kb57's 2024 Year List (1 Viewer)

[kb57]

Nov 26: Savane-Roche Virginie
This was a long travel day, as I ended the eastern section of my trip and headed towards the western coastal savannas and wetlands, necessitating a 3.5-4 hour drive. I made a stop quite soon though, as I wanted to see an inselberg / savane-roche site, and this was readily accessible from a short waymarked trail off the N2. I initially parked by the roadside, then saw the car parked there had its parcel shelf open to show the lack of valuables - as I had all my gear with me, I drove up a track to the trail entrance, and secreted my car in a pull-in by the trees, where it wouldn't be seen to passing traffic. I was never quite sure how safe FG was, as there were reports of relatively high crime rates, although I have to say I never personally felt unsafe or had any bother.
I didn't take the trail at birding pace as I didn't want to delay my journey too much, but lingered instead on the inselberg which made an excellent vantage point over the forest - had there been any bird activity to see (cliff flycatcher was a possibility here). An evening / overnight or early morning visit (like the people in the car who had camped out overnight using the supplied hammock poles had done) would've no doubt been better, but it was a really pleasant spot to pass time. On the way back a movement below the trail alerted me to a small muntjac-like deer with large membraneous ears, which I think was an Amazonian brown brocket - then later I got a decent close view (but no photo) of a Guianan trogon. Not bad for what was very much a walk rather than a birding visit.

285. Guianan Trogon

12. Amazonian Brown Brocket

And another mammal seen in the evening near my hotel outside Sinnamary, which became quite a familiar sight during the remainder of the trip:

13. Common Squirrel Monkey

 

[kb57]

Nov 27: Pripris de Yiyi, near Sinnamary
The rest of the previous day's drive was notable for a likely long-winged harrier seen from the busy N1 west of Cayenne (where I couldn't safely stop...), while my hotel was notable for the closed kitchen and lack of eating options that evening in Sinnamary town.
After a great kiskadee or three around the hotel at first light, my first stop was a wetland nature reserve west of town, Pripris de Yiyi. I started at the east hide, overlooking an area of open water with a number of pied-billed grebes, and also got a view of a least bittern flying between two patches of emergent vegetation. Walking towards the west hide I added lesser kiskadee, wattled jacana and striated heron to the trip list, together with a heard-only little tinamou in a forested area on the 'mango trail'. The west hide overlooked a much more overgrown area which seemed less promising at first, but with patience I added greater ani (smooth-billed were more common, even in wetland habitats), pale-vented pigeon, and great close views of both ringed kingfisher and American pygmy kingfisher. I also met the boatman recommended by my hotel who I'd WhatsApped the previous night, to try and arrange a trip on the Sinnamary river to see the scarlet ibis roosts - unfortunately he was working at the reserve midweek, so we arranged it for the following Sunday morning, as I could return to the same hotel on my way back east.
A really nice little site, and a great example of the wetlands which occupy part of the coastal plain between the mangroves and the open savannas. The final addition to the list was back at the car park - a close view of yellow-headed caracara.

286. Great Kiskadee *
287. Pied-billed Grebe
288. Least Bittern
289. Lesser Kiskadee *
290. Wattled Jacana
291. Striated Heron *
Little Tinamou (heard-only)
292. Greater Ani *
293. Pale-vented Pigeon
294. Ringed Kingfisher
295. American Pygmy Kingfisher
296. Yellow-headed Caracara

 

[kb57]

Nov 27: Savanes de Trou Poissons
A short distance west of Pripris de Yiyi, a track leads south into open savanna habitat. Driving slowly down, I stopped the car close to some scrub which held a number of plumbeous seedeaters - apparently rarer than some of the seedeater species I ended up missing...
I parked at a junction in the track then took the east fork, passing close by scrub interspersed with open grassland. A short-crested flycatcher provided good views, then I saw two black-faced tanagers at a fruiting bush - an adult and immature, the latter puzzling me at first until I got a better look at the photo. Flyover brown-throated parakeets and another yellow-headed caracara added to the species list...whilst more spent cartridges emphasised why 'chasses interdit' areas like Pripris de Yiyi were so good for birds...
I explored a track heading south from the N1 into more cultivated area a little further west, only adding common ground dove (all previously seen had been ruddy) and turkey vulture to the list.
In the afternoon, I headed out across the open savanna habitats of the Route de Saint-Elie (with carib grackle and great egret) to the Saint-Elie botanical trail - the latter in forest, adding no new species to the list, frustratingly unable to pin down a foraging hummingbird near the road. I'd just returned to the car when heavy rain put paid to any thoughts of evening / nocturnal birding on the open route in.

297. Plumbeous Seedeater
298. Short-crested Flycatcher
299. Black-faced Tanager
300. Brown-throated Parakeet
301. Common Ground Dove
302. Turkey Vulture *
303. Carib Grackle *

 

[kb57]

Nov 28: Savanes de Trou Poissons
Leaving Sinnamary and heading off west, I thought this site was worth another visit, this time taking the right fork and heading west over a more open, sandy track, with clumps of trees including some palms - eBird had records of point-tailed palmcreeper here, which would've been a nice bird to see.
Crossing the open savanna towards the palms, I added eastern meadowlark to the year list - a widespread species but quite scarce with a limited range in Guiana. Tried taping for the palmcreeper with no response, but did get a great view of a black-necked aracari.
304. Eastern Meadowlark *
305. Black-necked Aracari

Rizières de Mana
I was looking forward to visiting this site, and it didn't disappoint - I felt like I was on much more familiar terrain here, the shallow flooded former rice fields reminiscent of saltpan birding back home (or subsidence pond birding in NE England...). I headed north along a bund as far as I could with a deeper channel to my left, bounded by tall emergent vegetation. While the habitat was familiar, most of the waders weren't - a mixed flock of greater and lesser yellowlegs (with wattled jacanas) being my first introduction to both species. I flushed an azure gallinule from the channel edge, which also held several spotted sandpipers.
Snowy egrets were frequent - I checked the cere of every one I could in the hope of adding little to my trip list...also saw great egret, Cocoi heron, striated heron, tricolored heron and little blue heron - but the glowing form of a group of scarlet ibis were the highlight, together with a few roseate spoonbills.
All of the small 'peeps' turned out to be semi-palmated sandpipers, although I thought at the time I had western, photos proved otherwise. A couple of willet and grey plover were also present, but I must've been just too late for the large numbers of stilt sandpipers which pass through here - eBird bar charts suggest a sharp drop off in records mid-November as they migrate south. Another slight disappointment was the lack of waterfowl - all waterbodies I could access were very shallow - and hunting also takes place here, with a few spent cartridges around.
Smaller birds included some showy white-headed marsh tyrants and pied water-tyrants, yellow oriole and striped cuckoo - I had one flight view of a smaller yellow bird, which may have been a masked yellowthroat, but unfortunately dipped on this species, my other potential Parulid of the trip.
Raptors included a flyover peregrine and a perched rufous crab-hawk, which must qualify as the most boring raptor of the trip, sitting on the same tree the whole time I was there...lesser yellow-headed and turkey vultures were frequent - they're abundant on the NW coastal plain - with a probable immature turkey circling me closely, perhaps hoping I was going to keel over on the tiring yomp back through tall vegetation.
306. Snowy Egret *
307. Cocoi Heron *
308. Pied Water Tyrant *
309. White-headed Marsh Tyrant
310. Greater Yellowlegs
311. Lesser Yellowlegs
312. Azure Gallinule
313. Semipalmated Sandpiper
314. Spotted Sandpiper
315. Rufous Crab Hawk
316. Tricolored Heron
317. Willet
318. Scarlet Ibis
319. Roseate Spoonbill
320. Yellow Oriole
321. Little Blue Heron
322. Striped Cuckoo
I've still got a few more photos to develop from Raw files from Rizières de Mana, which I'll add in a later post.

 

[kb57]

29 Nov: Awala-Yalimapo road
After staying the night at self-catering accommodation in Mana village, furnished once again with a washing machine, I headed out for the furthest NW point of French Guiana. The road was a little busier than I'd have expected, but I was still able to stop for a roadside plumbeous kite and yellow-headed caracara, and a little further on for a roadside...Roadside hawk - perhaps surprisingly my first of the trip. An unknown species flying across the road between forest patches may have been a bare-necked fruitcrow, but my brief view was certainly inconclusive.
323. Plumbeous Kite
324. Roadside Hawk *

Digue de Panato
This is an eBird hotspot along a track heading south from the D22 between Awala-Yalimapo and the western extremity of FG at Les Hattes. It crosses open country to reach some forest patches, but first passes a group of constructed ponds (bassins de lagunage). These held a lot of wattled jacanas, with wetland species I'd already seen like striated heron - a possible flypast barn swallow eluded my trip list, but I added another hummer - blue-tailed emerald - visiting flowering shrubs.
Heading for the forest patch I passed a group of lads with machetes by their car - most of them looked friendly enough, but I was aware I was on a dead-end track...once in the forest patch I parked up and headed off on foot. Nothing new in the forest, but a nice view of green-tailed jacamars... I realised too late for a photo that a soaring vulture wasn't actually a vulture...it was a white-tailed hawk!
325. Blue-tailed Emerald
326. White-tailed Hawk

Reserve Naturelle de l'Amana
After a walk along Plage des Hattes (with a view of Suriname in the distance) failed to add any new species (hoping for terns and maybe a frigate bird...), I found a picnic site giving access to coastal forests and mudflats. The strange thing about the sea here is its brown colour, apparently due to the high level of Amazonian sediment - although quite substantial local rivers like the adjacent Maroni must contribute too. I saw a yellow-rumped cacique and another roadside hawk in the picnic area, then whilst walking the trail towards the coast had a great but fleeting view of a pair of black-crested antshrikes - the male looks pretty cool, positively flamboyant by ant-thingy standards, but unfortunately I only managed a photo of the female. The amount of sediment in the sea means that mudflats can accrete next to the open Atlantic, supporting waders like willet and semipalmated sandpiper, together with scarlet ibis, tricolored heron and snowy egret. A singing bird tempted me off-piste and into the edge of the coastal forest, where I was really happy to track down a bicolored conebill. Incidentally, black vultures were more frequent in this area of FG - I should've added them to the year list on my return from Saint-Elie, but this was my first eBird record
I tried a couple of other tracks into the forest, but this was the one area where mosquitos were really troublesome.
327. Black Vulture *
328. Yellow-rumped Cacique
329. Black-crested Antshrike
330. Bicolored Conebill

 

[kb57]

30 Nov: Crique Naï
I packed up and left Mana before dawn - a pauraque flying over my shoulder as I packed up the car - hoping to get to the forest in time for early morning bird activity. Unfortunately a cycle race was underway on the road south from Mana towards the N1, and I got stuck in the traffic behind it all the way to the junction where they headed off for St.Laurent du Maroni - all the while driving in a low gear, which wasn't great for my fuel consumption...
I took the main forest track until a side trail branched off, with a tipped bund preventing vehicle access - although a fresh motorbike track indicated someone had got around it. A frustratingly silent large toucan flew over, and I was unable to get enough on it for a positive ID.
The forest trail was really nice and I ended up spending a long time here, but the birding was typically difficult, with the exception of blackish nightjars resting on the trail and providing great views and photos - after a pauraque in Colombia, my only daytime nightjar experience. A commotion in the forest revealed itself to be a group of grey-winged trumpeters - really happy to add these to my list, although I had to be content with a brief but close view of one of the group through the trees, and no photo. This is also a site for rusty tinamou, although the only species I recorded here was heard-only variegated. The only other new addition to the list was a plain-brown woodcreeper, again without a photo - an extended duetting session with the now-familiar song of black-throated antbirds produced the briefest of views (and no photo) of the male.
At one point the source of the bike tracks revealed itself - a hunter on an ancient moped and even more ancient single-barrel shotgun and a machete at his side, returning with an indeterminate catch in a sack. I wasn't going to ask him if he'd been shooting any of the (small) list of Guiana protected species...I got back to the car after a total walk of over 12km just before a downpour, with relatively little to show for my efforts, but happy to have seen the trumpeter and great nightjar views. After the rain cleared I drove back and stopped at a powerline clearing on a hilltop, hoping for some flyover canopy species, but only saw band-rumped swifts...and more shotgun cartridges.
331. Blackish Nightjar
332. Grey-winged Trumpeter
333. Plain-brown Woodcreeper
A warning beep as I started my car up alerted me to the fact my fuel gauge had dropped alarmingly from the morning - I thought I'd have plenty to get back to Sinnamary from Mana via Crique Naï, but realised I was a 120km drive along the N1 (not ca.80km as I'd thought!). In the end I managed to get within 16km of the garage before spluttering to a halt on the roadside near Pripris de Yiyi...after the hire company quoted my a 3 hour wait for recovery, an hour before sunset, a call to my hotel resulted in the proprietor bringing me a 10l can of petrol, which we filled while it rained using a cutoff water bottle and the arm of my reading glasses to push the fuel flap open...my opinion of L'Oiseau de Paradis hotel was raised considerably - a really good bloke who is also a locally renowned musician (Jorland) who played guitar in the now-open hotel restaurant that evening.

 

[kb57]

01 Dec: Savanes de Trou Poissons
This was meant to be my Sinnamary scarlet ibis river trip, so I was down at the quay for 05:30 waiting for the boatman...15 minutes later, it was raining heavily and he hadn't showed up, so I WhatsApped him to get a reply saying the weather wasn't good for going out today...I was somewhat annoyed he hadn't bothered to contact me, but could understand the rationale as it was tipping down, and getting to the roost before they disperse is essential.
I decided to make the best of the situation and head back to my favourite savanna site in time for some night birding. This paid off immediately, with two spot-tailed nightjars visible in my headlights on the access track as I drove slowly along - quite small with a slightly more fluttering flight than the blackish I'd seen so well the previous day (the males of which actually have really prominent spots on their tail, unlike spot-tailed...). A more surprising addition in the headlights was a diminutive grassland sparrow, visible as I parked up on the open savanna.
The day was dawning fine, adding to my boat trip frustration, but revealing more eastern meadowlarks on the grassland...I dipped another palmcreeper attempt before returning to the car to be treated to a foraging swift-fest...a group of band-rumped giving way to fork-tailed palm swifts, contrasting with two positively strange looking short-tailed swifts.
334. Spot-tailed Nightjar
335. Grassland Sparrow
336. Fork-tailed Palm Swift
337. Short-tailed Swift

Pripris de Yiyi
I thought this reserve deserved another visit, especially with the possibility of little tinamou. This wasn't to be, but I did see a lot of brown-throated parakeets which had been roosting in the trees, and a couple of flyover mealy amazons, as well as good views of common squirrel monkeys. Only one addition to the list, but a good one - golden-spangled piculet, which perched right next to me on the track to the east hide, flying to an adjoining bush, then unfortunately flying off before I could react and get a photo.
338. Golden-spangled Piculet

Hotel L'Oiseau de Paradis
Back in time for a leisurely breakfast on the terrace, with great kiskadees and blue-grey tanagers providing some avian interest, along with male and female blue-chinned sapphire hummingbirds on an adjoining flowering shrub - as seems to be the pattern on this trip, I only managed a decent photo of the female. A walk along the river frontage at the hotel added a flock of cattle egrets further upriver, and I had a flyover anhinga.
339. Blue-chinned Sapphire
340. Anhinga

 

[kb57]

01 Dec: Lac de Bois-Diable, Kourou
I packed up and started my journey back to Cayenne, diverting onto the road which runs into the Kourou rocket launch area - this has some excellent looking savanna habitat, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for the birds and habitat...) it is all off-limits, with strict interdictions against stopping or leaving your car - the eBird hotspots I presume were derived from authorised survey work. Any further attempt at space tourism wasn't possible either, as the museum is closed on a Sunday and the road to a launch vantage point is closed off to the public when there are no launches - really very high security around here! Instead I headed into Kourou town for some urban birding around Lac de Bois-Diable, parking on the mown grass on the south side of the lake next to fishermen and joggers. I got a distant view of black-bellied whistling duck, then a really great view of a zone-tailed hawk, before deciding to find a better access point amongst the suburban housing on the north side. This gave me some great urban birding, with excellent views of habituated birds - even the brown-throated parakeets weren't that flighty! New additions included common and purple gallinules at the lake margin, some great views of tropical mockingbirds, and a flyover osprey (new for the trip list).
341. Black-bellied Whistling Duck
342. Zone-tailed Hawk
343. Common Gallinule *
344. Purple Gallinule *
345. Tropical Mockingbird

I then drove out to Pointe des Roches in the hope of some seabirds, but first had to shelter from a downpour...no new additions to the year list, although turnstone and sanderling were new for the trip list, and I counted 3000 semi-palmated sandpipers heading west in a 15 minute period.

 

[kb57]

02 Dec: Vieux Port, Cayenne
For my last part-day in French Guiana I started off at the Vieux Port - you can park on a quay overlooking mangroves and mudflats. This was a productive stop, soon adding laughing gulls, then new waders - a short-billed dowitcher, and a Hudsonian whimbrel which obligingly raised its wings as it landed. Yellow-crowned night heron completed the lifer count, and I had a further opportunity to see scarlet ibis, roseate spoonbill, little blue and tricolored heron, greater yellowlegs, and the inevitable semipalmated sandpipers.
346. Laughing Gull
347. Short-billed Dowitcher
Whimbrel (ssp. hudsonicus)
348. Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Salines de Montjoly
Another excellent little coastal nature reserve with a lagoon and boardwalk with a gazebo structure used as a hide, and a trail through mangroves and coastal habitats. The 'hide' in the lagoon provided really excellent views of tricolored heron, and waders including white-rumped sandpiper, as well as a green kingfisher (sadly no photo..). Smaller birds included a boat-billed flycatcher and yellow-chinned spinetail. My only disappointment was the lack of action in coastal habitats, no terns or frigate birds...
349. White-rumped Sandpiper
350. Green Kingfisher
351. Yellow-chinned Spinetail
352. Boat-billed Flycatcher

Edit: ...and my first identifiable bat of the year, roosting in the open roof of the hide:

14. Proboscis Bat

After taking my rental car for a much needed clean to avoid extra charges, I had a final go at forest birding on the Sentier du Rorota - another quiet forest with good views of common squirrel monkeys and a flypast antbird that got away...it was then time to head for the airport for my flight back to Paris.

 

[kb57]

17 Dec: Rothbury, Northumberland
Back in UK for Christmas and New Year, we headed up to familiar territory by the River Coquet - mindful of my target of 220 in UK / Europe, the walk to the Thrum area was previously reliable for both marsh tit and dipper - and so it proved today!

353 (217). Marsh Tit *
354 (218). White-throated Dipper *

 

[kb57]

18 Dec: Near Ovingham, Northumberland
Driving back from a family visit in the evening, a close but brief view of a tawny owl in a hedgerow brought me closer to the target...

355 (219). Tawny Owl *

eBird is giving me a year list total of 364, so it is possible I've missed a few from French Guiana, as I don't think I've got 9 heard-only...the only ones I can think of that I positively identified by sound there were Amazonian pygmy owl and little tinamou, with screaming Piha and black-throated antbird being seen eventually. I'd previously only had 3 - quail, reed warbler and common cuckoo - so I think I'm 4 out. Either way, I've beaten my previous best total of 331 due to a better European / UK list - I (disappointingly) ended up with virtually the same totals in French Guiana this year as Colombia in 2019.

 

[kb57]

So in the end work and family commitments at the end of the year just stopped me reaching my 220 Europe & UK target. New Year's Eve found me doing a pre-dusk circuit of Killingworth Lake in the rain in a vain hope of adding Greater Scaup, seen there 7 days ago (and a couple of years ago by me). Despite inclement weather, not a bad way to end the year - the lake was stuffed with birds including over 40 mute swans, 6 great crested grebes, about the same number of goldeneye and about 3 goosander...reminding me bizarrely of a 20C colder version of Lac de Bois-Diable. Suburban / urban setting with housing on the north side, grass on the south - and where I also dipped a scaup (lesser scaup is seen quite frequently there).
In the end more than happy to record my best ever world year list and see some great birds, new and not so new - some highlights which spring to mind immediately were:

• obviously, Guianan cock-of-the-rock;
• watching wing-banded antbird foraging in the leaf litter;
• seeing Wilson's and European storm-petrels, and shearwaters on a pelagic from Sagres;
• having a Montagu's harrier fly towards me and close by me on the Castro Verde plains;
• seeing the collared pratincole colony on the Odiel estuary near Huelva;
• seeing scarlet ibises and roseate spoonbills on the Guyane coast;
• watching swallow-tailed kites, another bird I really wanted to see one day;
• seeing some Nearctic waders, with close views of white-rumped sandpiper probably my favourite; and
• adding both willow and marsh tits in Northumberland to my year list, not something I manage every year.