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TRINIDAD

21 March  - 20 April 1999

by Harry J. Lehto

(For the original trip report, click here)

PARTICIPANTS: Harry J Lehto - mostly just by myself, except when
ACCOMPANIED by following birdwatchers:
Gerard Ramsawak on 24.3 (in part)
Floyd Hayes on 31.3
Hans Luedemann on 10.4
IsmaelAngelo on 10.4, 15.4 and 17.4

SHORT SUMMARY:

My trip to Trinidad was a bussiness trip and not really a birding trip. However, I managed to do some birding on weekends, and even on weekdays by getting up early enough to bird a couple of hours before work, and again for an hour in the evening after work. Sunrise was at 06.00 and sunset at about 18.15. For the first 10 days I got acquianted with the local birds. My hosts also took me down to Quinam to stay overnight there. It turned out to be very interesting. For the next two weeks and a day I had a rental car, and for the last two days I did no birding. I managed to see well over 200 different species. The information below that is shown in square brackets, contains information specifically for Finns and written in Finnish. [Sulkeissa oleva tieto alla on tarkoitettu nimenomaan suomalaisille.]

TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBERS:

The country/area code for Trinidad and Tobago has changed recently from 1-809 to 1-868.

CURRENCY:

The exchange rate for selling US dollars in the local bank was 1USD=6.18TT$. US dollar had the smallest exchange margin of any currency. I did not attempt to use US dollars in T&T. Euro was unknown.

BORDER FORMALITIES:

On departure from T&T one has to pay a departure tax of 100TT$/person. Make sure to put this amount aside immediately.

On entry to T&T one should, in principle, declare CDs and electronic stereo equipment (no need to declare cameras though!). I don't understand what the use for this has to be done, because I was left with no decleration form! They took off the only stamped piece of paper from me within 5 minutes.

You can shop tax free both on entry and on departure.

TRANSPORTATION:

Maxitaxis run everywhere (at least they take you everywhere). They are cheap and they seem to run almost at any time of the day. The maxitaxis are usually mostly white, with a horizontal colorband on the side of the maxitaxi. This band tells you the main direction the taxi is operating on. The various colors I saw were red on the east-west traffic along the East Main Road, green for the North-South along the South Main Road, and brown color bands down in the Siparia region.

DRIVING:

Driving in Trinidad has it's peculiarities. If you end up taking the free style of birding and renting a car you should be aware of the following points:

1) Driving is on the "wrong" side for Americans and most Europeans. This is easy to forget on small roads, particularly at night. Automatic tranmission is a definite plus in a rental car.

2) Outside main highways almost NO directions are sign posted. Many of the small towns have one-way streets, so it is likely that you will end up on the wrong road when you have gone through the town.

3) In the Tropics it is useful to remember that the sun is directly due east at sunrise and due west at sunset in spring and in fall. For me the planet Venus turned out to be of extreme value in navigating. During these days it was visible for a couple of hours after sunset in the westerly direction. If Venus is visible, it is either a bright evening star in the west after sunset or a bright morning star in the east before sunrise. A GPS could be useful in navigating too.

4) Roads are practically empty in the morning but crowded in the evenings.

5) Many roads, even relatively major ones, have manholes, landslides and major fractures on the surface. These are (normally) marked with a white line either circling the hole or as a curve in the white edge markings of the lane. In day time, you can see these marks reasonably well, but at night after being blinded by the oncomming traffic, they may really catch you by surprise.

6) Finally, under heavy traffic and not seeing well the edge of the narrow roads (there's often a deep waterditch by the road side) keeps driving quite tense. The last thing you need at this point are dark people with dark clothes standing motionless on the roadside. These guys should really have reflectors. I felt more threatened by driving at night than by any assaulters. One may argue that a robbery takes place once, but so does a fatal accident.

GASOLINE:

Gasoline price was 2.45TT$/liter, relatively cheap for Europeans and expensive for Americans.

There seemed to be quite a few 24hour gas (=petrol) stations in well populated areas (information in Murphy's guide appears slightly out-of-date in this respect). These gas stations are open even on sundays and on public holidays, eg. in Tunapuna and St Augustine. If you go to remote sites it's good to have enough gasoline though.

DRIVER'S LICENSE:

At least for the car rental companies my Finnish license was all that was needed. I also had an international license with me just in case. I had no encounters with the local police force, so I don't know if they'd require an international license.

CAR RENTALS:

I called up 8 renting companies, and got answers from six. The standard practice seemed to be that for one week's renting you get one day free (about 15% discount from daily prices), and if you rent for 3 weeks, you get the fourth week free (this adds to about 30% discount from daily prices). I learned this a little bit too late. I found two rental companies that had cheap cars.

I received the following price quote for the smallest car with aircondition AND automatic transmission:
 
Econo Auto Rent  235 TT$/day  622-8074 (fax 622-8074)
(need to dig this one up) TT$/day  -
Auto Rentals  402 TT$/day  669-2277 
Singh's Auto Rentals 316 TT$/day  669-5417 (fax 669-3860)
Lord Kalloo Rental  300 TT$/day  669-5673 
Thrifty car  69 USD/day  -
"So Car Rentals" ltd  (no answer on Sat) 663-2804 in Tunapuna
Jeffrey's Auto rental (no answer on Sat)  663-5333

One should add a 30TT$/day insurance to the quoted prices for each day you rent (the discounts above don't apply). It is definitely worth it in T&T.

My experience with the Econo Auto Rent was quite mixed. The service for changing a malfunctioning car to a new one was rapid. After an apparent complete breakdown of my first car, I got a second car in the evening within 1h30min. My first car was had several dents on it, which is just cosmetics, but worth writing down in the rental agreement. Within the first day I noticed several annoying problems with the car: Gas gasket not working properly, left window difficult to open, radio not working, engine thermometer not operating. From the rear one could hear sounds as if one wheel is about to take off. Finally the horn was not working -- this is a serious malfunction in Trinidad! The final problem that caught me, luckily only a quarter of a mile from "home" was the gas gauge, which showed a half-full gas tank, when it was actually empty to the last drop.

The second car (a larger one) was better. The only problem was that the sounds from under the car, while driving on uneven roads made you think that both rear wheels were about to fall off! Fortunately they never did.

MAPS:

My collegue got me the "Map of Trinidad", 1:150000, edition 5 (1990) for 25.95 TT$. Copies of the map are available from the Lands and Surveys Division, Red House, Port of Spain and the Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Board (so it says on the map). If ordering by mail you should note that postal mail can be SLOW to and from T&T, eg. a letter sent to me by my family took 6 weeks for the roundtrip Europe-T&T-Europe. Combined to the information in Murphy's guide I found this map sufficient. It is reasonably well detailed.

FIELD GUIDES:

Richard ffrench's guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago needs updating, particularly the artwork. For example, the plates of "difficult" flycatchers are not very useful. Raptors in flight are completely missing. Doves/Pigeons figures are of low quality and small. Many other figures are too small to include useful details. A positive side in the figure plates is that there is plenty of space to write down your own comments.

Only about half of the species are shown in ffrench's guide. I understand if birds common in North America are left out (this assumes that the birder is North American or at least has a copy of an North American guides in the suitcase). There are rather COMMON species not shown that should be definitely shown such as Lesser Eleania.

It would be better if the plates were drawn to enable direct comparison between figures. It is not the case at present eg., the Great kiskadee is shown from the side, but the Boat-billed flycatcher is shown from an odd direction, obtainable practically only from an helicopter.

For additional information I found an old Peterson's MEXICO GUIDE very valuable on this trip. The De Schauensee's guide to the BIRDS OF VENEZUELA would have been better in many respects.It is worth getting this guide eg. from ABA rather than buying at a marked up price at ASA Wright Nature Center. Well, I guess any guide you have on your shelf covering birds of the neotropics would provide useful additional information to ffrench's guide. The text in the ffrench guide regarding local information is not replacable with other guides, though.

SITE AND AUDIOGUIDES:

Bill Murphy's site guide and his audio guide are very useful. The site guide needs some updating. Another 40 species for the audioguide would turn it to be much more useful. One could include nightjars, owls, cuckoos, parrots, woodcreepers, flycatchers, ie. birds that are quite hard to see or where the call plays an important role in id'ing. Or maybe one could add some 60 more species, and put them all on a CD.

HUMAN GUIDES:

I birded mostly on my own. On a couple of days Ismaelangelo from the PAX guesthouse joined me. He knows well the calls and the songs of local birds. By principle he does not use tapes or imitations, but lets you do so. I found quite a few species also easy to imitate by myself just by whistling. Knowing which species you are trying to imitate helps to search for the bird in the proper way. This is the connection that one could easily loose by birding completely alone.

ACCOMODATION:

I stayed at the University of West Indies apartments for a very modest price. The apartment was not airconditioned, but after a few days I got used to it.

WATER AND FOOD:

I survived with tap water. Soft drinks are readily available. Many of them are heavily colored. Diet/Light versions of, say Pepsi of Coke are difficult to find.

You definitely should try the large variety of small restaurants, and the interesting cuisine which has clearly evolved from Indian cuisine. Also try out coconut water. It's refreshing. Of course if you do want to stick to burgers and pizzas, that's also possible.

CRIME:

I encountered personally no crime. I was begged for money on my first trip up to Mount Benedict, but I had no money with me, and my binocs were hidden in my backpack. I didn't feel threatened.

I visited the infamous Wallerfield four times, although visiting Wallerfield alone is not recommended: Once with Floyd, once on my own in the middle of a Sunday, once early during the morning hours (about 5 to 8 AM), and once early in the night during and immediately after some very heavy showers. The latter two were moments when I thought no "bad guys" were present at Wallerfield. I never went more 10 meters from the car in day time, and never stepped out of the car at Wallerfield at night. On departing the country I learned that on April 6 somebody had been killed at Wallerfield. His car had also been burned.

I was recommended not to bird in the coastal area some 5km south of Waterloo.

The Beetham area a few km East of Port of Spain including the POS sewage treatment plant is supposed to be even more dangerous than the other mentined sites, so I did not visit that site. I was also told that the quality of the area as a birding site has also gone down.

Be aware of crime, but don't let it spoil your trip by being phobic all the time.

PEOPLE:

I found people very nice and friendly.

LANGUAGE:

Hindi is spoken quite widely, but spanish is spoken even more widely, but English is the language of the country. Trinidad has an interesting English dialect. The main difficulty I had was the speed at which people spoke. The accent was, at first, a little bit difficult to follow. Almost ever syllable appears to be accented in the same way Finnish kids do when the pretend to imitate Swedish. In addition, there are some pronounciation differences such as "th" is often pronounced as a soft "d". The words are often cut short (similar to the Turku dialect in Finland). When asking for directions you should remember that "ask" is pronounced "aks" or "ax" in Trinidadian.

INSECTS:

There were loads of awsomely beautiful critters.

The only mosquitos I saw were just a few day flying ones in the woods and small numbers in the evenings. I encountered no chiggers nor did I see any fireants or their mounds.

I got some odd bites all over my body, apparently while I was asleep. I first thought they were mosquitos, then I started blaming chiggers, but when I noticed these small bites also in the palms of my hands I ruled out both. I suspected that they were fleas in the bed I was using. Some of my colleagues suggested though sandflies, that apparently attack you between 6 and 7 pm. I experienced no difference in using or not using insect repellant such as DEET [Tämä ihmeaine on tasan samaa ainetta kuin vihrea OFF]. Hydrocortizone turned out to be quite nice for treatment of obvious mosquito bites.

PLANTS:

Apparently one "nettle" exists. It was not clear to me what this plant looked like as some poeple identified "for cetrain" a certain solanaceae plant as the nettle, which it was not according to another person. Some grasses had extremely sharp leaves causing quite a few scratches to my legs. The skin reactions were treatable with hydrocortizone.

USEFUL ADDRESSES:

see Murphy's guide for a whole bunch of them. I can add the following ones:
 
Southern Carribean Birdalert: http://www.wow.net/ttfnc
Trinidad & Tobago Records Commitee (secretary Graham White): graham@tstt.net.tt
Bill Murphy's web page  http://members.aol.com/murph3000/
American Birding Association  http://www.americanbirding.org/ 
ABA bookstore catalogue  http://www.americanbirding.org/abasales/catbbkindx.htm 
ASA wright nature center  http://www.asawright.org/welcome.html
A very useful Trinidad Web Page set up by Tina McDonald is at  http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/cartrinidad.htm
Birdtrip archives  http://listserv.arizona.edu/lsv/www/birdtrip.html 
Birding the Americas Trip Report Repository http://www.birdingtheamericas.com

Some links to accomodations, restaurants
http://discovertrinidad.com/
http://virtualvoyages.com/carib/trinidad/trin_hot.htm

THANK YOUS:

To Mike Bowman for providing me some last information before my trip
To "Fat Birder" for setting me a standard for my trip
To NBHS Birding trip reports for providing trip reports on and especially
To Joan Thompson for her trip report at NBHS.
To Gerard Ramsawak for showing me a good bunch of raptors
To Floyd Hayes for taking me on the T&T RBA mailing list.
To Graham White and Floyd for answering several ID questions I had, giving me directions to sites as well as keeping me up-to date with the recent sightings.
To Ismaelangelo and Hans Luedemann, and Shankav for keeping me company on my bird trips and pointing me many new birds.
To Shirin's family and Copilah families to keeping up with my birding and showing me the Quinam area.
To the UWI Physics Department personel, particularly Diane.

SITES VISITED:

I used William Murphy's guide which seems to be coming slightly outdated -- I will not repeat here the instructions given to the sites mentioned in that guide (St. Benedict, Blanchisseuse Road, Agricultural Research Farm, Aripo Savannah, Wallerfield, Point-a-Pierre, Nariva). There are a few points I want to make though, that may affect your detailed schedule of birding in Trinidad.

ST JOHN'S ROAD is the road that leads from St Augustine (and Tunapuna) to Mt St Benedict. Many of my bird sightings are from this site, because that's where I resided. My front yard had a well kept lawn and some palm trees. Beyond my ten foot wide backyard there was a river, which separates St Augustine and Tunapuna. It had quite a few trees and bamboos and some fruit trees. I guess I could call it a localized riparian forest in the foothills of the Northern Range. Putting out some fruits provided nice views of Yellow Orioles, Saltators, Tanagers, Bananaquits and Kiskadees. I had also Orange-Crowned Parrots, Black Hawks and Yellow-headed Caracaras frequent the trees.

ASA WRIGHT NATURE CENTER. To say the least, it was a dissapointment. Yes, you see a few bird species nicely on the feeders. Unfortunately, these feeders do not make a pretty background for photography. I also got to see four species (White-necked Jacobin, Blue-tailed Emerald, Bellbird and Ornate Hawk-eagle) I saw nowhere else. The entrance fee was 6USD. What you get for the entrance fee is access to the veranda + feeders usually with a handful of species and 4-5 hummingbird species in any given couple of hours. You also get to a guided tour, that shows you a white-breasted manakin lek (a few of which we also found on our own) and the bellbird. We made special arrangements to get to see the Ornate Hawk-eagle nest. We were lucky to see the bird well. ASA has also a reasonable stock of t-shirts and books, but they were so overpriced that I decided not to get anything. As an example the Venezuela guide cost 60USD (360TT$). Compare this to 40USD for ABA members from American Birding Association (and 44$ for non members). Note: YOU CANNOT GET TO SEE THE OILBIRDS UNLESS YOU STAY 3 NIGHTS AT ASA. That's a lot of money!

There are two other alternatives to see the OILBIRDS. First and easier is to call Gerard at the PAX guest house and request him to arrange a trip with a local guide (eg. IsmaelAngelo) for a reasonable fee (was 25 USD) to a cave somewhere on a private property. This is an early morning to afternoon trip. The other alternative is to go to the Aripo village and get there a local guide to take you to the Aripo caves. It is a 7 mile walk and also a morning to early afternoon trip. I didn't have time to go after the oilbirds on this trip.

The PORT-OF-SPAIN SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT (although shown on new maps) should not be visited at all. Apparently is is quite dangerous. Likewise, if you mention going to WALLERFIELD at night, local people tend to freak out, because of some major incident in about 1993. (see the section on Crime above for an incident during my stay). It seems really to be an "active" area.

ARIPO HEIGHTS. The estate with hummingbird feeders and loads of hummingbirds is not "operational" at present (1999), because of change of ownership. I understand that ASA wright Nature center is just about to buy the estate.

The roads that lead off from Orange Road, are described somewhat confusingly in Murphy's guide. If you are driving from South, the Aripo heights road is on your right, and the Ruiz Trace is on your left. The water cress ponds (or fields) mentioned to be on your right after you have turned on Aripo Heights Road can be reached by driving on Aripo Heights Road for 1.1km (could somebody doublecheck this distance?) and by turning then right to Morne pois (road). This road descends steeply into a riparian forest. After 300 meters just beyond the forest stop on your right just after you have passed the river. You'll see the fields on your right side.

Because you may have your copy of Murphy's guide open at this point, let me indicate a couple of further errors:

1) In the NARIVA section the distances in the coastal area are too large by 3.1 km (unless I screwed up the measurement).

2) The bar chart on page 145 is off by one species in the following sense: The crake/rail that is common in winter time is not Ash-troated crake, but Sora. Similarly it is not Caribbean Coot that is common here, but rather the Common Moorhen. This applies to all bars on page 145. Move all the species names down by one species.. This implies that the status of the last species on the page (Wilson's plover) is not shown on the bar chart. The same applies to the last species on some other pages too (it is not clear if the full bar width is shown, or just only half of it).

Some locations not mentioned in Murphy's guide.

WATERLOO: Located on the Bay of Paria just South of the Caroni Swamp. The site is best on low or rising tide. The Hindu crematory temple on the shore line is a good site to view the area. Note that the ceremonies often start at 13.30. So around that time and after that time it can be quite crowded. A second good location to view the area is to drive back inland, take a left (North ) just after the Plant Pathology study center. Continue driving all the way to the shore (some 1-2km) by viering left after a minor bridge.

Don't go to the areas some 5 km South of Waterloo, although they appear decent on maps.

CACANDEE SETTLEMENT/Madame Espanol: Drive south along Uriah Butler highway from East Main road. Take the second exit (on your left) drive over the bridge and follow the street that viers South (or left after the bridge). This is Caroni Savannah Road. (At about 1.5km?) you see a gas station on your left and "Pierre Street" on your right. Take this. Drive for some 3 km, and you should come to a T intersection. Take a right here. After about half a km you see Barnard Road on your left. This 2km road may not be quite safe (there are scarlet ibis poachers at the end of this road sometimes). About half a way along Barnard Road appeared to be a good spot to see Scarlet Ibises flying over the swamp at day break. Alternatively, instead of turning on the Barnard Road, you may drive straight all the way to the end of the road. There is kind of a fishing boat harbor there. This is also a decent place to see Scarlet Ibises, Black Hawks and some other mangrove species.

CARONI RICE FIELDS: No birding groups here please, at most a couple of people at the same time. The rice fields are private, so ask me privately for directions if you are birding yourself, or yet better ask the local birders for directions, since the bird content of this area is likely to change all the time.

DAILY WEATHER SUMMARY:


Weather at Noon (temp also in the evening)
- date temp(C) clouds  wind  visibility
- - cov/type  bf  km
Tu 23.3 +35/28  1/8 Cu,Cb  1E  >20
We 24.3 +33/26  2/8 Cu,Cb  3E  >20
Th 25.3 +33/26  6/8 Cu,Cb  3E  >20, heavy rain 03.00-03.30
Fr 26.3 +35/26  3/8 Cu,Ci  2E  >20
Sa 27.3 +33/26  3/8 Cu  3E  10-20, Rain till noon
Su 28.3 +31/25  4/8 Cu  4E  >20
Mo 29.3 +33/26  4/8 Cu  3E  >20
Tu 30.3 +30/26  4-8/8 Cb  2E  >2-20, heavy showers around 11-12 and 14-15.
We 31.3 +36/25  4-8/8 Cu,Cb  1-4E  >2-20, some ligh rain around 8, just missed a strong shower at 11-13. HOT, SUNNY DAY
Th 1.4  +34/27  3/8 Cu  2E  >20
Fr 2.4  +34/27  4-8/8Cu,Cb  2-4E  >20
Sa 3.4  +36/27  4-8/8Cu,Cb  2-4E  2-20, light shower around 8AM, and heavy rain at 14.00-15.00
Su 4.4  +36/28  2-8/8 Cu  1-2E  >20
Mo 5.4  +32/27  4-8/8 Cu  1-4E  1-20, heavy showers between 13.30-16.00
Tu 6.4  +33/24  8/8 As  2E  >20
We 7.4  +37/24  6-8/8 Cu,As  2E  10-20, showers at night and 12.00-17.00
Th 8.4  +32/24  7-8/8 Cu,As  2E  5-10, showers at night and 13.00-16.00
Fr 9.4  +32/24  2-6/8 Cu, As  3E  >20, back to proper dry season!
Sa 10.4 +28/24  2-4/8 Cu  2E  >20
Su 11.4 +35/24  1-4/8 Cu  2E  >20
Mo 12.4 +34/25  1-4/8 Cu  2E  >20
Tu 13.4 +35/24  1-7/8 Cu,Ci  2E  >20
We 14.4 +35/26  1-7/8 Cu,Ci  2E  >20
Th 15.4 +34/26  3-6/8 Cu  2E  5-10, Sahara dust!
Fr 16.4 +35/24  3-6/8 Cu  2E  2-5, Sahara dust!
Sa 17.4 +27/24  3-8/8 Cu, Cb  2-4E  10-20 Rain at 14.30-14.40, 15.00,15.30, heavy rain at 18.10-18.40
Su 18.4 +32/24  3-6/8 Cu  2E  >20
Mo 19.4 +34/24  2-4/8 Cu  2E  >20
Tu 20.4 +34/24  2-4/8 Cu  2E  >20



Itinerary:

23.3 StJR 06.00-12.00
24.3 StJR 05.45-09.00 & 17.00-18.00, UWI 09.30-10.00 & 16.00-16.30
25.3 StJR 05.45-07.45 & 17.00-18.00, UWI 08.15-08.30 & 16.00-16.30
26.3 StJR 06.30-07.00 & 10.15-11.00, 17.15-18.00 ->MSB (7.00)-09.00-10.00, UWI 11.30-16.30
27.3 StJR 07.00-18.00 (garden birds only)
28.3 MSBT 07.00-14.00, and again the first 500m (MSBT2) 14.00-17.15 MSB -> StJR 17.15-17.50, StJR 17.50-18.10
29.3 StJR 07.0-09.00, 17.00-18.00, UWI 10.00-10.30, 16.30-17.00
30.3 StJR 08-09.00, -> PAP 09.30- , PAP 10.30-12.30, WAT 14.30-14.40, StJR 16.00-18.00
31.3 -> GrR 04.15, GrR 06.45-09.30, Montevideo 09.45-09.57, Galera Point 10.45-13.15, WaF 14.35-15.00, Trincity Water Treatment Plant 15.10-15.50
1.4 No birding
2.4 StJR->Quinam, depart at 09.30, arrive to Quinam at 11.00, birding at 12.00-14.00, 16.00-18.00, 19.30-20.30 (Owling and Nightjaring)
3.4 QUI 06.00-09.00, QUI-> 09.30, 11.00- 16.30 StJR, TWTP 17.30-18.10
4.4 MES 06.10-08.45, WAT 09.00-12.45, RAS 15.00-18.10
5.4 TWTP 06.40-08.30, RAS 08.45-13.25, ARI 14.00-18.00
6.4 no birding
7.4 MSBT 06.15-08.00
8.4 TWTP 06.15-08.40, CRF 16.50-17.50
9.4 TWTP 06.30-07.45, CRF 08.00-10.00, TWTP 17.10-18.10
10.4 TWTP 06.20-06.50, BLA 06.40-18.40 (SIM 07.00-08.20, ASA 09.00-13.00, TSTT 13.30-14.00, LLT 14.20-15.00, Village of Blanchisseuse 16.00-16.15, LLT 17.00-18.10)
11.4 WaF 10.30-12.07, DEPOT Trace 13-14.00, Manzilla beach 14.30-18.30 Melon Patch (16.30-18.00)
12.4 CRF 16.30-18.00
13.4 WaF 05.05-08.30, StJR 17.10-17.30
14.4 CRF 16.05-18.00
15.4 BLA 05.30-12.30 (AND 05.50-07.30, LLT 07.40-09.00, TSTT+AND 09.10-10.30, LLR 11.20-11.50) TWTP 16.30-17.30
16.4 CRF 07.30-08.50
17.4 StJR-> 11.00, BLA 12.00 - 18.20 ( LLT 13.30-14.40, TSTT 15.30-17.00. SIMLA 17.30-18.00), WaF 18.30-20.00 -> StJR 20.40
18.4 StJR -> 06.10, Cacandee 06.30-09.15, RAS 10.20-11.55, AHR 12.25-16.00
19.4 no birding
20.4 no birding


LOCATIONS (Coordinates read from the Map of Trinidad (1:150 000) 5th ed
 
longitude and latitude Acronym Full name 
61d24'W 10d39'N StJR =  St John's Road = 'Home' (St Augustine). Right where StJohn's Road starts to climb towards Mt St Benedict 
61d24'W 10d38'N UWI =  University of West Indies campus (in St Augustine between Curepe and Tunapuna) 
61d24'W 10d40'N MSB =  Mount Saint Benedict 
61d24'W 10d40'N MSBT =  Mount Saint Benedict Trail 
61d28'W 10d18'N PAP =  Point-a-Pierre 
61d03'W 10d48'N GrR =  Grande Riviere 
60d55'W 10d50'N PGa =  Galera Point 
60d13'W 10d37'N WFl/WaF =  Wallerfield 
61d31'W 10d05'N QUI =  Quinam 
61d22'W 10d37'N TWTP =  Tricity Water Treatment Plant 
61d27'W 10d34'N MES =  Madame Espanol River (part of Cacandee 
61d28'W 10d33'N CAC =  Cacandee (MES + Barnard Road) 
61d29'W 10d28'N WAT =  Waterloo 
61d14'W 10d38'N RAS =  Agricultural Research Station (Aripo livestock farms) 
61d12'W 10d36'N ARI =  Aripo Savanna 
61d25'W 10d36'N CRF =  Caroni Rice Fields 
- BLA =  Blanchisseuse Road area (in general, i.e. the 6 locations below)
61d18'W 10d42'N ASA =  ASA Wright nature center 
61d17'W 10d41'N SIM =  SIMLA Reserve 
61d18'W 10d43'N TSTT =  TSTT station (former TEXTEL) 
- AND =  Andrew's Trace (opposite to TSTT station)
61d19'W 10d43'N LLT =  Las lapis Trail 
61d17'W 10d42'N LLR =  Lalaja Road 
61d13'W 10d43'N ARH =  Aripo Heights approx 
61d03'W 10d30'N Nariva area:  Depot Trace 
61d02'W 10d24'N - Bush-bush Creek 
61d02'W 10d22'N - Melon Patch 
- *,(*)=  Photograph - good or record quality

BIRDS

Note that these records have not yet been accpeted by the records commitee

1. Little Tinamou
10.4 1 calling SIMLA and 1 elsewhere
18.4 1 calling very close to the Aripo heights trail, some 200m from the last house.

2.(*) Least Grebe
31.3 2 TWTP
2.4 8 TWTP
5.4 8 TWTP
8.4 8 TWTP
9.4 8 TWTP -all day
10.4 8 TWTP
15.4 7 TWTP -one eaten by a caiman?

3. (Audubon's) shearwater
31.3 3 birds seen from a distance of about 1-1.5km from Galera Point

4. Madeiran Storm-petrel
31.3 Two storm-petrels seen relatively closeby and two further way at Galeta point. The two closeby birds had a square rump, a black tip to the square tail. The black tip was wider than the square white rump. No noticeable extension of the rump patch to the sides. Carpal bar visible faintly (fainter than what expected on a Leach's). The wings were relatively wider and shorter than those of Leach's. One observer noticed short tappering of water, but not for any expended period of time. Legs did not appear to project beyond tail. Feeding flight behaviour quite gentle feeding about. The 2 additional birds were seen in stronger winds, and their flight was very fast, reminiscent of shearwaters. This is the kind of flight that is often attributed to Madeiras' petrels (=Band-rumped Petrel).

5. Brown Booby
30.3 1 immature. Galeta Point. The belly appeared darker than "expected". Brown overall coloration, expect for the white underwings, which had a brown contour folowing the edges of the wing as well as a brown "carpal bar".

6. Brown Pelican
30.3 10+ Waterloo
31.3 20 PGa, 9 GrR->PGa
3.4 5 San Fernando (QUI ->)
4.4 80 Waterloo
10.4 20 Blanchisseuse
11.4 5 Manzilla Beach

7. * Neotropic Cormorant
30.3 15 PAP, 30 PAP club house
4.4 3 MES, 10 WAT
18.4 6 CAC

8. * Anhinga
30.3 7 PAP, 4 PAP club house

9. Magnificient Frigatebird
23.3 4 StJR high above the mountains!
26.3 2 MSB high above the mountains with vultures!
28.3 2 MSBT high above the mountains with vultures! again!
30.3 16 PAP, 8 Waterloo
31.3 4 GrR, 5 GrR->PGa, 20 PGa
2.4 30 San Fernando (->QUI), 1 QUI
3.4 20 San Fernando (->QUI)
4.4 15 WAT
10.4 1 high over LLT, 20 Blanchisseuse

10. Great Blue Heron
4.4 4 WAT
18.4 2 CAC

11. * Great Egret
30.3 1 -> PAP
31.3 1 TWTP
2.4 2 Caroni Swamp (-> QUI)
3.4 3 Caroni Swamp (QUI ->)
4.4 2 MES, 6 WAT
5.4 6 TWTP, 3 RAS
8.4 47 TWTP, 30 CRF
9.4 35 TWTP morning, 5 in the evening + 15 coming to roost, 50 CRF
10.4 4 TWTP
11.4 15 Melon Patch
12.4 50 CRF
14.4 15 CRF
16.4 10 CRF
18.4 4 CAC

12. * Little Egret
5.4 1 TWTP -full breeding plumage
8.4 2 TWTP
9.4 2 TWTP (morning) - winter plumage (one could have been a hybrid)
10.4 1 TWTP

XX. * Little x Snowy Egret Hybrid
31.3 1 TWTP
5.4 1 TWTP
8.4 3 TWTP

13. * Snowy Egret
23.3 1 StJR
30.3 5 -> PAP, 3 PAP-> (at Caroni)
31.3 15 TWTP
2.4 4 Caroni Swamp (-> QUI)
3.4 15 Caroni Swamp (QUI ->)
4.4 1 MES, 50 WAT
5.4 20 TWTP
8.4 150 TWTP, 60 CRF
9.4 100 TWTP (morning), 10 evening+ 10 coming to the roost, 80 CRF
10.4 10 TWTP
11.4 3 Melon Patch
12.4 30 CRF
13.4 2 WaF ->
14.4 40 CRF
15.4 2 by the highway
16.4 8 CRF
17.4 1 StJR -> BLA
18.4 8 CAC

14. (*) Little Blue Heron
4.4 3 MES, 200 WAT
5.4 1 TWTP, 1 RAS
8.4 1 TWTP, 50 CRF
9.4 3 TWTP (morning), 2 evening, 150 CRF
10.4 2 TWTP
12.4 80 CRF
14.4 15 CRF
16.4 25 CRF
18.4 15 CAC

15. (*) Tricolored Heron
30.3 1 PAP
4.4 1 MES, 10 WAT
15.4 8 CAC

16. * Green Heron
30.3 1 PAP, 1 PAP club house
15.4 1 TWTP - sitting by a striated provoding direct comparison

17. (*) Striated Heron
30.3 1 PAP, 1 PAP club house
31.3 1 TWTP ( this or Green Heron)
4.4 4 MES ( 2 apparent Green Heron), 1 WAT, 1 RAS
5.4 1 TWTP
8.4 3 TWTP (one apparent Green Heron), 4 CRF
9.4 6 TWTP morning, 1 evening, 4 CRF
10.4 2 TWTP
11.4 4 Melon Patch
12.4 8 CRF
14.4 7 CRF
15.4 3 TWTP
16.4 6 CRF
18.4 8 CAC

18. * Cattle Egret
23.3 1 StJR
24.3 4 StJR
26.3 6 UWI- Soccerfield
29.3 12 UWI
30.3 150 -> PAP, 30 PAP->
2.4 15 QUI
3.4 10 QUI, 15 QUI ->, 1 StJR
4.4 15 MES, 10 RAS, elsewhere 150
5.4 3 TWTP, 33 RAS
6.4 12 UWI
8.4 10 TWTP, 50 CRF
9.4 10 TWTP (morning), 2 evening, 100 CRF
10.4 4 TWTP
11.4 30 Melon Patch
12.4 80 CRF
13.4 5 WAF ->
14.4 80 CRF
15.4 10 by the road side and flying about
16.4 60 CRF
17.4 20 CAC, 20 RAS

19. (*) Black-crowned Nightheron
2.4 1 juv TWTP
4.4 1 ad 1 juv WAT
9.4 1 ad 1 juv TWTP- morning
16.4 1 ad CRF

20. Yellow-crowned Nightheron
4.4 80 WAT (both ads and juveniles)

21. Least Bittern
9.4 1 TWTP

22. Stripe-backed Bittern
15.4 1+1 CRF

23. * Pinnated Bittern
9.4 1 CRF
15.4 1 CRF

24. (*) Scarlet Ibis
30.3 7 freeflying birds at PAP - semicaptive
4.4 4 MES - turely freeflying adults
8.4 20 CRF, all juveniles.
9.4 3 juv CRF
12.4 18 juv CRF
14.4 10 juv CRF
18.4 250 CAC - adults and younger ones- saw these when I was about 1/2 way along St Barnard's Road in the Cacandee Settlement.

25. (*) Fulvous Whistling Duck
8.4 7 CRF
9.4 3+4 CRF - flying -- all other ducks GONE!
12.4 3 CRF - flying, the flock of 3 apparently split into 1+2 birds
14.4 1+2 CRF
16.4 1+2 CRF

26. (*) White-faced Whistling Duck
8.4 1+10 CRF

XX. * Black-bellied Whistling Duck
30.3 40 PAP free flying birds - semicaptive?

XX. * Mallard Duck
30.3 1 ad m PAP either a heavily moutlting Mallard -- apparently captive but freely flying.
11.4 15 domestic Mallards at melon Patch

27. (*) Blue-winged Teal
8.4 170 CRF (one flock) -none on 9.4!
12.4 20 CRF
13.4 30 CRF
16.4 4 CRF

28. (*) Shoveler
8.4 1 male CRF
13.4 1 male CRF

29. Lesser Scaup
8.4 1 imm male

XX. * Mucsovy Duck
30.3 20 ad + 21+6 pull appartently freeflying - semicaptive?
11.4 15 deomestic ones at Melon Patch

30. * Black Vulture
23.3 50 above the hills at StJR
24.3 10 above the hills at StJR
26.3 100 MSB
27.3 100 MSBT
30.3 1000 daily total (500 in one flock at Uriah Butler highway 2 km N of Claxton bay junction)
31.3 500 "everywhere"
2.4 50 + same flock as on 30.3
3.4 150 + same flock as on 30.3
4.4 6 MES, 100 WAT, 100 RAS
5.4 250 RAS, 30 ARI
8.4 30 daily total
9.4 50 Arima, 10 CRF
10.4 10 BLA
11.4 150 - very few at Melon Patch
12.4 2 UWI
13.4 300 WaF
15.4 35 BLA
17.4 10 BLA
18.4 10 CAC, 50 RAS, 10 ARH

31. * Turkey Vulture
26.3 50 MSB
27.3 50 MSBT
30.3 100 PAP
31.3 50 single birds everywhere
2.4 10 -> QUI, 15 QUI
3.4 10 QUI, 15 QUI->
4.4 2 MES, 10 WAT, 15 RAs
5.4 50 RAS, 10 ARI
8.4 10 Daily total
9.4 10 CRF
10.4 5 BLA
11.4 20 - very few at Melon Patch
12.4 4 CRF
13.4 10 WaF
15.4 15 BLA
17.4 25 BLA
18.4 5 CAC, 10 RAS, 20 ARH

32. * Pearl Kite
4.4 1 close to RAS, between East Main road and Churchill-Roosevelt Highway

33. Swallow-tailed Kite
31.3 1 Montevideo
2.4 1 QUI

34. Grey-headed Kite
24.3 1 UWI in a tall Jacaranda tree by the main building appeared to be of this species
25.3 1 UWI near the above Jacaranda Tree appeared to be of this species
26.3 1 MSB - quite a long tailed bird.

35. Double-toothed Kite
24.3 1 flying East over StJR, St Augustine, like a fast red bellied accipiter

36. (*) Plumbeous Kite
31.1 1 GrR
2.4 1 QUI
3.4 1 QUI
10.4 1 ASA
11.4 1 Village of North Manzilla
17.4 1 BLA
18.4 1 + 2 at the top of Aripo Heights Road.

37. Zone-tailed Hawk
26.3 1 MSB
7.4 1 MSBT
10.4 1 SIMLA

38. (*) Short-tailed Hawk
28.3 1 MSBT (seen both from the trail and from the fire tower)
10.4 2 TSTT (one ad and one very young juv, with a harrier like head pattern)
15.4 2 TSTT
17.4 2 TSTT

39. Grey Hawk
26.3 1 MSB
31.1 1 about a mile before Grand Riviere
4.4 1 Waterloo
5.4 1 RAS
13.4 1 WAF
18.4 1 ARH
20.4 1 UWI

40. White Hawk
26.3 2 MSB - above the far North side

41. * Savanna Hawk
4.4 1 RAS
5.4 2 RAS
10.4 1 Arima at Churchill-Roosevelt highway
18.4 3 RAS

42. * Common Black-hawk
25.3 2 StJR -mating
26.3 2 MSB, 1 StJR
28.3 1 MSBT - hawk watching spot.
30.3 1 StJR, 1 heard somewhere near Grand Riviere
4.4 1 MES
10.4 1 BLA, 1 SIMLA, 1 LLT, 1 elsewhere
15.4 1 LLT, 1 TSTT, 2 BLA
17.4 1 BLA
18.4 14 CAC (12 visible at the same moment), 5 ARH

43. (*) Ornate Hawk-eagle
10.4 1 ASA close to the nest

44. (*) Long-winged Harrier
30.3 1 Caroni swamp edge, flew over the Uriah Butler highway towards CRF.
9.4 1 CRF

45. (*) Osprey
30.3 1 PAP club house
31.3 1 PGa
4.4 1 MES, 1 RAS
11.4 1 Manzilla Beach at 18.20!
18.4 1 CAC

46. * Yellow-headed Caracara
23.3 1 local StJR - first identified as Buteo sp.
25.3 3 StJR - brood?
26.3 3 StJR
27.3 calls StJR
28.3 calls StJR
29.3 calls+1 StJR
30.3 1 StJR
31.3 calls StJR
1.4 1 UWI
2.4 1 ->QUI (Close to Caroni)
4.4 2 RAS
5.4 1 -> RAS, 2 RAS
6.4 1 UWI
9.4 1-2 TWTP
10.4 1 Arima, Chruchill-Rosevelt Highway
11.4 4 Manzilla Beach coconut palms
13.4 2 WAF, 2 StJR
14.4 1 CRF->
15.4 1 CRF
18.4 1 CAC

XX. Large black eagle-sized raptor
24.3 1 StJR, at 6PM, very high, no other colors seen, tail long and wedgy.

47. (*) Peregrine
4.4 1 RAS (late evening - about 17.50)
6.4 1 UWI (late evening - about 18.10)
9.4 1 TWTP (late evening - about 18.00)
14.4 1 StJR (at 10.00 AM)
15.4 1 CRF (at 8.00 AM)

48. Bat Falcon
23.3 1 swooping by at StJR, tiny

49. * Piping Guan
31.3 5 GrR

50. Sora Rail
12.4 1 CRF

51. Clapper Rail
18.4 1 CAC - ran over the road

52. * Common Moorhen
30.3 6 PAP
5.4 8 TWTP
8.4 10 TWTP, 3 CRF
9.4 6 TWTP (morning)
10.4 5 TWTP
12.4 8 CRF
14.4 4 CRF
15.4 15 TWTP
16.4 7 CRF

53. (*) Purple Gallinule
30.3 9 PAP
3.4 10 TWTP
4.4 2 RAS
5.4 15 TWTP
8.4 15 TWTP, 15 CRF
9.4 15 ->4 TWTP, 30 CRF
10.4 15 TWTP
12.4 3 CRF
14.4 9 CRF
15.4 10 TWTP
16.4 15 CRF

54. * Wattled Jacana
30.3 2 PAP
31.3 25 TWTP
3.4 35 TWTP
4.4 20 MES, 4 RAS
5.4 25 TWTP, 2 RAS
8.4 30 TWTP, 40 CRF
9.4 30 TWTP, 40 CRF
10.4 20 TWTP
11.4 70 Melon Patch
12.4 25 CRF
14.4 60 CRF
15.4 30 TWTP
18.4 4 RAS

55. * Southern Lapwing
4.4 16 WAT, 26 RAS
5.4 2 TWTP, 24 RAS
8.4 2 TWTP
9.4 2 TWTP (morning)
12.4 2 CRF
15.4 3 CRF
17.4 8 WaF
18.4 20 RAS+ chicks, 1 Churchill-Roosevelt Highway.

56. Black-bellied Plover
4.4 2 (one getting into summer pl) + 2 pluvialis sp WAT

57. American Golden Plover
4.4 1 WAT winter plumage

58. Semipalmated Plover
4.4 150 WAT
18.4 4 CAC

59. Ruddy Turnstone
4.4 20 WAT

60. * Solitary Sandpiper
31.3 2 TWTP
3.4 1 TWTP
4.4 2 MES, 2 WAT, 1 RAS
5.4 2 TWTP
8.4 2 TWTP, 3 CRF
9.4 2 TWTP, 2 CRF
10.4 2 TWTP
12.4 4 CRF
14.4 3 CRF
15.4 2 TWTP
18.4 1 Aripo Heights- water cress fields.

61. * Lesser Yellowlegs
31.4 1 TWTP
4.4 4 WAT
5.4 2 TWTP
8.4 4 TWTP
9.4 1 TWTP (morning)
10.4 1 TWTP
12.4 1 CRF
15.4 2 TWTP

62. * Greater Yellowlegs
4.4 2 WAT
8.4 20 CRF
9.4 1 TWTP (evening), 8 CRF
12.4 30 CRF
14.4 25 CRF
15.4 1 TWTP
16.4 20 CRF

63. * Spotted Sandpiper
30.3 1 PAP
3.4 1 TWTP
4.4 5 MES, 6 WAT
5.4 2 TWTP
8.4 2 TWTP, 3 CRF
9.4 3 TWTP, 2 CRF
10.4 1 TWTP
15.4 2 TWTP
18.4 4 + a flock of 26 birds CAC

64. Willet
4.4 25 WAT

65. * Least Sandpiper
4.4 1 RAS (from photohgraph)
12.4 1 CRF - within the same puddle with a SORA.
14.4 12+10 CRF
16.4 6+1 CRF
17.4 25 WaF - small peeps, of possibly this species (or not).
18.4 1RAS, 4 CAC + 15 peeps at CAC

66. Semipalmated Sandpiper
4.4 4 WAT
18.4 1 CAC

67. Western Sandpiper
4.4 3 WAT + 150 unidentified WAT

68. Stilt Sanpiper
12.4 1 CRF - in the same pond with BW Teals

69. Whimbrel
4.4 40 WAT

70. (*) Black-necked Stilt
8.4 2 TWTP

71. Laughing Gull
30.3 100+ PAP
31.3 2 PGa
2.4 50 -> QUI (St Fernando)
3.4 100 QUI -> (St Fernando)
4.4 400 WAT

72. * Large-billed Tern
30.3 1 Waterloo
4.4 5 WAT
5.4 4 TWTP (left around 07.30)
8.4 4 TWTP
9.4 4 TWTP (morning)
14.4 1 CRF
18.4 2 CAC- flying quite high

73. Common/Roseate Tern
31.3 1 PGa

74. * Yellow-billed Tern
4.4 6 WAT
5.4 12 TWTP (left around 08.20)
8.4 32 TWTP
9.4 6 TWTP (morning)
15.4 10 TWTP

75. Royal Tern
31.3 20 PGa
4.4 2 WAT

76. * Black Skimmer
30.3 4 Waterloo
4.4 50 WAT
8.4 3 TWTP
9.4 3 all day!

77. Rock Dove
24.3 4 St Augustine
25.3 5 St Augustine
26.3 14 St Augustine
29.3 14 St Augustime
30.3 40 Daily sum
31.3 20 here and there
3.4 4 StJR
4.4 50 Various locations
5.4 60 St Augustine, 10 elsewhere
8.4 30
9.4 30 CRF, 100 Arima, 30 elsewhere
10.4 20 Arima
11.4 50 various locations
14.4 10 St Agustine
15.4 15 various locations
17.4 20 various locations
18.4 30 various locations

78. (*) Scaled Pigeon
call has 3-4 syllables (or some times up to 6 syllables)
28.3 3 calling
31.3 1+c GrR
2.4 8 QUI (calls and quick views)
3.4 8 QUI ( 4 seen with very prolonged views)
7.4 1 seen + 3 heard MSBT
10.4 5 SIMLA+ASA+LLT
15.4 7 cooing BLA
17.4 1 seen + 3 heard LLT+TSTT
18.4 2 seen at ARH + 2 singing

79. Pale-vented Pigeon
4.4 8 MES, 8 RAS
5.4 4 RAs
18.4 2 CAC

80. (*) Common Ground Dove
5.4 2/2 RAS
18.2 2/1 RAS - but no plain-breasted Doves.

81. * Ruddy Ground Dove
female very much like a plain-breasted ground dove, but tail is all black (PBGD should have white corners to the tail).
23.3 1/1+3s StJR
24.3 4 StJR
25.3 4 StJR
26.3 4 StJR, 5 -> MSB
27.3 2 StJR
29.3 2 StJR
30.3 15 Daily sum
31.3 8 no note of exact locations
2.4 4 QUI
3.4 2 QUI, 2 StJR
4.4 18 MES, 8+a40 WAt, 14 RAS
5.4 4 TWTP, 14 RAS, 4 ARI
7.4 1 MSBT, 2 StJR
8.4 10 Total
9.4 40 TWTP casuarinas in evening, 20 elsewhere
10.4 4 Arima
11.4 6 various locations
12.4 1 somewhere
13.4 4 WAF
14.4 10 CRF
15.4 2 BLA ->
18.4 8 RAS, 4 ARH

82. (*) Eared Dove
Murphy's guide somewhat missleading in giving the impression that the bird is not really expected to be seen in Trinidad.
7.4 4 Caroni Rice fields SW corner
11.4 4 Depot Trace
12.4 1 CRF
14.4 3 CRF
16.4 6 CRF
18.4 7 CAC

XX Grey-fronted Dove Said to be impossible to separate by call from White-tipped Dove.
15.4 3 BLA ?

83. White-tipped Dove
call 2 syllables oooo-hoo(last syllable very weak)
26.3 1 calling MSB
28.3 20 calling (includes possible grey fronteds) MSBT
30.3 1 StJR - excellent views
31.3 1 GrR
2.4 3 QUI
3.4 4 QUI
4.4 1 RAS
5.4 1 RAS (this or grey-fronted dove)
7.4 4 MSBT
10.4 3 SIMLA (this or grey-fronted dove)
15.4 3 BLA
17.4 4 BLA (this or grey-fornted dove)
18.4 2 ARH

84. (*) Scarlet Macaw
3.4 1 QUI actively calling, in flight -> W

85. * Red-bellied Macaw
5.4 2 ARI
11.4 115 coming to roost at Manzilla Beach. I watched these from the melon Patch. Some birds also roosting on the other side of melon Patch in Royal Palms.
13.4 110 feeding noisily between 07.00 and 08.30 at the closest from 10 meters! Absolutely fabulous! in Moriche Palmettos.

86. * Green-rumped Parrolet Sound reminded me of a crossbill (Loxia)
2.4 1 QUI
3.4 7+4 QUI
4.4 2 RAS
5.4 18 ARI, mainly in pairs
13.4 6 WaF
18.4 6 ARH, 2 CAC

XX.(Lilac-tailed Parrotlet)
10.4 3 calling SIMLA

87. (*) Blue-headed Parrot
15.4 2+2 LLT
17.4 3 LLT, 3 TSTT

88. (*) Orange-winged Parrot
23.3 2unid'd parrots StJR (possible Orange crowned)
24.3 parrot calls StJR
25.3 2unid's parrots UWI, 2unid'd parrots StJR
26.3 4pairs MSB
28.3 8 MSBT, 6 MSB->
29.3 2 StJR
30.3 2 StJR
31.3 50 GrR
2.4 6 QUI
3.4 12 QUI
4.4 4 RAS
5.4 2 StJR, 2 RAS, 30 ARI
7.4 4 MSBT
10.4 calls SIMLA, 2 ASA
11.4 30 Melon Patch
13.4 4 WaF
15.4 6 BLA
17.4 8 TSTT+LLT+BLA
18.4 2 CAC, 15 ARH

89. (*) Squirell Cuckoo
26.3 1 -> MSB (unidentified, but most likely this cuckoo)
31.3 1 GrR
2.4 1+1 QUI
3.4 2 QUI forming an apparent pair - different than yesterday
18.4 1 ARH calls (and seen by the IsmaelAngelo)

90. * Smooth-billed Ani
23.3 8 StJR
27.3 10 StJR
30.3 1+1+1 -> PAP, 10 PAP
31.3 5 GrR, 5+6 PGa, 4 elsewhere
2.4 4 QUI
3.4 8 QUI, 10 Siparia, 5 QUI ->
4.4 30 MES, 69 WAT, 45 RAS
5.4 5 TWTP, 5 -> RAS, 50 RAS, 10 ARI
11.4 10 Depot Trace, 100 Melon Patch
14.4 35 CRF
16.4 30 CRF
18.4 20 CAC, 50 RAS, 20 ARH

91. Greater Ani
18.4 6 CAC

92. (*) Striped Cuckoo
-- quite small!
4.4 RAS -calls (2-3)
5.4 RAS -calls (2-3)
18.4 1 RAS+ 3calling, 1 calling CAC, 3 calling ARH

93. Barn Owl
2.4 1 QUI calling
13.4 1 hunting over the Southern Airstrip at Wallerfield at 05.45.

94. Tropical Screech Owl
starts like a tengmalm's owl, but with a slower end. stopping to an abrupt note
2.4 1 QUI calling

95. (*) Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
25.3 2 calling StJR
26.3 1 calling StJR (different than yesterday)
30.3 2 calling StJR
1.4 1 small owl seen flying on campus of UWI, suspect this species
2.4 QUI 2 calling, and 1 called into view (night time)
5.4 1 StJR, calling in the morning
9.4 1 StJR, calling in the morning
12.4 1 StJR, calling in the morning, 2 pull at UWI campus.
16.4 1 seen at UWI, 1 heard StJR
18.4 1 calling at StJR in the morning.

96. Paraque
Almost like a hoopoe in flight
31.3 5 + 1 unid'd nightjar on the east coast on the way to GrR.
2.4 15 seen and about 10 others heard south of Copilah's, 1 at Copilah's shed, so clearly not an uncommon species.
10.4 1 Blanchisseuse Road, close to Arima
13.4 5 WaF before sunrise
17.4 10 identified + 10 unidentified at Wallerfield

97. Small dark nightjar/hawk
13.4 1 WaF in daylight - possible short-tailed.
17.4 2 WaF in car lights, both at the edge of the runway, almost in the scrubbery. One bird at East end of Southern Runway, close to a house, and the other in the middle of the N edge of the main Northern Runway. I reckon these were short-tailed nighthawks.

98. Rufous Nightjar
17.4 2 singing at Wallerfield. Both also seen to be rather dark birds. If you ask an american what a whip-poor-will sounds like he/she answers "whip-poor-will". Quite similar to what this bird sounds like although my translitteration for rufous nightjar's song is different: (phonetically tsut-tsu-wiiu or in an american way) tsooht-tsoo-wiooh accent on first i of last syllable.

99. White-tailed Nightjar
17.4 2 seen and heard. Song sharp and short "ptsii" (or ptsee), accent on first i (or first half of ee).

100. Chestnut-collared Swift
26.3 2 MSB

101. "Black Swift"
10.4 2 LLT

102. Chapman's Swift
10.4 3 min LLT (could have been up to 20)

103. Band-rumped Swift
10.4 20 min LLT - total number of swifts was about 200, no short-taileds.
17.4 10 min TSTT (see GR Swift)

104. Grey-rumped Swift
15.4 4 TSTT + 15 unidentified ones
17.4 30 min TSTT+BLA - total number of swifts 180.

105. (*) Short-tailed Swift
"the standard swift". Grey rump/tail reasonably easy to see.
23.3 4+30 unidentified StJR
24.3 10 StJR, 80 UWI
25.3 10 UWI, 15 StJR
26.3 3 MSB, 8 UWI, 50 StJR
27.3 5 StJR
28.3 50 MSBT (possibly band-rumped swifts too).
29.3 10 StJR
30.3 20 StJR
31.3 5 GrR, 10 unidentified swifts
2.4 15 QUI -unidentified caethura swifts
3.4 10 QUI -unidentified caethura swifts
9.4 5 in a flock of swallows TWTP, 20 elsewhere
10.4 15 ARIMA+TWTP
11.4 30 various locations
13.4 10 UWI
15.4 20 TWTP
18.4 15 RAS, 10 unid'd swifts at ARH.

106. Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift
31.3 4 GrR

107. Fork-tailed Palmswift
31.3 2 Wallerfield
4.4 6 RAS
5.4 40 ARI
7.4 2 UWI
9.4 4 UWI
13.4 10 WaF

108. Rufous-breasted Hermit
10.4 1 SIMLA
15.4 1 AND, 1 LLT, 2 LLR

109. * Little Hermit
3.4 1 QUI
10.4 2 LLT
11.4 2 Depot Trace
15.4 1 LLT+lek? , 1 LLR

110. (*) White-necked Jacobin
10.4 10 ASA

111. Green Hermit
26.3 1 MSB
3.4 1 QUI
7.4 1 MSBT
15.4 2 LLR

XXX. Hummer sp
3.4 1 QUI
4.4 3 RAS - completely unidentified

112. (*) Blackthroated Mango
/ denotes males/females
23.3 2/ StJR (unidentified at the time)
24.3 3/ StJR (unidentified at the time)
25.3 2/ StJR
26.3 2/ StJR, 2/ -> MSB, 1/ MSB
27.3 1/ StJR
28.3 4/1 MSB
29.3 3/ StJR
2.4 1/2 QUI
3.4 /2 QUI
5.4 2 RAS, 2 ARI
10.4 2 ASA
11.4 1 Depot Trace- unidentified Mango
13.4 1 WaF, 1 StJR
17.4 3 + 10sp SIMLA + elsewhere on BLA
18.4 1 ARH, 1 unid'd mango at CAC

113. (*) Tufted Coquette
28.3 1 female MSBT - close to hawk waching site
10.4 1 male SIMLA, 1 male ASA, 1 male LLT

114. Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
31.3 1/1 GrR

115. Blue-chinned sapphire
26.3 1 MSB
31.3 1 GrR
2.4 1 QUI
5.4 1 RAS, 1 ARI
11.4 1 Depot Trace
15.4 1 BLA
17.4 1 SIM
18.4 1 ARH

116. Blue-tailed Emerald
10.4 1 ASA

117. White-chested Emerald
5.4 2 ARI
10.4 2 ASA

118. Copper-rumped Hummingbird
28.3 2 MSBT with the coquette and 1/1 mangos in yellow flowering trees.
30.3 1 PAP
5.4 1 ARI
15.4 1 LLR, 1 BLA

119. Collared Trogon
15.4 calls TSTT - easy call to ID.

120. White-tailed Trogon
18.4 1 ARH, came to me imitating the bird. Flew straight over. Outer tailfeather pair pure white, as well as tips to other feathers.

121. * Violaceous Trogon
10.4 1 SIMLA, 2 ASA (the second bird was found from the photo!), about 5 calling elsewhere
15.4 4 callling TSTT + AND

122. (*) Ringed Kingfisher
4.4 1 MES
8.4 2 TWTP

123. Belted Kingfisher
31.3 2 GrR -> PGa

124. Green Kingfisher
18.4 1 male at Orange Road bridge, 1 male at Watercress fields

125. (*) Blue-crowned Motmot
owl/dove like shoft hoot
31.3 1 GrR - well heard, poorly seen
2.4 1 pair, 1 seen excellently, + 2 heard QUI
3.4 5 heard QUI
5.4 1 heard ARI
10.4 1 SIMLA, 1 ASA, 2 calling BLA

126. Rufous-tailed Jacamar
2.4 2 QUI
10.4 1 BLA (north side), 2 calling
18.4 1 calling at ARH

127. (*) Channel-billed Toucan
31.3 4 GrR
3.4 1 QUI
10.4 1 ASA
15.4 2 AND, 3 LLT
18.4 1 ARH

128. * Lineated Woodpecker
31.3 1 PGa
5.4 1 ARI- beatiful male.
10.4 1 BLA
11.4 1 WaF

129. (*) Crimson-crested Woodpecker
2.4 1+2 QUI
10.4 1 unidentified large woodpecker Marianne River

130. Golden-olive Woodpecker
26.3 1 ->MSB, identified posteriori from yellow underwing coverts
15.4 1 LLT, calls AND, 2 calling TSTT
17.4 1 calls LLT

131. Red-rumped Woodpecker
15.4 2 seen + 2 heard LLR
18.4 1 calling at CAC

132. (*) Plain-brown Woodcreeper
10.4 1 SIMLA
15.4 1 calling LLR
17.4 2 BLA - blelow ASA wright by the road, 3 heard

133. Buff-throated Woodcreeper
10.4 about 20 calls BLA
15.4 3 calls BLA
17.4 2 called in at LLT by whistling, 3 more heard BLA

134. Straight-billed Woodcreeper
18.4 1 CAC called in by whistling + possibly another one calling

XXX Woodcreeper sp
28.3 1 MSBT

135. Striped Spinetail
15.4 1 AND

136. * Yellow-throated Spinetail
3.4 1 TWTP
4.4 1 MES, 2 RAS
8.4 1 TWTP
9.4 3 TWTP - morning
18.4 16 CAC

(XXX. Pale-breasted Spinetail)
18.4 1 calling at CAC, 5 meters before the end of Barnard Road, on the right side, and a disused nest later by Madame Espanol.

137. Streaked Xenops
Very quiet bird, and quite hard to see.
10.4 1 ASA
15.4 1 TSTT, 2 LLR

138. Grey-throated Leaftosser
extremely wary bird.
7.4 1 MSBT + possible nest hole

139. Black-crested Antshrike
2.4 /1 QUI
5.4 1 song RAS
11.4 2 (pair) with fabulous views
18.4 1 song CAC

140. (*) Barred Antshrike
Cool looking tigerstriped bird! One of the coolest experiences was
seeing a male singing only 6 feet from me with his pale eyes shining.
31.3 1/1+2c GrR, /1 over the road GrR -> PGa
2.4 1/1 QUI
3.4 1/1 QUI
4.4 1/1 RAS
10.4 5 calls
11.4 1/1 WaF, 1/1 Depot Trace
15.4 3 calls
17.4 2 BLA
18.4 1 CAC, 1 ARH

141. Plain Antvireo
28.3 1/ MSBT

142. White-flanked Antwren
28.3 3/1 MSBT
15.4 1/ TSTT
17.4 1/ TSTT
18.4 1 calling ARH

(XXX.White-bellied Antbird)
15.4 2 calling BLA
18.2 3 calling ARH

143. Great Antshrike
15.4 2 calls BLA
17.4 3 singing TSTT+ BLA, 1 female over the road at the entrance of ASA

144. Black-faced Antthrush
10.4 1 calling LLT
15.4 1 calling at AND, 1 called in and seen well at LLT. The most strange bird of the trip. A thrush like bird that pretends to be a rail without knowing what habitat rails should live in.

145. * Bearded Bellbird
10.4 3 seen + 3 heard ASA, 1 LLT
17.4 3 heard close to ASA, 1 BLA, 2 LLT
18.4 5 ARH calling along the road up from the water cress fields.

146. Golden-headed Manakin
28.3 1/1 +1sp MSBT
10.4 1 SIMLA, 10 bird lek about 2km N of ASA
15.4 1 lek at LLT, 1 lek at AND, total of at least 15 birds
17.4 1 lek with 5 birds

147. * White-bearded Manakin
Funny snapping sounds - wierdest call of the trip, made by snapping the wings.
28.3 1-3/2 MSBT
31.3 /1 GrR - females have reddish feet.
5.4 /1 ARI
7.4 /1 MSBT
10.4 Lek at ASA about 15 male birds
15.4 1 lek at AND with 10 birds.
17.4 2 leks total abotu 10 birds
18.4 1 ARH

148. * Pied Water-tyrant
3.4 1 TWTP
4.4 3 MES, 1 WAT, 9 RAS
5.4 2 TWTP, 8 ARI
8.4 4 TWTP
9.4 6 TWTP- morning, 1 evening, 4 CRF
10.4 2 TWTP
11.4 4 Melon Patch
15.4 1 TWTP
16.4 3 CRF
18.4 4 CAC, 5 RAS, 4 ARH

149. * White-headed Marsh-tyrant
31.3 2/1 TWTP
4.4 2 MES, 3 WAT, 7 RAS
5.4 2 TWTP, 8 ARI, 2 ARS
8.4 2 TWTP
9.4 4 TWTP-morning
10.4 1 TWTP
15.4 1 TWTP
18.4 4 RAS

150. * Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Should have not been around at all. Suggests that rainy season has begun!
4.4 1 RAS
5.4 3 RAS
18.4 28!RAS - in the North-Western corner of the area.

151. (*) Tropical Kingbird
26.3 1 MSB, 1 StJR
28.3 3 MSB ->
29.3 1 St Augustine
30.3 3 various locations
31.3 4 various locations
2.4 3 various locations
4.4 1 MES, 4 WAT, 20 RAS, 20 elsewhere
5.4 3 TWTP, 20 RAS, 5 ARI
8.4 5 TWTP
9.4 15 roadsides
10.4 15 roadsides
11.4 20 various locations
13.4 10 WAF
15.4 10 roadsides etc.
16.4 10 roadsides
17.4 10 raodsides
18.4 40 various locations

152. * Grey Kingbird
4.4 2 WAT
5.4 2 RAS
18.4 1 RAS

153. (*) Sulphury Flycatcher
11.4 4 WaF - in Moriche palmettos

154. Piratic Flycatcher
31.3 3 GrR
5.4 3 RAS
15.4 3 BLA
17.4 1 LLT, 1 TSTT
18.4 3 RAS

155. (*) Boat-billed Flycatcher
Had great difficulty with this one... The pictures in the books do not help much, and the rufous amount of Kiskadee varies quite a bit. Also kiskadee has quite a repertoire in his vocabulary. Well, the call turned out to be the most important id. One of kiskadee's calls is a cat-like mew. Although I initially thought that it was BB Flycatcher, it turned out to be quite different: a 1.2-1.5 second long quite weak, but audible "chirri-rir-rir-rir", repeated several times with a pause of 1-4 seconds between the 1.5 second songs. Usually the bird was sitting perched quite high up. After being able to locate the BB flycatcher the shape of the bill (and thr bird) from the side was easy to see. The kiskadee has quite an evenly tapering bill, whereas the BB Flycatcher has a bill which is almost of even thickness all the way to the tip. Only once did I manage to see the bill shape from above! And likewise only once from directly below.
30.3 2 PAP - idd from the bills.
2.4 2 QUI
3.4 2 QUI - prolonged views with telescope, complete lack of rufous in plumage
5.4 2 RAS
8.4 1 StJR - calling
9.4 1 UWI campus - calling
11.4 2 WaF
12.4 1 UWI campus - calling
13.4 1 StJR
14.4 2 UWI
15.4 3 + 2UWI
16.4 2 UWI
17.4 1 LLT, 1 TSTT
18.4 1 CAC

156. Streaked Flycatcher
28.3 4 MSBT
31.3 1 GrR
2.4 1 QUI
11.4 1 Depot Trace
15.4 2 BLA
17.4 1 BLA

157. * Great Kiskadee
23.3 25 StJR
24.3 20 StJR, 20 UWI
25.3 30 StJR, 10 UWI
26.3 20 StJR, 10 -> MSB
27.3 10 StJR
28.3 2 MSBT, 15 MSB -> StJR
29.3 15 StJR
30.3 10 PAP, 20 various locations
31.3 5 total
2.4 4 QUI, 10-> QUI
3.4 3 QUI, 10 QUI ->, 5 StJR
4.4 10 MES, 8 WAT, 10 RAS
5.4 4 TWTP, 20 RAS, 10 ARI
7.4 4 MSBT, 5 elsewhere
8.4 10 various locations
9.4 10 various locations
10.4 4 various locations
11.4 20 various locations
12.4 4 UWI
13.4 5 WaF, 10 UWI, 5 StJR
14.4 15 various locations
15.4 20 various locations
16.4 20 various locations
17.4 10 various locations
18.4 30 various locations

158. Brown-crested Flycatcher
18.4 2 CAC

159. * Dusky-capped Flycatcher
15.4 1 TSTT

160. (*) Olive-sided Flycatcher
10.4 1 LLT
17.4 1 LLT- same tree! May be the same bird?

161. Tropical Pewee
31.3 1 GrR
7.4 2 MSBT
18.4 2 ARH

162. Bran-colored Flycatcher
13.4 1 WaF singing.. Looked almost like a shrike. Very reddish. song dihdit-dihdit-dihdit-(+17 times)- whi-piu"h, accent on last syllable The i is very weak in the main syllables.

163. Yellow-breasted Flycatcher
5.4 2 RAS
11.4 3 WaF, 2 Depot Trace
13.4 2 WaF
15.4 3 BLA
17.4 3 BLA
18.4 1 ARH

164. Yellow-bellied Eleania
26.3 1 MSB
31.3 1 PGa
4.4 4 RAS
5.4 3 RAS
10.4 1 somewhere
11.4 2 WaF, 2 Depot Trace
15.4 2 BLA
17.4 2 BLA
18.4 2 RAS, 2 ARH

165. Lesser Eleania
5.4 1 RAS, 1 ARI
15.4 1 LLR

166. Forest Eleania
5.4 1 ARI

(XXX Mouse-colored tyrannulet)
10.4 1 called out by the guide at SIMLA. the call apparently ruled out Southern-beardless.

167. Southern-beardless Tyrannulet
11.4 1 WaF
12.4 2 WaF

168. Slaty-capped Flycatcher
28.3 2 MSBT

XXX flycatcher sp
10.4 2 ASA - possibly dusky flycatcher
11.4 1 Depot Trace..

169. Black-Tailed Tityra
5.4 1 RAS
10.4 1 BLA

170. (*) White-winged Swallow
The white on the wings can be difficult to see, in which case may bear resemblance to Mangrove Swallow, which is a mega rarity. The ffrench guide shows WAY too MUCH white on the wings.
24.3 1 UWI, Soccerfield
25.3 2 UWI, Soccerfield
26.3 1 UWI, over physics building.
28.3 5 MSBT + 50 darkwinged and pale bellied ones (GretBrMartins?)
31.3 15 GrR -> PGa, 20 TWTP
3.4 40 TWTP
4.4 6 MES, 15 WAt, 45 RAS
5.4 10 TWTP, 25 RAS
8.4 20 TWTP
9.4 5 TWTP morning, minimum of 30 TWTP evening
11.4 1 TSTT, 2 TWTP
17.4 1 TSTT
18.4 5 CAC, 30 RAS

171. Grey-breasted Martin
31.3 50 GrR -> PGa, 20 TWTP
2.4 10 QUI ->
3.4 2 QUI, 3 QUI->, 40 TWTP
4.4 3 WAT, 5 elsewhere
5.4 2 TWTP, 1 RAS
9.4 minimum of 20 TWTP evening
10.4 4 LLT
11.4 15 daily total
13.4 4 Churchill-roosevelt hihgway - one of the traffic lights near Arima.
15.4 4 BLA
17.4 20 TSTT+LLT+BLA
18.4 10 various locations

172. Southern Rough-winged Swallow
31.3 60 GrR -> PGa, 5 TWTP
3.4 40 TWTP
9.4 minimum of 50 TWTP evening
15.4 2 TSTT + 4 BLA, 15 TWTP
17.4 15 TSTT + BLA
18.4 5 RAS, 10 ARH

173. Bank Swallow
9.4 1 TWTP in the evening - drab bird
15.4 1 TWTP in the evening - fresh bird

174. (*) Barn Swallow
31.3 2 TWTP
3.4 2 TWTP
4.4 2 WAT
5.4 1 RAS
8.4 2 TWTP, 3 CRF
9.4 200 TWTP - in a flock of mixed swallows totalling 500
12.4 50 CRF
15.4 50 TWTP
18.4 10 CAC

175. Rufous-breasted Wren
31.3 2 songs GrR
3.4 1 QUI, Came to owl call
10.4 10 calls BLA
15.4 8 singing BLA
17.4 3 singing BLA
18.4 2 ARH

176. (*) Southern House-wren
quite differemt from the american house wrens.
23.3 2 StJR
24.3 2 StJR
25.3 2 StJR
26.3 4 StJR, 2 MSB
27.3 2 StJR
28.3 1 MSBT, 2 StJR
29.3 2 StJR
30.3 2 StJR
31.3 4 GrR, 2 elsewhere
2.4 2 QUI
3.4 4 QUI, 2 StJR
4.4 2 MES, 2 WAT, 4 RAS
5.4 4 RAS, 2 ARI
7.4 2 StJR
10.4 5 BLA
13.4 2 StJR
15.4 6 BLA
17.4 1 TSTT
18.4 4 ARH

177. * Tropical Mockingbird
23.3 8 StJR
24.3 10 StJR + 10 UWI
25.3 10 StJR + 5 UWI
26.3 5 StJR, 10 ->MSB, 5 UWI
27.3 5 StJR
28.3 8 MSB, 10 StJR
29.3 5 StJR
30.3 20 various locations
31.3 30 various locations
2.4 3 QUI
3.4 4 QUI, 3 StJR
4.4 4 MES, 4 WAT, 15 RAS
5.4 20 RAS, 10 ARI
7.4 3 MSBT, 5 elsewhere
8.4 20 daily total
9.4 10 various locations
10.4 15 BLA
11.4 30 total
12.4 4 various locations
13.4 15 total
14.4 10 total
15.4 5 ->BLA->
16.4 5 various locations
17.4 30 various locations
18.4 15 RAS, 20 elsewhere

178. Long-billed Gnat-wren
sowing machine-bird
31.3 1+1 GrR
2.4 2 QUI
3.4 2 QUI
15.4 4 calling BLA
17.4 1 calling TSTT (right at the entrance)

179. Yellow-legged Thrush
10.4 1 BLA (close to TSTT)

180. Cocoa Thrush
song more beautiful and varied than white-neck's
28.3 10 MSBT
30.3 1 PAP
31.3 1 GrR
7.4 1 MSBT
10.4 1 BLA, at least 2 singing
11.4 1 WaF
13.4 several iunid'd thrushes singing at Wallerfield.
15.4 1 seen + 3 songs BLA
17.4 4 seen + 2 songs BLA
18.4 6 ARH

181. * Bare-eyed Thrush
like a female European Blackbird Turdus merula with a bighth yellow eyering.
23.3 3 StJR
24.3 2 StJR
25.3 8 StJR - at the same time!
26.3 5 StJR
27.3 3 StJR
28.3 5 MSBT, 1 StJR
29.3 4 StJR
30.3 2 StJR
2.4 2 QUI
3.4 2 QUI

182. White-necked Thrush
10.4 about 10 singing BLA
15.4 1 seen + 10 singing BLA
17.4 3 singing BLA

183. (*) Rufous-browed Peppershike
Vireo, with a very thick bill, and a reddish eyebrow. Seen from ahead quite colorful.
24.3 1 StJR
25.3 1 StJR
31.3 4 GrR - one song similar to Rosefinch or Golden oriole.
2.4 3+4 songs QUI
3.4 4 songs QUI
4.4 1 MES, Black-whiskered vireolike song
7.4 2 MSBT
10.4 5 singing
11.4 2 WaF, 1 Depot Trace
13.4 4 WaF
15.4 1+4 singing BLA
17.4 4 singing BLA
18.4 2 CAC, 4 ARH

184. Chivi Vireo
Sounds pretty much like a red-eyed vireo
28.3 5 MSBT
31.3 3 GR -> PGa
7.4 1 MSBT
10.4 1 seen, several calls (about 5)
11.4 4 Wallerfield, 3 Depot Trace
13.4 4 WaF
17.4 2 BLA

185. Golden-fronted Greenlet
31.3 2 GrR
3.4 7 QUI
10.4 2 ASA, several heard, song slightly vireolike, softer
11.4 3 Depot Trace
15.4 2 singing BLA
17.4 2 singing BLA

186. * Shiny Cowbird
24.3 1 Tunapuna
25.3 2 -> MSB
30.3 20 PAP
3.4 20 TWTP
4.4 15 MES, 20 WAT
5.4 15 TWTP, 10 RAS
10.4 3 ASA
11.4 30 Melon patch
14.4 8 CRF
15.4 10 TWTP
18.4 20 CAC, 25 RAS, 10 ARH

187. Giant Cowbird
31.3 1 GrR, 2 GrR -> PGa
5.4 1 ARI ->
11.4 50 Melon Patch
18.4 8 ARH Watercress fields

188. (*) Crested Oropendola
Many of the sightings involved also nests
23.3 1 StJR
24.3 1 StJR
26.3 1 StJR seen from morning shower!, 1 StJR in the evening.
28.3 5 MSB ->
30.3 8 PAP
31.3 6 GrR + 6nests, 15 nests at Montevideo, 3 birds elsewhere
2.4 25 QUI
3.4 15 QUI
5.4 1 StJR, 1 ARI
9.4 1 Arima
10.4 25 ASA, 5 elsewhere
11.4 3 Depot Trace, 12 elsewhere
15.4 4 + many more nests BLA
17.4 15 BLA
18.4 35 ARH

189. (*) Yellow-rumped Cacique
31.3 30 Montevideo in a mixed colony with Oropendolas
2.4 15 QUI
3.4 10 QUI
11.4 2 flew over the road at a village between Sangre Grande and Upper Manzilla

190. Carib Grackle
29.3 1 StJR
30.3 30 various locations
31.3 5 in total
4.4 200 MES, 100 WAT
5.4 1 ARI->
10.4 10 various locations, mostly single birds
18.4 50 CAC
19.4 1 UWI

191. * Yellow-hooded Blackbird
30.3 10 PAP
31.3 20 TWTP
3.4 30 TWTP
4.4 6 MES, 20 RAS
5.4 25 TWTP, 15 RAS
8.4 20 TWTP, 80 CRF
9.4 30 TWTP morning, 50 evening
10.4 20 TWTP
11.4 80 Melon patch
12.4 250 (one flock) CRF
14.4 130 CRF
15.4 50 TWTP

192. * Red-breasted Blackbird
31.3 1 WFl
4.4 9 MES, 3 WAT, 30 RAS
5.4 30 RAS
11.4 50 Melon Patch
13.4 1 WaF
14.4 1/3 CRF
18.4 8 CAC, 20 RAS

193. * Yellow Oriole
23.3 2 StJR
24.3 2 StJR
25.3 2+nest StJR, 1 UWI
26.3 2 StJR, 2 -> MSB, 2 MSB
27.3 2 StJR
28.3 1 MSBT, 1 MSB->
29.3 3 StJR - almost complete nest
30.3 2 StJR
31.3 1 was somewhere
2.4 1 QUI
3.4 2 StJR
4.4 1 RAS
8.4 1 TWTP
9.4 2 TWTP+nest
10.4 1 ASA, 2 TWTP
11.4 1 Depot Trace
14.4 2 StJR
15.4 1 -> BLA
17.4 1 BLA
18.4 5 CAC

194. Tropical Parula
31.3 4 GrR
5.4 1 ARI
10.4 1 BLA (simla?)
15.4 1 LLT
17.4 1 LLT

195. * Yellow Warbler
5.4 1 RAS
8.4 1 TWTP
9.4 1 warbler chip at the location where this bird and the Cape May

196. * Cape May Warbler
8.4 1 TWTP

197. Northern Waterthrush
31.3 1 GrR
4.4 1 MES, 1 RAS
11.4 1 WaF, 1 Depot Trace
18.4 4 CAC, 2 ARH

198. * Masked Yellowthroat
13.4 1 WaF

199. Golden-crowned Warbler
28.3 6 MSBT
7.4 2 MSBT
10.4 1 SIMLA, 1 ASA
15.4 6 BLA
17.4 3 BLA
18.4 4 ARH

200. * Bananaquit
23.3 3 StJR
24.3 2 StJR
25.3 2 StJR
26.3 2 StJR, 10 ->MSB, 10 MSB
27.3 8 StJR
28.3 25 MSBT
29.3 4 StJR
30.3 20 various locations
31.3 20 GrR, 5 elsewhere
2.4 25 QUI
3.4 20 QUI, 4 StJR
4.4 20 total
5.4 4 TWTP, 10 RAS, 15 ARI,
7.4 10 MSBT
10.4 30 ASA, 10 elsewhere
13.4 4 WaF
15.4 15 BLA
17.4 40 BLA
18.4 10 CAC, 20 ARH

201. * Bicolored Conebill
11.4 3/3 Bushbush-creek- North eastern side of the bridge #2 in low bushes.
18.4 15 CAC

202. (*) Purple Honeycreeper
31.3 5/2 GrR
10.4 15 ASA, 4 LLT
15.4 3 LLT
17.4 6 LLT, TSTT

203. * Red-legged Honeycreeper
5.4 4/3 ARI
10.4 5 ASA
15.4 1/1LLT, 2 BLA
17.4 14 TSTT, LLT

204. * Green Honeycreeper
31.3 1/1 GrR
10.4 15 ASA, 4 LLT
15.4 2 LLT, 3 AND, 2 TSTT
17.4 8 TSTT, LLT

205. Blue Dacnis
31.3 1 GrR

206. Trinidad Euphonia
26.3 1 calling at MSB
2.4 1 QUI
10.4 2/2 SIMLA
18.4 2/1 seen beatifully on a tree

207. (*) Violaceous Euphonia
28.3 1/1 MSBT in mistletoes, some 100 meters before the end of trail
31.3 1 GrR + 1 caged
3.4 1/1 QUI
10.4 2 SIMLA
11.4 8/2 !!! Depot Trace, about half way down the trace.
15.4 7 BLA
17.4 6 TSTT + LLT
18.4 2 ARH

208. Swallow Tanager
17.4 1 female on the road side on BLA between LLT and TSTT. more beautiful than pictures in ffrench or DeSchauensee! Kind of an iridescent geen. Underside barred with yellow and green bars.

209. Spotted Tanager
17.4 1 at Western end of the TSTT compound in a large flock of other birds.

210. (*) Turquoise Tanager
Odd looking birds, whitish belly, speckeled black and blue. Color patterns very difficult to describe. Beatiful!
28.3 1+ 5 MSBT
2.4 1 QUI
3.4 1 QUI
10.4 2 SIMLA
11.4 4 Bush-bush creek (bridge 2)
17.4 6 LLT+TSTT

211. Bay-headed Tanager
28.3 4 MSBT - in late afternoon only
10.4 2 LLT - late afternoon
15.4 6 AND, 4 LLT, 4 TSTT - early morning
17.4 2 TSTT+LLT

212. * Blue-gray Tanager
23.3 20 StJR
24.3 10 StJR, 10 UWI
24.3 15 StJR, 5 UWI
26.3 10 StJR, 30 -> MSB, 5 MSB
27.3 10 StJR
28.3 20 MSB->
29.3 10 StJR, 6 UWI
30.3 10 StJR, 4 PAP, 15 elsewhere
31.3 4 GrR
2.4 8 QUI
3.4 10 QUI, 10 StJR
4.4 20 WAT, 10 RAS
5.4 10 RAS, 30 ARI
7.4 4 MSBT, 10 elsewhere
8.4 10 various locations
10.4 15 various locations
11.4 20 various locations
13.4 10 various locations
15.4 20 various locations
16.4 15 various locations
17.4 15 various locations
18.4 20 various locations

213. * Palm Tanager
23.3 20 StJR
24.3 10 StJR, 7 UWI
25.3 20 StJR, 5 UWI
26.3 10 StJR, 20 -> MSB, 10 MSB
27.3 15 StJR
28.3 10 MSBT, 15 MSB ->
29.3 8 StJR, 5 UWI
30.3 10 StJR, 2 PAP, 20 elsewhere
31.3 10 GrR, 10 elsewhere
2.4 12 QUI
3.4 12 QUI, 10 StJR
4.4 20 WAT,
5.4 10 RAS, 50 ARI
7.4 4 MSBT, 10 elsewhere
8.4 10 various locations
10.4 20 ASA
11.4 30 various locations
13.4 15 various locations
15.4 15 various locations
16.4 15 various locations
17.4 12 various locations
18.4 20 various locations

214. * Silverbeaked Tanager
 

Male is awsome!
24.3 1/ StJR - unidentified at this point but seen again the next day
25.3 1/ StJR
26.3 1/ StJR
27.3 1/1 StJR
28.3 1 MSBT
29.3 1/2 StJR
30.3 1/1 StJR
31.3 1/1 GrR
2.4 2/2 QUI
3.4 2/2 QUI
4.4 2 RAS
5.4 2 RAS, 4 ARI
10.4 8 various locations at BLA
11.4 2/2 Depot Trace, 1/1 Bush-bush
13.4 1/1 WaF
15.4 10 BLA
17.4 8 BLA
18.4 1/1, 2/2 RAS, 5/5 ARH

215. * White-lined Tanager
27.3 1/1 StJR
28.3 1 MSBT, 4 MSB ->
29.3 1/1 or 2/2 StJR
30.3 1/1 StJR, 1/1 PAP
31.3 1/1 GrR
2.4 2/2 QUI
3.4 2/2 QUI, 1/ StJR
5.4 2 ARI
6.4 1/1 StJR
7.4 1 MSBT
10.4 2 ASA, 2 elsewhere
11.4 2 Depot Trace
13.4 1/1 WaF
15.4 3/3 BLA
17.4 2/2 TSTT
18.4 2 CAC, 2 RAS, 8 ARH

216. White-shouldered Tanager
28.3 1/1 MSBT
3.4 1/ QUI
15.4 4/3 BLA
17.4 1/1 TSTT
18.4 2/2 ARH

217. * Greyish Saltator
23.3 1 StJR
24.3 2 StJR
25.3 2 StJR
26.3 2 StJR, 2 -> MSB
27.3 3 StJR
28.3 4 MSB ->
29.3 2 StJR
30.3 2 StJR
3.4 1 StJR
4.4 20 RAS
5.4 30 RAS - mostly in pairs
7.4 3 StJR
11.4 1 WaF
13.4 1 WaF->
15.4 1 calling LLR

218. * Red-capped Cardinal
30.3 4 PAP

219. * Blue-Black Grassquit
26.3 1 -> MSB funny bird!
28.3 2 MSB ->
2.4 2 QUI
3.4 2 QUI
4.4 25 MES, 10 WAT, 30 RAS
5.4 2 TWTP, 50 RAS, 8 ARI
8.4 2 CRF
11.4 2 WaF, 2 Depot Trace, 4 Melon Patch
12.4 1/1 CRF
13.4 1/1 CRF
15.4 1/1 BLA
16.4 2/2 CRF
17.4 2/2 BLA
18.4 6 CAC, 15 RAS, 5 ARH

220. Ruddy-breasted Seedeater
4.4 6 RAS

221. * Saffron Finch
30.3 2 PAP
(31.3 2 TWTP)
9.4 1(-2) TWTP
15.4 2 +nest TWTP

================================================================

MAMMALS

Mongoose
2.4 StJR - feeder
9.4 Caroni Rice fields

Agouti
10.4 ASA wright

REPTILES

3.4 30 cm lizard running across road Quinam
7.4 a similar large fast running lizard ran accross my frontyard and a few times elsewhere.

Caimans
31.3 5 TWTP (and every visit thereafter)
3.4 at 1 Quinam.

____________________________________________________________________________

Summary of five egrets that showed features of Little Egrets Direct comparision made to snowy egret, among which they were feeding. Other white egrets on site : 50 White egrets, 150-170 Snowys Date 8.4. Location Trincity water treatment plant Observing conditions: light good, overcast (altocumulus), no strong shadows. Optics: Leitz 8x40, Kowa 27x60, Camera with 420mm lens

1) LITTLE EGRET
Distance 10m-12m. (Photographed) (on and off during 2 hours)
Full breeding plumage; long mantle/scap feathers, 2 plumes on the head.
Feet black, legs ?
Appeared slightly more massive than Snowies
Eye whitish, considerably whiter than in any of the Snowy egrets, which had ellow eyes (N=50)
Bill black, facial skin uniforn, weakly blue tinged grey. No extreme contrast between eye and facial skin ( a yellow eye would have shown a stronger contrast)
Bill stronger than Snowy's, being maybe 25% longer, and 30% thicker.
Fed in deeper water than Snowy (thus longer legs?- or just not afraid of Caimans)
Aggressive towards Snowys. No confrontations between Great Egrets and this bird.

2) LITTLE EGRET
Distance 100m, not photographed (observed for 3 minutes)
Non breeding plumage feathers.
Appeared more massive than snowys
Feet black, legs yellow.
Eye whitish (IDENTICAL TO #1)
Bill and facial skin color as in #1
Bill appeared stronger than snowys, 10% longer, 20% taller than the closeby snowy individual's.
Feet black, legs yellow

3) LITTLE x SNOWY HYBRID
Distance in minimum 7m, most of the time 30m.
Photographed though the window. Observed on and off during 30 minutes.
Breeding plumage bird, with ONE long Little Egret like head plume.
Size and structure snowy like.
Legs black, feet yellow.
Bill dark (no notes on the size)
Facial skin pale yellow or cearly yellow tinged pale grey, considerably paler than any snowy's either breeding or non-breeding.
Feeding as snowys, no more aggresivity between this and the snowys than between snowys.
No note on eye color

4) LITTLE x SNOWY HYBRID
Distance 20-25 m, photographed (observed on and off during 30 minutes)
Breeding plumage bird, with no head plumes.
Legs black, feet yellow
Size and structure quite Little egret like.
Bill longer and thicker than snowy's
Bill patterns complicated (pale areas at the base?)
Facial skin pale flesh color (pink grey) with no tinge of yellow.
Feeding in deeper water than Snowy, some aggressivness towards Snowy.

5) LITTLE x SNOWY HYBRID (observed on and off during 15minutes)
Mimimum distance 15m, photographed
No breeding plumage feathers, otherwise very similar to 4).


Compiled by Harry Lehto
Elotie 1 A 8
FI-20780 Kaarina, FINLAND
email: hlehto@astro.utu.fi 

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