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Best of Trinidad: Asa Wright Nature Centre & Grande Riviere, the Lush Stronghold of the Trinidad Piping-Guan

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Best of Trinidad: Asa Wright Nature Centre & Grande Riviere, the Lush Stronghold of the Trinidad Piping-Guan Best of Trinidad: Asa Wright Nature Centre & Grande Riviere, the Lush Stronghold of the Trinidad Piping-guan March 23-30, 2018 with Bill Gette Trinidad Piping-guan, courtesy Mt. Plaisir Estate Hotel This tour is designed to showcase the best of Trinidad. Compared to our classic Trinidad Birding Tour, this trip is more flexible in pace with options to pursue your interests―be they birds, butterflies, photography, or simply relaxing in a tropical setting (and letting the birds come to you). It’s ideal for returning guests and for couples/friends with diverse interests. It also fits well into a calendar week, great for those with limited time. Two fine lodges are featured for variety. First, we’ll stay at the beloved Asa Wright Nature Centre (AWNC), enjoying the famous verandah and venturing off the grounds to see Scarlet Ibises at Caroni National Park and the scenic mountain terrain of the surrounding Northern Range. We will also have a full-day field trip to Nariva Swamp. After five nights at AWNC, we’ll spend two nights at a boutique, beachfront lodge on Trinidad’s northern coast where lush forests provide a stronghold for the endangered Trinidad Piping-guan. Our travel day between lodges includes a visit to the Aripo Agricultural Station. Trinidad: March 23-30, 2018 Tour Highlights Travel with Mass Audubon and AWNC’s expert guides celebrated for their birding knowledge and friendly, world-class guiding skills Savor five nights at the Asa Wright Nature Centre; relish morning coffee and birding on the famous verandah Visit the enigmatic Oilbirds in the grotto of Dunston Cave Witness skies turned crimson with thousands of Scarlet Ibises coming to roost in Caroni National Park Enjoy optional excursions if you’d like more birding or photography experiences Relish two nights at Mt. Plaisir Estate Hotel in Grande Riviere Look for the highly endangered Trinidad Piping-guan wh ile at Grande Riviere Birding on the world-famous Asa Wright verandah, by Dave Larson Mass Audubon Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 Trinidad: March 23-30, 2018 Day 1, March 23: Arrive and Explore the Asa Wright Nature Centre Plan to arrive at Piarco International Airport in late afternoon/evening (we will send flight recommendations once the traveler minimum has been met). You will be met by an AWNC guide and/or Mass Audubon naturalist Bill Gette who will take you to the Centre. The Centre is located about an hour’s drive away in the Northern Range. We’ll settle in, relax on the Centre’s wide verandah, and marvel at the almost tame hummingbirds, tanagers, honeycreepers, and other birds that frequent the feeders. At 6 p.m., we’ll enjoy rum punch and then dinner. This evening, we’ll get to know each other and review the itinerary and target species. Overnight: Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge (D) || http://asawright.org/ WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Commonly Seen at the Feeders: White-chested Emerald; White-necked Jacobin; Rufous-breasted and Little Hermits; Copper-rumped Hummingbird; Tufted Coquette; Crested Oropendola; Blue-gray, Palm, White-lined, Silver-beaked, and Turquoise Tanagers; Barred Antshrike; Purple and Green Honeycreepers; and Violaceous Euphonia. Seen From the Verandah: Double-toothed Kite; Scaled Pigeon; Black-tailed Tityra; Common Black- Hawk; Gray-lined, White, and Zone-tailed Hawks; Channel-billed Toucan; Bearded Bellbird; Yellow- breasted, Piratic, and Boat-billed Flycatchers; Yellow-olive Flatbill; Northern Tropical Pewee; Tropical Kingbird; Tegu Lizard; and Red-rumped Agouti. White-bearded Manakin, Peg Abbott; Golden-headed Manakin, Buck Snelson; Bearded Bellbird, Mike Boyce Day 2, March 24: Introductory Birding on Forest Trails/Night Birding Morning begins with the raucous calls of the Crested Oropendolas and a host of other exotic sounds. A first-time visitor could see 20-30 life birds before breakfast and 40 species overall. After breakfast, we’ll have a guided tour along several trails through the sanctuary. Many participants enjoy the challenge of spotting a Bearded Bellbird as its distinctive “bonk!” echoes throughout the forest. Not far from a known bellbird lek in the trees are two species of manakins attending their leks closer to the ground. The afternoon will be free to allow you to relax, enjoy the trails on your own, and adjust to the tropical sun and heat. Birding from the verandah of the Asa Wright Nature Centre is one of the world’s most pleasant and exciting ornithological experiences. Ruby-topaz Hummingbird, Tufted Coquette, Barred Antshrike, and Green Honeycreeper are just some of the exciting species one can expect. Mass Audubon Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 Trinidad: March 23-30, 2018 Later, we’ll head out on a night-birding field trip. We’ll travel south down the Arima Valley before turning east. In these Northern Range foothills lies the Aripo Agriculture Research Station which breeds a cross of Water Buffalo and Brahman cattle. The research station’s open countryside and rough pastures allow us to seek plenty of new species. We’ll enjoy a picnic dinner, then set off on a slow drive looking for target night species. Overnight: Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge (B,L,D) Morning Birding Highlights: Trinidad Motmot; Cocoa and Spectacled Thrushes; Gray-fronted Dove; White-bearded and Golden-headed Manakins; Green-backed Trogon; Channel-billed Toucan; Chestnut Woodpecker; Rufous-browed Peppershrike; Turquoise and Bay-headed Tanagers; Green Hermit; Tufted Coquette; Black-throated Mango; Forest Elaenia; Ochre-bellied Flycatcher; Yellow Oriole; White-necked Thrush; Rufous-breasted Wren; White-flanked Antwren; and Bearded Bellbird. Night Birding Possibilities: Fork-tailed Palm-swift; Sulphury Flycatcher; Moriche Oriole (extremely rare); White-tailed Nightjar; Common Pauraque; Common Potoo; Tropical Screech-owl; Barn Owl; and Spectacled Owl (with a lot of luck). Bananaquit; Bay-headed Tanager; Blue-gray Tanager: Mike Boyce Day 3, March 25: Birding Trinidad’s Northern Range Today’s scenic, day-long excursion takes us high into the Northern Range on the Blanchisseuse Road. We’ll make frequent birding stops, enjoy a picnic lunch, and then continue to bird along the way through the mountains to the village of Morne la Croix. Here, we’ll fortify ourselves with afternoon tea and cakes while watching parrots come to roost. We’ll also have the opportunity to examine the strange world of leaf-cutter and army ants, as well as the chance to photograph butterflies, orchids, and other tropical flora. Overnight: Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge (B,L,D) Birding Highlights: Swallow-tailed Kite; Common Black-Hawk; Bat Falcon; Collared Trogon; Ornate Hawk-Eagle; Channel-billed Toucan; Trinidad Piping-guan; Short-tailed Hawk; Streaked and Euler’s Flycatchers; Rufous-tailed Jacamar; Blue-headed Parrot; Lilac-tailed Parrotlet; Orange- winged Amazon; Collared Trogon; Golden-olive, Red-rumped, and Chestnut Woodpeckers; Ferruginous Pygmy-owl; Stripe-breasted Spinetail; Cocoa and Plain-brown Woodcreepers; Dusky- capped and Slaty-capped Flycatchers; Rufous-breasted Wren; Golden-fronted Greenlet; Speckled and Hepatic Tanagers; Yellow-rumped Cacique. Mass Audubon Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 Trinidad: March 23-30, 2018 Day 4, March 26: Nariva Swamp Today, we’ll have a full day of birding at Nariva Swamp. We’ll depart for the lowlands of the Aripo Agricultural Station after breakfast. Here in the open countryside and semi-wild pastures, we’ll see an entirely different set of species from those in the AWNC forests. After we thoroughly explore the station, we’ll continue to the Atlantic Coast for a picnic lunch and possible seabird sightings on the beach at Manzanilla. We’ll bird the beachside habitats of Coconut Alley before entering Nariva Swamp. Here, the Nariva River reaches the sea. The freshwater environments in the swamp make for spectacular birding. We will end the day’s excursion in search of two species of large macaws, as well as Red Howler and White-faced Capuchin Monkeys at Bush Bush Wildlife Sanctuary. This will be a very full day with many stops and sightings of species found nowhere else on the island. Overnight: Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge (B,L,D) BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS At Aripo Station: Great Kiskadee; Tropical Kingbird; Carib Grackle; Short-tailed Swift; Cocoi Heron; Savanna Hawk; Gray-headed Kite; Yellow-headed Caracara; Wattled Jacana; Southern Lapwing; Green-rumped Parrotlet; Fork-tailed Palm-swift; White-winged Swallow; White-headed Marsh-tyrant; Pied Water-tyrant; Yellow-chinned Spinetail; Red-breasted Blackbird; Grassland Yellow-finch; and Ruddy-breasted Seedeater. Gazing out to Sea: Magnificent Frigatebird; Brown Pelican; Brown Booby. South Towards Nariva: Common Black-Hawk; Yellow-headed and Crested Caracaras; Savanna and Gray-lined Hawks; Pearl and Plumbeous Kites; Green and American Pygmy Kingfishers; Black-crested Antshrike; Silvered Antbird; Brown-crested Flycatcher; Pinnated Bittern; Black- bellied Whistling-Duck; Purple Gallinule; Yellow-hooded Blackbird; White-tailed Goldenthroat; Long-winged Harrier; Yellow-crowned Amazon; and Red-bellied and Blue-and-yellow Macaws. White-headed Marsh-tyrant and Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Mike Boyce; Pinnated Bittern, Dave Ramlal Mass Audubon Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 Trinidad: March 23-30, 2018 Day 5, March 27: Rare Oilbirds and Caroni Marsh This morning, enjoy coffee, tea, and breakfast on the verandah followed by a walk to see the Centre’s resident Oilbirds. We start on a short but steep path to Dunston Cave, a riparian grotto at AWNC. Here, we’ll enjoy exclusive access to a breeding colony of Oilbirds—nocturnal, fruit-eating birds that congregate here at one of the world’s most accessible nesting caves. In the afternoon, we’ll depart for Caroni Swamp birding along the way. We’ll search the mangroves of Caroni National Park for new species and then head to the dock.
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