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Cuba Caribbean Endemic Birding IX 15Th to 24Th February 2017 (10 Days) Trip Report

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Cuba Caribbean Endemic Birding IX 15Th to 24Th February 2017 (10 Days) Trip Report Cuba Caribbean Endemic Birding IX 15th to 24th February 2017 (10 days) Trip Report Key West Quail-dove by Dušan Brinkhuizen Trip report compiled by Tour Leader, Dušan Brinkhuizen Trip Report – RBL Cuba - Caribbean Endemics IX 2017 2 Top ten birds as voted for by participants: 1. Cuban Tody 6. Oriente Warbler 2. Bee Hummingbird 7. Blue-headed Quail-dove 3. Cuban Trogon 8. Cuban Solitaire 4. Cuban Green Woodpecker 9. Key West Quail-dove 5. Zapata Wren 10. Cuban Amazon Tour Summary 16 Feb: Niña Bonita Lake, just outside of Havana, was our first birding stop of the tour. Seasonally, this freshwater lake holds numerous species of waterfowl. It just stopped raining as we arrived and species that we scoped included Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck and a single drake American Wigeon. Pied- billed Grebes were present in good numbers, as well as American Coots. We saw several herons and egrets, as expected, but two flyover Roseate Spoonbills were a nice surprise! Two Palm Warblers at the parking were the first of many more to come. We soon continued our journey westward to Las Terrazas to search for some of our very first Cuban endemics. The localised Cuban Grassquit was our main target for the day, so we immediately went to a hotspot for this attractive endemic. At the henhouse of a hacienda, we detected a flock of grassquits foraging on the ground. The majority of them were Cuban Grassquits, with a few Yellow-faced Grassquits mixed in as well. The lady at the hacienda saw that we were interested in the grassquits so she put out some food and very soon we watched both species of grassquits at point-blank range! Our first Cuban Trogon flew in and perched right above our heads. Watching this fantastic Cuban endemic – named “tocororo” – Cuba’s national bird, was a real Cuban Grassquit by Dušan treat! A neat West-Indian Woodpecker showed itself beautifully Brinkhuizen in the same trees as the trogon. We tried for the Cuban Tody at a special spot but it remained heard-only. Our first Tawny- shouldered Blackbirds were watched at the visitor’s centre where we had a nice welcome cocktail. A walk at the edge of the lagoon produced more stunning looks at Cuban Trogon, our first Cuban Pewees and a stunning Cuban Green Woodpecker at a nest hole! Our next important target for the morning was Olive-capped Warbler and we continued to Otis’ local patch to look for this species. It is a pine forest specialist and soon we heard a bird singing from the pine trees uphill. The warbler was extremely interested in our tape playback as it landed on an electric wire right in front of us! At our lunch spot, we ran into a mixed-flock of birds that showed fantastically after playing a pygmy-owl mob. Species that we watched at close range included Louisiana Waterthrush, Cuban, White-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo, Black-throated Green, Black-and-White, Black-throated Blue and Olive-capped Warbler by Dušan Brinkhuizen Trip Report – RBL Cuba - Caribbean Endemics IX 2017 3 Palm Warbler and American Redstart. Cuban Trogon showed itself fantastically for the third time today! An adult Least Grebe was scoped at a small sewage pond. We continued our journey westward to La Güira National Park and a short stop at a fish pond en route produced Caspian Tern and Snail Kite. Late afternoon birding inside La Güira National Park was very productive. One of the first birds we saw was a Cuban Tody with its electrifying plumage! We enjoyed several minutes of close-range views of this cracking endemic before we started hiking up the trail. The amazing song of the Cuban Solitaire was heard at the end of the trail and very soon we watched a pair of this awesome endemic perched at close range. Some people even managed to digiscope a video of the solitaire while singing! Sheila spotted both White- crowned and Scaly-naped Pigeon perched together in a tree – a real treat – and all four of the west Cuba targets were in the bag! 17 Feb: The following morning, we started at Hacienda Cortina. A stunning Great Lizard Cuckoo was spotted by Linda, perched up in a pine tree. It was one of the species we heard the day before that we really wanted to see. After enjoying good views of the cuckoo, our local guide, Caesar, got us on a pair of Red- legged Honeycreepers. Fernandina’s Flicker was found a little further inside the hacienda and the scope views we got of this Cuban Trogon by Dušan rare endemic were excellent. A mixed-flock of warblers Brinkhuizen produced Tennessee, Yellow-throated and Cape Warbler among others. We also tried for the Giant Kingbird that we had found here the week before. At first, no sign of this rare endemic but after playing the tape, we had one adult fly in and call back. After playing a pygmy-owl mob, we had the pair of Giant Kingbirds perch at close range and a Loggerhead Kingbird also flew in for some nice comparison between the two species! We then continued to the famous cave system of Cueva de los Portales, where Ernesto 'Che' Guevara was hiding during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The impressive habitat at the cave is characterised by steep-sided, vine-covered limestone monoliths called “mogotes”, and the sought-after Cuban Solitaire is actually fairly common at this site. As we arrived, a neat Cuban Pygmy-owl was located in the tree next to the bus. Cave Swallows and a few Cuban Martins overhead were a welcome addition to our growing list of endemics and specialities. We thought we heard a Grey Kingbird calling but soon realised it was a Northern Mockingbird mimicking the species. At a flowering tree, we watched our first Cuban Orioles for the trip. Our guides, Caesar and Mario, told us some interesting stories of Cuban history inside the cave while we also listened to the beautiful song of the Cuban Solitaire re-echoing from the limestone walls. A small group of Jamaican Fruit- eating Bats was watched with the spotlight. As we walked out of the cave system, we were surprised by a Western Barn Owl in Fernandina’s Flicker by Dušan Brinkhuizen Trip Report – RBL Cuba - Caribbean Endemics IX 2017 4 flight. On the opposite side of the river, some children flushed it and according to Caesar, it was a highly unusual sighting for this site. On our way back to San Diego de los Baños, we did a short hawk watch at a private art gallery where we had some fresh local coffee. After lunch, we started our longish drive to the Zapata peninsula. The second stop at Niña Bonita Lake along the way yielded a Belted Kingfisher as a new bird for the trip. 18 Feb: We heard several Cuban Nightjars on our way to Santo Tomás, a small remote village in the heart of the Zapata swamp. Some of us glimpsed the nightjar in flight but most of us did not get any visuals. It was becoming light quickly, so we continued straight to the canal where two boatmen were waiting for us. During a pleasant and relaxing boat ride into the swamp, we saw several migrant warblers and when we arrived at the viewing platform, we spotted our first Zapata Sparrow! The Zapata Wren was our principal target at the platform and we crossed our fingers hoping to get a glimpse of this Endangered and difficult to get species. Our local guide “Super Mario” played his tape and within a few minutes, a chunky, brown wren popped up in a nearby bush and started singing elaborately – what a blast! Everybody got their bins on it and we watched it sing for quite a while. Very pleased having seen the wren this well, we returned to our boats. We searched again for Zapata Sparrow in order to get some better views of this species. It took a while but eventually, we got great views of the sparrow on our way back along the canal. Cuban Pygmy-owl by Dušan Brinkhuizen Back at the forest in Santo Tomás, we enjoyed a pair of Cuban Pygmy-owls perch at close range. A Worm-eating Warbler showed itself well. We followed Mario into the bush where he showed us a leaf-tossing Swainson’s Warbler. A pygmy-owl mob attracted an incredible number of birds; and species that we got to see at point blank range were White-eyed and Cuban Vireo, Gray Catbird, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue and Cape May Warbler and a stunning Cuban Tody! Back at the bus, Sheila and Ann swiftly observed a Nashville Warbler. We searched for quite a while, trying to relocate this rare Cuban vagrant which would have been a new bird for our guide, Mario! After lunch at Punto Perdis, we went to Cueva de los Peces where we waited at the restaurant for a very special treat. In recent years, the restaurant staff have been putting out rice for the rare and endangered Blue- headed Quail-dove in turn for a tip. Soon after we got there, a small party of these superb grouse-like endemics showed up. It was amazing watching nine of these stunning quail-doves foraging right at our feet! Back at the hotel, Sheila noticed a fruiting tree and a flowering tree next to her cabin that were both attracting many species of birds. It was a great stakeout, a true “Christmas tree”, and we watched several great birds, including the Cuban Trogon, Zapata Wren by Dušan Brinkhuizen Trip Report – RBL Cuba - Caribbean Endemics IX 2017 5 Cuban Crow, Cuban Green Woodpecker and Baltimore Oriole! In the afternoon, we went into the forest of Soplillar.
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