Field and Aripo Savannah
Wetlands
Caroni Swamp
El Socorro Marsh
Nariva Swamp and Eastern Trinidad
Piarco Water Treatment Plant
Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust
Port-of-Spain Sewage Lagoons
Home Construction Limited Sewage Treatment Works
(Trincity Ponds)
Chaguaramas Area
Birding in Tobago
Crown Point Airport Area
Pigeon Point
Buccoo Treatment Ponds
Buccoo Marsh
Grafton Estate
Arnos Vale
Belmont Road
Hillsborough Dam and Old Castara Road
Louis D’Or River and Beach
Little Tobago (“Bird of Paradise”) Island
Selected Bird List
Accidental or Exceptionally Rare Bird Species
List of Bird Species of Trinidad and Tobago
Laws Pertaining to Birds on Trinidad and Tobago
Brief Summary of Trinidad and Tobago’s Biota
Amphibians and Reptiles of Trinidad and Tobago
Mammals of Trinidad and Tobago
Selected Bibliography
Local Contacts and Societies
Native Guides
Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists Club
Trinidad and Tobago Rare Bird Committee
A Trinbagonian Lexicon
Seasonal Distribution of the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago

All de bes', mon!
--Bill

 

[rka]

Hi... What's your name?! You're from Chaguanas? I go through there sometimes when I'm birding the rice fields. To answer your question, yes. All de bes', mon!
--Bill

Hi Bill,

I'm Rashid Ali ... yes I'm from Chaguanas. I don't think the rice fields are too accessible again but there are better options for seeing moorhens, gallinules etc. in a small freshwater marsh area bordered by Sumaria Trace. This is about two-three miles south of the main entrance to the Caroni Swamp.

In December I'm on vacation and will be exploring Trinidad further to find new birding areas.

Thanks for the TOC. I'll definitely be purchasing the book since there really is a lack of birding material available specific to T&T.

 

[murph3000]

Hi Bill,

I'm Rashid Ali ... yes I'm from Chaguanas. I don't think the rice fields are too accessible again but there are better options for seeing moorhens, gallinules etc. in a small freshwater marsh area bordered by Sumaria Trace. This is about two-three miles south of the main entrance to the Caroni Swamp.

In December I'm on vacation and will be exploring Trinidad further to find new birding areas.

Happy to make your acquaintance, Rashid. Three of my friends bird extensively in your area -- Martyn Kenefick, Courtenay Rooks, and Graham White. If you don't know them, perhaps you could give them a ring and meet them. We're all on the T&T Rare Bird Committee, a motley crew indeed.

 

[rka]

Happy to make your acquaintance, Rashid. Three of my friends bird extensively in your area -- Martyn Kenefick, Courtenay Rooks, and Graham White. If you don't know them, perhaps you could give them a ring and meet them. We're all on the T&T Rare Bird Committee, a motley crew indeed.

Yes, I know them. Whenever they organise birding field trips with the T&T Field Naturalist Club, I tag along. Also, from time to time I meet Martyn in the field.

 

[sbrasuel]

Wow, thanks for the details on the BWI property. I will check them out for sure. I'm always waiting for the rest of my group to rise and shine in the morning so that will give me some places to start. Also, your friend did email me. Thanks for passing my email addr to him. I got several books yesterday including yours, ffrench's book and A Guide To the Birds of Venezuela. Might be overkill, but thats ok.

 

[birder]

Hi Murph

I've been reading this thread and thanks for all the excellent information. I'm visiting Trinidad and Tobago for a week each next summer (July and August) with my (non-birding) wife.

Please can you reassure me that the birds will be excellent at that time of the year (I have to come then as my wife is a teacher and we have to use school holidays).

Thanks

Kevin

Hello Summer,

You might also contact Natural History Book Service and see how long it would take to get the book from them.

The Blue Waters Inn is as famous for underwater life as it is above-water life if not more so. The world’s largest brain coral lies not far offshore, and it’s not at all uncommon to find sea turtles. By private email I’ll send you the address of a friend of mine who started out birding at the BWI but has now spent more time scuba diving there than birding. He thinks it’s outstanding. I’ve had nothing but excellent trips using Wordsworth Frank’s boats. He has a small office in the car park at BWI, just as you get to the bottom of the hill.

You don't need a bird guide for the area immediate to the BWI, but I'd highly recommend at least one day with a guide along the Roxborough-Bloody Bay Road, which takes in the Main Ridge Reserve, the oldest nature preserve in the Western Hemisphere. Birding guides aren’t abundant on Tobago, but among the ones I’ve found to be excellent are Adolphus and Gladwyn James, Newton George, and Peter Cox. Newton lives in Speyside, only two or three km from the Blue Waters Inn, so probably he would be the most convenient. The other guides live much farther south, at least an hour away.

The BWI is a bit confined in that you’re in your own paradise, formed by high hills to the north, west, and south and the ocean to the east. That makes birding a bit of a climb unless you’re going to sea. In the immediate area there’s one place I always check – a dripping pipe behind a staff building directly across the lane from the kitchen area. Sometimes migrants from North America line up for a drink and a bath. I’ve seen quite a lot of Northern Waterthrushes there.

The best birding outside the complex is along a trail that runs from the highest point along the driveway, near the cannon, up through the scrub and back around to the old waterwheel at the entrance to the driveway. You can also walk from the cannon northeast along a dirt track that follows the hills for a long way. I won’t even try to describe the breathtaking scenery that awaits you there.

A bit farther afield (you'll need to catch a ride) but even better for birding, Murchison Trace runs basically east from the you-can't-miss-it lookout along the road way above Speyside. Newton George has had White-winged Becards there.

Here are a few shots -- BWI from the sea, showing the trail along the hillside; Wordsworth Frank and his boat; and a view from the hillside above the BWI.

 

[Alf King]

My wife and I visited in July and August a few years ago and the birding was very good. Plenty of hummers and the endemics were most obliging.

I'll just make a quick recommendation for the Asa Wright centre as an excellent (maybe even compulsory) birding spot in Trinidad and a recommendation for the Cuffie River resort in Tobago which is in excellent birding habitat and comfortable as can be.