Nature Adventures

  • Trinidad and Tobago Aripo Savannah

    A bus of us went to the Aripo Savannah one day and saw a few birds. It was on this trip that we saw the Parrotlets (under another blog). And here are a few others:

    White-headed Marsh-Tyrant

    Pied Water-Tyrant

    Spectacled Thrush - we had them in other places, but this is where I was able to get a close-up of that crazy eye.

    And the Wattled Jacana was there although this particular photo came from a walk on Tobago.

  • Trinidad and Tobago Nightjars

    A highlight of our Asa Wright stay was the very wet and slippery trek down to the Oilbird breeding cave. When we first started out, we got about 10 feet away when it started pouring buckets of rain. We backed off, but started out again an hour later and made it. These birds are some of the most interesting birds ever! I don't have many pictures, but the first one (albeit wonky) should help you understand why we found them fascinating! They eat FRUIT! They are LARGE! and they ECHOLOCATE! And they are HUGE when flying!

    We met up with some birds along the way.

    This next shot required more than a little luck, it being so wet and my camera so heavy and my desire to not fall on my keister so strong. Plus he only appeared for a brief moment. Lucky to get anything. Looks like he's carrying food...nesting?

    Here are the troops making their way down the trail. If the railing looks sturdy, well, think again. A couple of days before our trek the winds blew down trees which clobbered the railing in some places. We were still glad to have it.

    Speaking of the handrail...here's a tarantula inside.

    The rainforest floor

    Near the bottom

    Aaaand here's the cave opening

    Aaand, here's the bird. 

    And another two. They gave us a sampling of their characteristic loud squawking chatter which sounded something like asphalt removal was going on in there. If the whole colony had gotten noisy, we'd have needed hearing protection!

    So, that was weird and amazing. But we had other Nighthawk experiences. Here's a Potoo, although the lighting is rough.

    And a Common Pauraque.

    And, finally, over on Tobago, we had a fantastic experience with a White-tailed Nightjar that arrived each evening on the asphalt just outside our bedroom window off the patio. We really enjoyed watching it loop about acrobatically catching night insects, then return to the same spot after every foray.

    Isn't he sweet? See the white outer tail feathers?

    For those who were on the veranda at Asa Wright when we spotted the Short-tailed Nighthawks with their unusually wide wingspan flying out of the area at dusk for their evening feeding...I'll just mention it so you'll remember. It was awesome...but no pics. 

     

     

  • Woodpeckers and Antshrikes

    I'm a sucker for big woodpeckers, Pileated, Lineated, Pale-billed, Magellanic. Love them all. This one finally presented himself for a photo op near the end of our stay at Asa Wright...off to the left from the veranda.

    Lineated Woodpecker

    Anybody who's tried to photograph a woodpecker knows that one of the challenges is to catch it when it's not drilling away, jerking his head around. On this occasion I was thrilled to find a more calm subject, with only a few jabs thrown in. 

    This Lineated was interested in a second bird of his type in a tree to the right. That one was too far away and did not display itself for pictures.

    Golden-Olive Woodpecker - captured on the death march.

    Red-crowned Woodpecker male. Looks a bit like Golden-fronted, don't you think?

    Red-crowned Woodpecker, female. This male and female had a pecking interest in the bamboo...the inside is probably fairly easy to clear out for a cavity nest.

    Every now and then on the Asa Wright veranda, one could hear the call, "barred antshrike!" from someone on the left side peering into the close tree there.

    Hello.

    The female was gorgeous with her red crest, but didn't want to be photographed...by me, at least.

     

     

  • Trinidad and Tobago Trogons and Toucans

    We had Trogons galore on our trip, but they are tricky to photograph...usually in the shade and usually sit with their head in one focus plane and their body in another, so depth of field requires a smaller aperture...so again, less light. Sigh. Anyway, they are gorgeous and the images are really fun to look at in low resolution as they are here.

    Violaceous Trogon - The strongly barred tail (barely visible here) distinguishes from Green-backed Trogon

    Green-backed Trogon - Note the white under-tail.

    Green-backed Trogon female - Her eye ring is very slightly bluish (pretty hard to see), and that distinguishes her from a Violaceous.

    Collared Trogon - The white collar characteristic of this bird isn't visible here, but it was there.

    Toucans present challenges of their own...in our case they liked to perch high and far away. But they are the most interesting birds...those bills!!

    Channel-billed Toucan - a lifer for me! Gave me a chance on the last day at Asa Wright.

    Don't know why his tail is hooked up like that.

    Yes, I have a red rump.

  • Trinidad and Tobago Motmots and Jacamars

    These long-tailed sparkling beauties were more common on Tobago than on Trinidad.

    Blue-crowned Motmot - this one perched outside our leader's back door each morning, and often called..."Woof...woof" and our leader called back. :)

    Looks like he's had a recent bath, but then again, it rained a fair bit.

    I caught this one (probably the same one) sunning himself in front of the Cuffie River Lodge on Tobago.

    Racquet-tail

    And then the scintillating Rufous-tailed Jacamars every few feet! We were treated to many on the long walk we took around the perimeter of the Cuffie Lodge. My camera got kinda heavy on that hot, sweaty walk.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Trinidad and Tobago Parrots and Oropendolas

    Parrots are so lovely and I always imagine I'll get great photos, but that doesn't often happen. They're usually squawking across the sky (I called it the Parrot Parade) or skulking amongst the highest tree leaves. Anyway, here are my attempts:

    Tobago Orange-winged Parrot

    At least you can see the orange wing.

    Asa Wright rainy day - looks a bit dreary.

    Tobago....looking out from my patio/balcony.

    On this one you can see the yellow on top of his blue head.

    Green-rumped Parrotlets - There was a nice flock of these bright little guys flitting around down on the Aripo Savannah, apparently checking out these pipes for cavity nesting. Pretty far away!

    Crested Oropendolas were a thrill to watch, especially their bright blue eyes and long yellow tails in flight. Saw these at Asa Wright.

    Although we did see one long hanging nest above the driveway, it was unoccupied, and these Oropendolas did not seem to be doing their characteristic swinging acrobatics very much. Breeding season was just coming on in December.... maybe not in full swing yet, haha.