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www.asawright.org Tel: (868) 667-4655 Email: [email protected] OCTOBER 2014 Activities in ‘the coffee’ By Peter O’Connor The approximately four acres of coffee on the slopes of the Spring Hill estate – home of the Asa Wright Nature Centre – are now being cutlassed and “cleaned” to begin harvesting. This makes the coffee trees more accessible and it is easier for the harvesters to move between the trees. And we have added something to this location which will benefit volunteer coffee harvesters over the next several weeks, but will also please our prime clientele – the birdwatchers and photographers. After noticing the sightings of birds among and along the edges of the coffee trees, not to mention the Great Black hawks and Grey-lined hawks in the larger trees overhead, we have opened a trail to this area and built a sheltered Photography Blind. This will give our photographers a different and The new bird blind Photo by Mukesh Ramdass beautifully isolated spot, under relatively open sky to “capture” more birds, and will also serve as a “base” for occasional events like our coffee harvesting. Call for Volunteers This is a call for any corporate, school or other groups of volunteers who would like to help harvest our coffee at Asa Wright. We hope to start harvesting in mid-November, and continue into January 2015. We would like teams of 10 to 20 persons (adults or young adults) to spend mornings picking and bagging coffee beans from our trees. Interested persons or groups should contact us at A branch of coffee Photo by Johanne Ryan [email protected]. Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre OCTOBER • PAGE 2 OCTOBER 2014 Asa Wright Nature Centre at UWI’s Annual Prizes Award Ceremony By Kimberly Chu Foon The University of the West Indies, St Augustine held its Annual Prizes Award Ceremony for the Faculty of Science and Technology on Monday 20th October, 2014. At this event the Asa Wright Nature Centre sponsors three awards (Julian Duncan Prize, Thomas Carr Prize and Ian Lambie Prize) for students with outstanding performances in the fields of Environmental and Natural Resource Management and Environmental Science. The studious winners this year were Beana Joseph, Shervan Briglal and a joint award to Jahnell Ryan and Arianna Coolman. Representing the Centre at the award ceremony were Conservation Officer, Kimberly Chu Foon and Education Officer, Denise Etienne. It was a delight to take part in a Conservation Officer, ceremony that rewards those that work hard to achieve Education Officer, Denise Etienne, presents an award Kimberly Chu Foon, presents their goals. AWNC takes pride in sponsoring these diligent to one of the winners. an award to one of the students and hopes to do so for many years to come. Photo by Kimberly Chu Foon winners. Photo by Denise Etienne The American Robyn Comes to T&T Earlier this month the Asa Wright Robyn will be splitting her time Nature Centre welcomed Robyn Bath- between the guide’s department, Rosenfeld as their first Princeton in and the Ian Lambie Conservation and Latin America Intern (PiLA). PiLA is a Education Unit. Her current projects non-profit organisation that partners include proposal writing for expanded with non-profits throughout Latin education and research programmes, America to match them with young, creating a guide-training programme, public sector professionals seeking and assisting with school groups. She full-year fellowships in development has been helping the bird-banding team work. Robyn is from the US, and will be from UWI on weekends, and getting out working at Asa Wright through next to discover all the amazing types of roti September under the PiLA fellowship. Trinidad has to offer! Robyn just graduated from the This is Robyn’s first time to the Caribbean, University of Vermont, with a degree and she is excited for a year of natural in Environmental Studies and Ecology, and cultural discovery in the bush! She and is looking forward to applying her hopes to have the chance to meet many educational background in ecotourism of our readers as they visit throughout and conservation to Asa Wright’s the year! programmes. She previously worked at an ecotourism lodge in the Ecuadorian Andes. Robyn Bath-Rosenfeld, new PiLA intern Photo by Jessie Pitt Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre OCTOBER • PAGE 3 OCTOBER 2014 Bioblitz Torch Passed to Nariva Swamp! By Robyn Bath-Rosenfeld What is a Bioblitz you may ask? For those of you who do not remember last year’s Bioblitz right here at Spring Hill Estate, the rules are simple: for 24 hours straight, any living species you see in a designated area is recorded and tallied as a way to measure the ecological diversity of that area. Last year, Bioblitzers recorded 740 species in the Arima Valley. This year, Nariva Swamp wanted to raise the bar, and researchers found 742 species! The estimated breakdown was 215 vertebrates, 266 invertebrates, 15 diatoms, 15 fungi and 231 plants (Mike Rutherford). This year, from October 18th to 19th, over 100 volunteers came to Nariva Swamp to help catalogue the amazing biodiversity Bush Bush Island has to offer. The event was organised by our very own board member Mike Rutherford with support from UWI, Trinidad and Tobago’s Field Naturalist Club, Serpentarium, Asa Wright, and many more. Bioblitz was sponsored by First Citizens Bank. When the clock struck noon on Day 1, biologists launched Turquoise Tanager from banding on day two into the field with nets, bags, traps, infrared cameras, Photo by Darshan Narang kayaks, light bulbs, vials, sheets, and every other tool for cataloguing species! There were bird teams, bat teams, fish teams, butterfly teams, scorpion teams, mammal teams, plant teams and fungus teams! The passion was palpable to say the least, everyone encouraging each other, and supporting different projects throughout the day. By midnight surveyors began returning to the forestry building for a bit of shut eye before continuing again at daybreak. Some truly dedicated souls, such as Rakesh Bhukal from team scorpion, stayed up all night to identify their species for the final count at noon on Day 2. The event was an amazing learning opportunity for all. I could say I was pretty blitzed-out by the end of the weekend, but instead, I find myself day dreaming about where next year’s Bioblitz will be! Mike Rutherford makes the final species tally on day two Photo by T & T Bioblitz Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre OCTOBER • PAGE 4 OCTOBER 2014 Yellow Oriole (Icterus nigrogularis) By Johanne Ryan The Yellow Oriole, like a golden flash in the air, calls out a ‘flutelike cadence’, says Richard ffrench, but when alarmed, its smooth song converts to a rough ‘cack’. Common to lowlands, this oriole roams a variety of habitats in Trinidad – forest edges, semi-open savannahs, suburbs, gardens and even the edges of swamps. The subspecies Icterus nigrogularis trinitatis is restricted to Trinidad and The Paria Peninsula of Venezuela. However, the Yellow Oriole also inhabits an area spreading from Colombia to northern Brazil. The Yellow Oriole is outstanding – its flash of yellow Photo by Mukesh Ramdass cannot be missed. This bright plumage is contrasted by a black throat, upper breast, tail and wings. The go unnoticed by other species. The flycatcher Legatus wings are also edged in white. Juveniles don’t stand and the Saffron Finch may sometimes seize the nest. out as much as the adults. The young ones can easily be differentiated from the adults by their yellow- On your next morning walk, if you catch a glimpse olive shade and brownish-black wings and tail. of that golden flash, his voice will tell whether he’s alarmed, or happily singing away. A meal for this omnivore is usually one of insects, berries, blossoms or perhaps a spider. It feeds on the fruit of the golden palm (Chrysalidocarpus). References: The main breeding period is from April to July but ffrench, Richard. A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and breeding has been recorded from January to August. Tobago. Cornell University Press. 2012. This passerine moults in August and September. 2010. Yellow Oriole (Icterus nigrogularis), Neotropical The Yellow Oriole intricately weaves a hanging nest, Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell from grass or palm fibres. The nest is about 45 cm Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds long and in it, clutches of about three egg are laid. Online: Eggs are recognised by their white colour with dark http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/ brown spots or lines. The expertly built nest does not overview?p_p_spp=676556 Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre OCTOBER • PAGE 5 OCTOBER 2014 YOUNG ENVIRONMENTALIST OF THE MONTH If you think your child has done something helpful to preserve the environment, please feel free to share it with us. Either write a short story, or send a few pictures to [email protected] He/she may be selected as our Young Environmentalist for the month! Once your child is featured in our monthly newsletter, he/she and two adults will be given a complimentary day visit to Asa Wright Nature Center, which includes viewing birds/animals on the verandah, a nature tour and use of the clear-water pool. Ages 5-16. Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre.
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