RBT Dominican Republic Trip Report 2015 1 Dominican Republic Trip Report Endemics of Hispaniola 13th to 20th February 2015 (8 days) Broad-billed Tody by Matthew Matthiessen Report compiled by Tour Leader: Clayton Burne RBT Dominican Republic Trip Report 2015 2 Our first day in the Dominican Republic was a free day for those who had arrived early. With most of us having arrived by early evening, we headed off for a ‘welcome' dinner at a local restaurant. Our group assembled at breakfast the next day and set off to the Santo Domingo Botanical Gardens. As introductions to new countries go, this is a hard place to beat. Being a Saturday, traffic was relatively light, allowing us to reach the gardens quicker than expected. Fortunately we had also arrived before the start of the scheduled 'fun run', though not before the booming music had started. A short session of birding in the car park turned up some distant Hispaniolan Parakeets, a Grey Kingbird, Black-crowned Tanagers and a number of Hispaniolan Woodpeckers, as well as the monotypic, ubiquitous Palmchat. Circumventing the 'music', we were soon feasting on new species including small numbers of Hispaniolan Woodpecker by Clayton Burne Antillean Mango and a few Black-whiskered Vireo. Up to 4 displaying Vervain Hummingbirds perched together on a bare snag, a male Cape May Warbler, the near endemic Stolid Flycatcher and the attractive Red- legged Thrush all made lengthy appearances. A Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo hopped along an open bough for all to see, no doubt scattering the various Anolis lizards in the vicinity. Reaching the base of a stream, we had short sightings of two Louisiana Waterthrush and made contact with the resident flock of West Indian Whistling Duck. Antillean Palm Swifts flew sorties overhead while the common Greater Antillean Grackle gave expectedly good views. Most of the remainder of the day was subsequently devoted to our drive towards the Haitian border, and the small village of Puerto Escondido. Arriving with just enough light left in the day, a short walk into the nearby forest gave us great views of an absolute Mega - the White-fronted Quail-Dove. Excellent views were also obtained of a perched Key West Quail-Dove, while Ruddy Quail-Dove only showed for some. Decent views were had of Hispaniolan Pewee and the locally uncommon Black-throated Green Warbler, but the fading light rather impeded our views of Narrow-billed Tody and Green-tailed Warbler. The following day we attempted to target a large number of Hispaniolan endemics as we made a very early start up the Sierra de Bahoruco. Having made stellar progress on the battered 'road', more akin to an Alpine skree slope, we had enough time to search for Hispaniolan Nightjar. After some effort, we managed good views of a single individual that flew overhead a few times. A pair of the distinct Hispaniolan Loggerhead Kingbird sub-species showed shortly afterwards. We still needed to reach the La Selle Thrush site shortly after dawn, but reckoned we had just enough time in the tank to get good views of Western Chat-Tanager en route. A White- fronted Quail-Dove halted our progress, walking up the middle of the road! With the thrush not vocalising, it appeared that we Palmchat by Clayton Burne RBT Dominican Republic Trip Report 2015 3 were liable to have some trouble seeing the bird. In fact it was not until just before breakfast that we saw up to three individuals hopping across the road for excellent views. With the pressure released, it was time for a picnic breakfast. New species kept on coming, all day, as it transpired. Hispaniolan Emerald flitted over flowering bushes, a pair of Hispaniolan Trogon showed incredibly well - allowing unimpeded scope views. Greater Antillean Elaenia was followed shortly after by a very well behaved Rufous- throated Solitaire. Flocks of Antillean Siskin and Hispaniolan Spindalis showed well throughout the day, while we had to work much harder to get views of the taxonomically puzzling White-winged West Indian Whistling Duck by Clayton Burne Warbler. A leafless tree had its crown jam-packed with Scaly-naped Pigeons as Golden Swallows floated overhead. An Antillean Piculet responded well, remaining motionless in our scope for up to five minutes. Shortly before lunch we added scoped views of Hispaniolan Amazon and much better views of Green-tailed Warbler. After a picnic lunch, we descended past the Haitian border - with depressing views of the lifeless, Martian landscape that was once wall-to-wall forest. Despite the afternoon heat, we birded the lower slopes for a short time finding the very cute Broad-billed Tody while attempting to locate a vocalising Flat-billed Vireo. Having no sooner enjoyed a co-operative vireo sighting, our last bird of the afternoon made an appearance. With up to three Bay-breasted Cuckoo calling nearby, we were sure to get a sighting? Slowly but surely, one inquisitive individual made its way towards us. A shy and timid species, we had a few seconds’ view of a perched bird before it beat a hasty retreat, not to be seen again. Post dinner we made a short hike along a nearby trail to search for Least Poorwill. We had no luck unfortunately, barring a distant, vocalising individual. With almost all the endemics already tied up yesterday, we made the short drive to some nearby agricultural fields this morning. It took only a matter of minutes to find the near endemic Plain Pigeon, before the major target of the morning sat atop a palm tree for us, Hispaniolan Oriole. Common Yellowthroat and a female American Redstart found their way onto the list. Another short drive took us to the xerophytic scrub surrounding Lago Enriquillo. The heat was intense and our quarry called many miles away. It was decided not to embark on a death march to find them. We had no sooner made this decision and returned to our vehicles to depart when a flock of angry Hispaniolan Palm Crows alighted nearby. Having enjoyed staggering views of this sometime tricky endemic, we departed for the southern coastline. A fabulous seafood lunch in Barahona made for a welcome pit stop before we continued onwards towards the Haitian border town of Pedernales. With time on our side we shot up the Alcoa Road, but failed to find any new species; the cool, overcast conditions not helping our cause. Hispaniolan Pewee by Clayton Burne RBT Dominican Republic Trip Report 2015 4 A short drive took us to our accommodation before another seafood meal at a local restaurant. We had a relaxed start to the day, driving the short distance to Cabo Rojo. A pair of Stolid Flycatcher greeted us on arrival, before we sat down to watch the ocean. Soon enough a small flock of White-tailed Tropicbirds made a distant appearance. With lots to get done, we went back up the Alcoa Road and spent a fruitless 2 hours trying to find Hispaniolan Crossbill. It really was the 11th hour (11:30 to be exact), when we heard some vocalisation while inside our vehicles. A sharp exit and some excellent spotting from one of the Hispaniolan Trogon by Matthew Matthiessen participants gave us scoped views of a singing male Hispaniolan Crossbill! Having been saved by the bell, we went back to Cabo Rojo for a seaside, seafood lunch involving lobster, prawns and red snapper. Having lazed a little too long at lunch, we made our way back up the coast towards Barahona, stopping for a short wader session at Laguna Oviedo. A large flock of American Flamingo was pleasing on the eye, a host of ducks included American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal and Lesser Scaup. Western Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs as well as a large flock of Short-billed Dowitcher concluded the breezy stop. We had just enough time to reach our seaside accommodation in Barahona before changing clothes, dropping our gear and driving up the Cachote Road. More expert hearing from inside the vehicle gave away a pair of Ashy-faced Owl. Standing quietly at the side of a dirt road, we had one quick sighting of an individual carrying food (probably a large night gecko) before enjoying incredible, walk away views of another individual - totally un- interrupted by any branches or palms. It really was the icing on a great day - short on numbers, but packed with quality species. We left our hotel on the coast and headed into the wet forests of the Sierra de Bahoruco. Our target this morning was the secretive Eastern Chat-Tanager, our location being the only site south of the Enriquillo basin to host the species. Despite some vocalising birds, it took a good few hours of effort to get decent sightings. With the target species finally in the bag, we enjoyed one final picnic breakfast, which was immediately interrupted by a pair of chat-tanagers calling right next to us! We managed to improve on our previous sightings before heading back to the coast and packing our bags. We were to leave behind the Sierra de Bahoruco range now and head to the north coast via Santo Domingo. Stopping only for fuel and lunch, we arrived in Cano Hondo on the border of Los Haitises National Park by the late afternoon. We made one quick birding stop to search for Spotted Rail, but found the location a little too dry and lacking in rails. Our last endemic awaited us the next morning, so we headed out to find it before breakfast. We marched up a small mogote (karst limestone hill) before dropping over the other side and into a Black-crowned Tanager by Matthew Matthiessen RBT Dominican Republic Trip Report 2015 5 grassy valley.