Cuba 28th December 2020 – 12th January 2021
2020 was our worst year birding since 1987, I had only 10 lifers in Jordan in January and Sarah added just one additional bird to her list after that a Black-bellied Sandgrouse in Fuerteventura in November. So a trip to Cuba with 30+ lifers on offer was very attractive.
However, we had three attempts at Cuba cancelled in the last year; try one when Thomas Cook went bust (we were to fly into Caya Coco with others then 3 nights birding on our own in Playa Larga; attempt two, a tour with 3 nights in Havana and then time on both coasts; and then finally attempt 3 after Cuba had partly reopened, fly into Varadero but spend first 3 nights in Havana then time in Playa Larga before finishing at Varadero, these last two were cancelled due to lockdowns the last one just a few weeks ago in late November.
So when the when the last lockdown ended and we thought very wisely we probably had until January before our post-Christmas lockdown began; we booked two weeks in Varadero with TUI. If we went on an organised tour we could avoid quarantine and just stay the first two days in the resort, if we went independently we had to do 5 days quarantine confined to a Hotel or Casa and then possibly have another test before being released. We had tentative plans to do some birding in Zapata with Ernesto Reyes who we arranged to use on previous failed attempts and then just do whatever trips we could to Havana, etc.
Having booked to leave Manchester on 28/12 we were pretty concerned about the new Covid variant as countries around the world banned UK flights but Cuba with its testing on arrival regime just added the need for a PCR test before departure and then only from January – result. As we have been on a vaccine trial since October (over 80% efficacy and lots of regular tests) we were pretty confident we would not test positive on arrival although 8 people on our flight did and were removed from the resort to a medical facility until they tested negative.
Out target birds were the usual endemics but particularly the Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Trogon and the Owls plus some West Indian species we hadn’t seen on Jamaica or in Dominican Republic but we knew that we would probably not even try for some of the Eastern species as a few areas were still closed in Cuba.
Rather than a day by day account I’ll just set out what we saw around the resort; the Iberostar Selection Bella Vista and the peninsula on foot or by Hop-on Hop-off bus, our trip to Havana and then a bit more detail for Zapata, Playa Larga and Play Giron areas where people might be going independently when the situation improves.
Varadero area
There we pretty good grounds in the hotel with lots of wintering warblers, a couple of easy endemics and some seabirds and herons.
The main birds in the hotel were Cuban Emerald our first endemic, Cuban (crescent-eyed) Pewee, Yellow-fronted Vireo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Ovenbird, Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, Antillean Palm Swift and Northern Mockingbird.
There were some mangroves only about 1KM away and then a pretty nice patch of woodland near the closed Pirates Cove restaurant and bar. The best birds here were Cuban Black Hawk, a surprise Key West Quail Dove (only seen once – it was just after we arrived and there had been 3 days of strong wind and rain so not sure if it is regular here or had just been moved by the weather), we also saw a Bahamas Mockingbird the same day which we couldn’t relocate and then Cuban Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Cuban Blackbird, Loggerhead Kingbird, Smooth-billed Ani and American Redstart.
There is a small nature reserve up towards the Marina but it is now half the size it was due to Hotel developments and we actual found more in the various deserted hotels (around 80% are still closed) and in the area near the ancient Cactus natural monument rather than on the trails.
Birds by the shore and mangroves included, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Great White Egret, Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Killdeer, Sanderling and Wilson’s Plover
Apart from some Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelican and Belted Kingfisher the Marina area seemed lacking in bird life.
We also saw a flock of Tawny-winged Blackbirds at the airport.
For those just going to the beach like some we spoke to, even if we had not left the resort we would have found at least 6 lifers.
2020 was our worst year birding since 1987, I had only 10 lifers in Jordan in January and Sarah added just one additional bird to her list after that a Black-bellied Sandgrouse in Fuerteventura in November. So a trip to Cuba with 30+ lifers on offer was very attractive.
However, we had three attempts at Cuba cancelled in the last year; try one when Thomas Cook went bust (we were to fly into Caya Coco with others then 3 nights birding on our own in Playa Larga; attempt two, a tour with 3 nights in Havana and then time on both coasts; and then finally attempt 3 after Cuba had partly reopened, fly into Varadero but spend first 3 nights in Havana then time in Playa Larga before finishing at Varadero, these last two were cancelled due to lockdowns the last one just a few weeks ago in late November.
So when the when the last lockdown ended and we thought very wisely we probably had until January before our post-Christmas lockdown began; we booked two weeks in Varadero with TUI. If we went on an organised tour we could avoid quarantine and just stay the first two days in the resort, if we went independently we had to do 5 days quarantine confined to a Hotel or Casa and then possibly have another test before being released. We had tentative plans to do some birding in Zapata with Ernesto Reyes who we arranged to use on previous failed attempts and then just do whatever trips we could to Havana, etc.
Having booked to leave Manchester on 28/12 we were pretty concerned about the new Covid variant as countries around the world banned UK flights but Cuba with its testing on arrival regime just added the need for a PCR test before departure and then only from January – result. As we have been on a vaccine trial since October (over 80% efficacy and lots of regular tests) we were pretty confident we would not test positive on arrival although 8 people on our flight did and were removed from the resort to a medical facility until they tested negative.
Out target birds were the usual endemics but particularly the Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Trogon and the Owls plus some West Indian species we hadn’t seen on Jamaica or in Dominican Republic but we knew that we would probably not even try for some of the Eastern species as a few areas were still closed in Cuba.
Rather than a day by day account I’ll just set out what we saw around the resort; the Iberostar Selection Bella Vista and the peninsula on foot or by Hop-on Hop-off bus, our trip to Havana and then a bit more detail for Zapata, Playa Larga and Play Giron areas where people might be going independently when the situation improves.
Varadero area
There we pretty good grounds in the hotel with lots of wintering warblers, a couple of easy endemics and some seabirds and herons.
The main birds in the hotel were Cuban Emerald our first endemic, Cuban (crescent-eyed) Pewee, Yellow-fronted Vireo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Ovenbird, Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, Antillean Palm Swift and Northern Mockingbird.
There were some mangroves only about 1KM away and then a pretty nice patch of woodland near the closed Pirates Cove restaurant and bar. The best birds here were Cuban Black Hawk, a surprise Key West Quail Dove (only seen once – it was just after we arrived and there had been 3 days of strong wind and rain so not sure if it is regular here or had just been moved by the weather), we also saw a Bahamas Mockingbird the same day which we couldn’t relocate and then Cuban Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Cuban Blackbird, Loggerhead Kingbird, Smooth-billed Ani and American Redstart.
There is a small nature reserve up towards the Marina but it is now half the size it was due to Hotel developments and we actual found more in the various deserted hotels (around 80% are still closed) and in the area near the ancient Cactus natural monument rather than on the trails.
Birds by the shore and mangroves included, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Great White Egret, Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Killdeer, Sanderling and Wilson’s Plover
Apart from some Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelican and Belted Kingfisher the Marina area seemed lacking in bird life.
We also saw a flock of Tawny-winged Blackbirds at the airport.
For those just going to the beach like some we spoke to, even if we had not left the resort we would have found at least 6 lifers.
