Trip
Information
Date: November 21 - December 1, 2008
Duration: 11
days
Leaders: Paul
Prior
Limit: 12
people
Cost: $3250
USD, $3375 CDN, Single Supplement $375 USD, $390 CDN
From: Port
of Spain, Trinidad
Featured Birds:
• Scarlet Ibis
•
Red-billed Tropicbird
•
Ornate Hawk-Eagle
•
White Hawk
•
Channel-billed Toucan
•
Bearded Bellbird
•
Oilbird
•
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
•
Moriche Oriole
•
Silvered Antbird
•
White-tailed Sabrewing
•
Red-bellied Macaw
•
Golden-headed Manakin
Trip Summary:
• Warm
pleasant weather.
• Very good accommodation - only two sites for the entire trip. Asa Wright
Lodge
is renowned for its comfort and charm.
• Fairly easy to moderate walking, short drives, comfortable vehicles.
• 4 to 8 participants with one leader; 9 to 12 with two leaders; plus local
naturalist
• All meals included
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A
wonderful introduction to the birds of South American, perhaps the
most diverse and exciting birdlife on earth. This relaxed and easy-paced
tour stays at only two locations, the internationally famous Asa Wright
Nature Centre on Trinidad, surely one of the finest wildlife lodges,
and Cuffie River Lodge on Tobago. The highlights are numerous: the
glorious spectacle of wave upon wave of Scarlet Ibis at twilight, the
amazing
Oilbirds, motmots and hummingbirds and honeycreepers from our balcony,
nightjars and potoos by flashlight, antbirds, jacamars and woodcreepers
along  nature
trails, not to mention agoutis and tropical butterflies and flowering
plants, and a glass-bottomed boat over a superb coral
reef. A perennial favourite with birders and naturalists everywhere!
See detailed itinerary
below
2005 Trinidad & Tobago tour species list (127 kb pdf)
2002 Trinidad & Tobago
tour species list
To download a registration
form click here
Photos: Hummingbirds
and birding at Asa Wright photos by Bill Swan |
Itinerary
Day
1 - Arrival in Trinidad
The trip begins at Trinidad’s Piarco Airport where you will be
met and
transferred to our lodge. Night at the Asa Wright Nature Centre.
Days 2 to 7 - Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge
During our stay we explore the grounds and
nature trails that radiate out from the lodge and we take day trips to the
many excellent birding localities in Trinidad. The Nature Centre is located
in a typical valley of Trinidad’s Northern Range. These valleys host
several cocoa-coffee-citrus plantations, many active but several abandoned
and which now have been taken over by second-growth vegetation, especially
vines and epiphytes (“air-plants”) and surrounded by still impressive
rain forest. It is in this setting that we begin our exploration.
We spend the first day learning and becoming familiar with the local birds
- hummingbirds, including White-necked Jacobin, Black-throated Mango and
the splendid
Tufted Coquette; honeycreepers, including Purple and Green; and Tanagers, including
Silver-beaked, White-lined, Bay-headed and Turquoise. There is a nesting colony
of noisy Crested Oropendolas along the entrance road to the centre, their long
pendulous nests a conspicuous feature of the tall trees at the entrance. From
the veranda one has a fine view of most of the Arima Valley, and this is an excellent
spot to see such fabulous birds as Ornate Hawk-eagle, White Hawk and Channel-billed
Toucan. One of the trails leading from the veranda is aptly named Bellbird Trail,
after the Bearded Bellbird whose loud ringing “Bok” call is a characteristic
sound of the centre. There are leks of both White-bearded and Golden-headed Manakins
within easy reach of the centre, and there are usually Blue-headed and Orange-winged
Parrots flying overhead, Great Antshrikes and Squirrel Cuckoos calling from the
underbrush, and Black-faced Antthrushes whistling from dense ground cover.
We visit a cave where Oilbirds reside. Oilbirds are relatives of nighthawks and
nightjars (such as Whip-poor-wills); however, unlike their relatives they do
not eat flying insects but rather have a diet of fruit, and they have adapted
to nesting in caves. We will have a guide take us to the cave, and hence minimize
any disturbance to the birds. In these caves, Chestnut-collared Swifts have been
found nesting.
On one day we travel through some of the most scenic mountains and highest rainforest
on the island. We take the road from Arima to Blanchisseuse on the Caribbean
coast, passing through lush rainforest vegetation and overlooking numerous picturesque
waterfalls. We have a chance to see many higher elevation species along this
road. All three species of trogons (Collared, White-tailed and Violaceous) occur
in this area, as do Speckled Tanager, Swallow-tanager, Golden-crowned Warbler,
Blue-crowned Motmot, Little Tinamou, Lilac-tailed Parrotlet, and an array of
raptors, including Gray Hawk, Common Black-hawk, Gray-headed and Swallow-tailed
Kites, and Bat Falcon. At the highest elevation along the road, at 595 metres,
we look for Yellow-legged Thrush and Blue-capped Tanager, and with a lot of luck
we may see a Spectacled Owl. Rainforest trails could produce a flock of ant-associating
birds such as antwrens, antvireos and woodcreepers, and maybe Streaked Xenops.
The beach at Blanchisseuse has many Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds
present, and may produce sandpipers and plovers, as well as American Pygmy and
Green Kingfishers. We end the day having seen a wide diversity of birds as well
as some spectacular scenery!
In contrast to the rainforests and lush vegetation of the Northern Range, we
also visit the Aripo Savanna and the abandoned United Staes airfield at Wallerfield.
These are two of the very few remaining natural savannas in Trinidad, and birding
can be very productive. The Aripo Savanna is a seasonally wet prairie with a
high diversity of open-country species of birds. Pearl and White-tailed Kites
frequent this area, as do Savanna Hawks and Yellow-headed Caracaras. Red-bellied
Macaws can sometimes be encountered in fruiting trees or more often flying overhead
to feeding areas elsewhere. Ruby-topaz Hummingbird, a stunning bird, occurs here,
and we have a good chance of finding it. Yellow-rumped Caciques are here, and
an array of flycatchers, including Sulphury and Bran-colored Flycatchers. However,
one of our target birds is the extremely rare Moriche Oriole, and we make special
efforts to find one. It is also a spot where we might see mongooses.
The Wallerfield airbase has been overgrown somewhat since it was abandoned and
hosts very diverse bird populations. Southern Lapwing and Wattled Jacana occur
in pastures, hermit hummingbirds (all three species) occur here, and the shrubby
vegetation holds Barred and Black-crested Antshrikes, Rufous-tailed Jacamars,
and Blue Dacnis. Where vegetation is taller, Black-tailed Tityras and Yellow-breasted
Flycatchers occur, and if there is standing water then White-headed Marsh-tyrant,
Pied Water-tyrant and Yellow-chinned Spinetail might be present. We may encounter
some nightbirds during our walks; pauraques are common, and White-tailed Nightjars
and the very rare Nacunda Nighthawk are in the area.
An evening excursion to the Caroni Swamp is on every naturalist’s list
of activities in Trinidad. The event is the truly spectacular flight of roosting
wading birds which occurs each evening, starting about 5:00 p.m., and continuing
until after sunset. Egrets, herons and especially Scarlet Ibis congregate in
their hundreds in the mangroves, presenting a fine show of reds and whites against
a background of the dark greens of the mangroves, at sunset - an unforgettable
spectacle! The boat trip into the Caroni Swamp passes through mangroves where
Boat-billed Herons and Common Potoos occur, and where we have a chance at seeing
Dark-billed and Mangrove Cuckoos, Greater Ani, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Bicolored
Conebill and Red-capped Cardinal. Channel borders support several species of
herons and bitterns, including Rufescent Tiger-heron and Pinnated Bittern, crakes
and rails, and whistling-ducks. If we are fortunate, we could see Long-winged
Harrier or Aplomado Falcon. We also should encounter a school of four-eyed fish
during the boat trip; these fish have their eyes divided into upper and lower
halves, such that the upper half protrudes above the surface of the water looking
for predators, and the lower half underwater looking for food.
The Nariva Swamp is a large triangular-shaped area along the eastern coast of
Trinidad. It is primarily freshwater, with brackish water along the mangrove
edges at the coast, and is good habitat for wading birds, rails, raptors, and
Manatees! Yellow-hooded Blackbirds nest here, and two strikingly black and white
flycatchers can easily be found, the Pied Water-Tyrant and the White-headed Marsh-Tyrant.
The swamp is the best place in Trinidad to find Silvered Antbird. Red-bellied
Macaws and Orange-winged Parrots fly back and forth across the open areas, and
there may be Red Howler and Capuchin Monkeys in the larger stands of trees. In
our travels to and from Nariva Swamp we should encounter Red-breasted Blackbird
and White-tailed Kite.
Days 8 to 10 - Tobago
Birding on Tobago is in direct contrast with birding on Trinidad. It is small
enough that a short visit is sufficient to visit the major areas, much of
the agricultural land is reverting back to second-growth habitat, and there
are no chiggers, therefore walking in tall grass is not discouraged. We visit
the central highlands, mangrove swamps, and take a boat ride around Little
Tobago Island, with the target of finding those species not found on Trinidad.
These include Rufous-vented Chachalaca, Striped Owl, White-tailed Sabrewing,
White-fringed Antwren, Blue-backed Manakin, Scrub Greenlet, and Black-faced
Grassquit. Some species are easier to find and observe on Tobago than on
Trinidad, and we have a good chance of locating Yellow-legged Thrush, Stripe-breasted
Spinetail, Venezuelan Flycatcher, and Great Black-hawk, and especially Blue-crowned
Motmot. Around Little Tobago, the seabirds are the main attraction, and possibilities
include Brown and Red-footed Boobies, Magnificent Frigatebird, and the stunning
Red-billed Tropicbird.
We leave Tobago in the morning of Day 11 for our flight back to Trinidad,
to catch our flights back home after noon.
What to expect
On this tour the pace of birding is leisurely, and there is
plenty of time for relaxing. There is even time while at the Lodge to
take a dip in the beautiful waterfall-fed bathing pool, or to make private
arrangements with the Centre Manager for a visit to Port-au-Spain for
its considerable points of interest.
The general pattern at Asa Wright Lodge is, before breakfast, to bird
from the veranda or to go for a short walk along one of the trails at
the lodge. After breakfast, on three of the days, we take all-day excursions
to birding localities in northern Trinidad - the Northern Range rainforests,
the Nariva Swamp and the east coast, and the lowland Aripo Savanna and
Arena Forest. On the other three days we bird around the Asa Wright Lodge
itself, including visiting Dunstan Cave for the fascinating Oilbird during
the morning or afternoon, and this includes relaxing birding and excellent
photographic opportunities from the veranda. After lunch on one day,
we depart for the Caroni Swamp and spend the afternoon and evening taking
in the sights and sounds of this special locality. We are accompanied
by local experienced naturalists who are familiar with the local terrain
and better spots for locating difficult or elusive species.
Lightweight clothes are recommended, with a light jacket or sweater for
coolish nights. Bring a hat - it is sunny in the Caribbean! Long slacks
are advisable, especially in the savanna areas where the grass can be
quite sharp-edged, but shorts are comfortable to wear in most localities.
Bring swimwear if you wish. Running shoes are the footwear of choice;
footwear is usually a personal decision, but ensures that whatever you
wear it is comfortable!
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