Jan 31 - A Sublime Birding Day – Oilbird started and the Scarlet Ibis ended the day

     

Just like the saying “the journey is the experience”, today was one of those days for us.   

It was already hot at breakfast and the sun was shining.  There was some intermittent cloud cover thankfully.  After breakfast we started on our Oilbird outing.   We climbed down a trail from the Asa Wright central building  and then had to go up the trail and then go back down the trail to get to the cave/canyon where the Oilbirds live.  These are nocturnal fruit eating nightjar sized birds that sleep during the day,  Any kind of light bothers their eyes.  It took about an hour to get down into the cave area.  The climb down, up and down again is rustic but pretty with many stone steps and some sloping flat ground.  Where something is moss covered, then it is slippery and it is a long way down.  Thankfully it did not rain recently, otherwise it would have been treacherous to do this trail, it is rated as “difficult”.  There are pipe railings at many spots so one has something to grab on to for stability. 

Peggy and Brenda and I were intending to go and Barbr wisely decided instead to bird around Asa Wright grounds.  The climb was shady and humid and once we got there, the guide, Randell put a light on the sleeping birds inside the cave where they live.  We went up in groups of 3 or 4 to view them from about 20 to 30 feet away.  The Oilbird is beautifully patterned and some of them opened their eyes, so looks were brief.  There were a couple of fat roly-poly chicks also.  This is the most accessible colony of Oilbird in Trinidad and has been here for years.  Asa Wright is famous for the Oilbirds and their refuge here.  There are no good photos here, it was too dark and one could not

It was an experience getting down into the caves and climbing out was also a slog but not too bad.  This climb down and back up was so much easier than my climb down into the valley to view the Cock of the Rock in Ecuador.  By the time we all returned back to the verandah at Asa Wright, we were drenched and a shower was needed.  Then we birded on the verandah until the lunchtime bell.

After lunch we left with our guide for our last outing, this time  to  Caroni Bird Sanctuary. 

We stopped at a marsh in Riva and then went on to Caroni Swamp.  We viewed a stunning Red-capped Cardinal at the security gate of the park.  The bird stayed long enough for everyone to admire him.

 We noticed a well fed cat hanging around the center and the security office.  The lady security officer said that this cat belonged to the center and the cat’s name was Miss Mew.  

 It was here that the mangrove swamp tour started and we climbed onto a large flat bottomed tour boat to travel and bird the mangrove swamp and journey to the island in the river where the wading birds particularly the Scarlet Ibis and others such are Little Blue Heron, Tri-coloured Heron, Snowy Egret and Great Egrets fly in just before dusk and roost together overnight.   We had several nice birds and mammals in the mangrove swamp and it is a very enjoyable way to bird!  Finally we got to the part of the river where it opened up in a huge bay.

We were quite comfortable on the boat and it was a great way to bird.

There is a foursome photo of us on this boat.

 Barbr took this photo of us enjoying the ride.  Don't we look as pleased as dogs look when their heads are hanging out the car window and are enjoying the wind!

 The swamp was gorgeous with birds ahead of us.

Then there was the snake in the tree just over our heads.

We also viewed the ubiquitous Pine Warbler which we have seen most days.

Each turn we made in the swamp was interesting.

Then we came out into the bay where the water opened up.

The sun was still out when we saw the first wave of Snowy Egrets started to fly in.   Then the magic started, groups of Scarlet Ibis, bright blood red in the sunshine began to arrive in flocks from all directions over the next half hour to settle on the  island for the night.  Their  flight over the water and in the sun was breathtaking and sublime.  The Scarlet Ibis flew in quietly and then when they landed there was squawking to get themselves settled among the herons. 

What was really awesome was that different groups of Scarlet Ibis just kept coming and coming from all directions and when we thought that was it, there were still more groups coming.  We were going ohhh and ahhhs for the whole time!  This was just amazing. 

Our  journey out to the island roost was wonderful but the fly-in was the icing on the birding cake.  We were all in awe.  Our guide had his scope and we all had close up looks at the birds.  Then the rum punch was brought out for all and we toasted the birds and the fly–in.  I’ll always remember this experience forever.

There were  other tour boats near us and each had its own docking "branch" spot.  We viewed this seriously overloaded boat.  We counted 15 people on this small dingy and one can barely see the boat itself.

We returned to the docking point just as it was almost dark, there was hunt by all for misplaced minibus keys (found in the driver’s door key slot) whew!  Off we set off in the dark back to our last night at Asa Wright.  I was up late reading last night trying to finish my book (note to self:  do not bring good books to read on birding trips, one is not good for the other!).   Maybe my late evenings are catching up with me.  While others are getting ready for bed, I am just getting organized to write  on my computer in bed and go through photos.  But it is worth it in the end, we have a record of the trip, to read on rainy days sometime in the future.

Barbr, Peggy, Brenda and I enjoyed this day and the birds.  The fish were jumping in the river and there were snakes viewed in the trees overhead as we passed by and nothing jumped into our boat.  I would say the Scarlet Ibis fly-in was the highlight of the Trinidad trip.  It was magic in nature.