October 24 - November 3 --- A Stay At Trinidad's Asa Wright Nature (Part 3) -- The Tour Outings and David Sibley

It was hard to tear myself away from the verandah at Asa Wright; the birds are right there in front of  you and it was like shooting fish in a barrel. For once, THEY came to YOU. But even just outside of my room in one of the cottages there were plenty of photo-ops -- 

Copper-rumped hummingbird preening

Female Tufted Coquette (I struck out on the spectacular male)

The first official tour I went on was an evening drive to the abandoned United States airfield at Wallerfield. The airstrips and roads are still there and it's in one of the few remaining natural savannahs in Trinidad, so in its overgrown state birding can be very productive. Here's our van going down one of airstrips --

As the evening descended into night, we began looking looking for nightjars. "Look!  There's eyeshine on the side of the road!" Nope, it was just a reflection off a soda can. But we did see some good birds, including Common Potoo, which we spotted on a post --

The following day back at Asa Wright there was a very cooperative female Barred Antshrike at the reception area --

And here's a bird that we're familar with in the US -- a female Blackpoll Warbler --

The view from the verandah down the Ariva Valley at sunrise never stays the same...And I recommend you get to the verandah at 6am for not only the view but the coffee.

The second tour I went on (there were two groups staying at Asa Wright along with a few independent travellers; I was the photographer for Caligo and my friend and fellow Portalite Carol was the host/coordinator) was a day exploring the Northern mountain range along Blanchisseuse Road. The original forecast for my Trinidad stay was for continuous rain coming from the east, but that thankfully didn't happen, and I only had to protect my camera equipment on this one day. But a little rain isn't enough to stop birders --

The skies cleared up by noon when we spent some time at the visitor center in the mountain village of Brasso Seco. We were shown some of the local specialties, such as how smoked meats are made using an indigenous cooking facility -- 

Then we tried a local meal of smoked chicken, rice, beans, taro root, corn pie, and cacao ice cream.

After lunch we were shown the steps in processing both coffee and cacao and sampled each -- 

And finally, I took a photo of the tour group. 

After being stuffed with local food, we headed back up the mountain for an afternoon of birding. It didn't take us very to long to see a rufous-tailed Jacamar on a wire --

Blue-headed parrots --

A Common Black Hawk, which was a Lifer for me even though they can be seen back home in the Chiricahuas.

But the sighting that was really special was a group of Swallow Tanagers; it turned out to be a Life Bird for everyone in the group -- including a well-known name in the birding world who you may hae recognized in a few of the previous photos. It's what made our sighting really special, and now I can say I share a Lifer with...

David Sibley. 

Yes, THAT David Sibley. He was there with his wife Joan Walsh as part of Asa Wright's 50th anniversary.  The photo above shows him with Barry Ramdass, one of the interpreter/guides; Barry had David autograph his copy of the Sibley's Guide To Birds. David is quiet and unassuming and though he did a few presentations on sketching and IDing birds, it didn't take long for the other tour members to think of he and Joan as just birders on a tour that his main focus was to draw and see the wonders of Trinidad. Still, he WAS David Sibley...

The next day, October 31, would be prove to be one of the highlights of my stay in Trinidad. Dunston Cave is one of the most accessible caves in the world for the rare Oilbird, and it's on the grounds of Asa Wright. Oilbirds are the only nocturnal, fruit-eating birds in the world, and access is strictly controlled to protect them. So there we were, on the trail to see the Oilbirds, when someone shouted "there's an ornate hawk-eagle!" They're beautiful raptors, and and sometimes it takes years for birders to see them -- and I saw one on my first tropical birding trip.

It's hard to top seeing an ornate hawk-eagle, but the Oilbirds did.

There are about 170 oilbirds in Dunston Cave, and to reach the cave -- it's actually more of a grotto --you go down a pathway that has handrails in slippery spots; I remember thinking that I was glad I didn't bring my 500mm lens with me. Near the entrance to the cave the path goes across the convergence of two streams --

Then you come to the cave.

The oilbirds are on natural shelves on the cave's walls. No flash photography is allowed, but Caleb Walker, the senior guide at Asa Wright,  used a flashlight to briefly illuminate them for getting a quick picture. 

Coming up: Nariva Swamp and the Scarlet Ibis..