Hitting the Ground Running in Dominican Republic

Up and out for 7am in search of Ridgway’s Hawk. We headed over to the usual area where we heard the hawk in the distance behind a dense woodland which we couldn’t navigate around due to the stream becoming a torrential river due to recent heavy rains. As we scanned the surrounding area we picked up Hispaniolan Woodpecker, many Palmchats, Hispaniolan Mango, Black-crowned Palm Tanager, Vervain Hummingbird, and watched a White-necked Crow uttering its raucous and more than slightly comical call. 

Palmchat

Hispaniolan Woodpecker

At breakfast the heavens opened and the first of many heavy showers put in an appearance. This was all well and good whilst we were at the lodge having breakfast but once out in the field we had to take shelter many times. On top of that, we had to wade up to our knees numerous times to reach the clearing where a Ridgway’s Hawk was hanging out, thanks to the knowledge of local guide Juan Cespedes. And what views we had of this super rarity – flying overhead and landing in a tree right next to us. 

Ridgway's Hawk

In fact it was present the whole time we birded the large clearing where West Indian Whistling Duck, a cracking Antillean Piculet posed nicely for ages, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Parula, American Redstart and a fine Cape May Warbler were all seen well. Not a bad haul and there was much relief all round at seeing the hawk, in fact we had a thoroughly enjoyable time despite getting soaked with numerous extremely heavy showers and wading through the river and across the flooded field. We returned to the quirky hotel to dry off and had an hour or so until lunch. 

West Indian Whistling Duck

Antillean Piculet

In the late afternoon after a siesta we walked down the lane into the open area and beside the fields where we found a pair of Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoos posing beside the road. Another cracking Cape May Warbler was at eye-level feeding in a tree, with a Broad-billed Tody close by. 

We also found a flock of Village Weavers mixing with a colony of Palmchats. Next to us was a tall ‘stump’ of a palm tree with numerous holes in it being inhabited by 7 male and a female Hispaniolan Woodpeckers. We walked up behind the lodge but couldn’t find anything else new, but did enjoy some very close perched Turkey Vultures (so ugly!) and another tody. So we decided to have an early dinner – must admit fitting in 3 sit-down hotel meals into my stomach in a day is not easy!

Hispaniolan Woodpeckers

 After dinner we drove back along the entrance road and enjoyed crippling views of Ashy-faced Owl to make it a 10 endemic day!

Ashy-faced Owl

PUERTO RICO - DOMINCAN REPUBLIC

This was just a travelling day and we even had a lie in as we didn’t leave for San Juan Airport until 9am. Our flight to Punta Cana was delayed and we didn’t touch down in the Dominican Republic until 4.30pm, to be greeted by a wall of noise from a local band and an airport buzzing with a multitude of people. Our first endemic Palmchats outside the car rental centre were very much appreciated by everyone and a well-timed boost. The only other bird of note was an Antillean Swift seen on the drive, which saw us arrive at the equally bizarre and delightful Altos de Cano Hondo in the dark at 8.30pm. But a few beers later and we were all ready for what tomorrow would bring….. more lifers!

PUERTO RICO DAY 5

So with all major targets done and dusted here in Puerto Rico we had a ‘spare’ day to simply go birding and try and mop up some more of what’s on offer…. We began by checking out the Lajas Fields, with the first road impassable due to the recent heavy rain, but the second road was much better. A Grasshopper Sparrow was seen very well perched in some bare branches at the edge of a field beside the track and was certainly much appreciated by Lars. As we drove back to the main road we passed a pair of African Collared Doves and a flock of around 20 non-breeding Pin-tailed Whydahs….. Where are we again? Next up were the lagoons at Cabo Rojo again, but this time we were looking into the sun, so drove further along the track where a pair of ‘Caribbean’ Clapper Rails paraded around right beside our van and showed extraordinarily well. Wow!

The track swung away to our left and eventually ended at the back of the lagoon, allowing us much better light to scope the large flock of shorebirds. Our only Hudsonian Whimbrel and a Grey Plover were passed as we drove in as well. Out on the lagoon we scoped mainly Least Sandpipers and could pick out a few Western Sandpipers, whilst a Wilson’s Plover and some Sanderling were scoped just before a Merlin dashed onto the scene and chased an unfortunate peep across the sky in front of us, forcing the flock to wheel and turn in the sky making for an amazing spectacle. A couple of Little Blue Herons were also scoped here and a pair of Caribbean Elaenia’s were far more obliging than yesterday’s birds. 

A bumpy, uncomfortable drive to the lighthouse at Cabo Rojo was rewarded with stunning views of several White-tailed Tropicbirds wheeling around the cliffs. And one pair landed briefly allowing us to scope them. Wow! 

White-tailed Tropicbird

After breakfast we drove an hour east and visited the Antillean Crested Hummingbird stake-out where within minutes of our arrival we were watching at least 3 of these stunners feeding right in front of us. After our poor result on the first day we were elated with our success! 

Antillean Crested Hummingbird

A sudden downpour prompted an early exit and we headed to Humacao on the east coast, where the reserve was shut of course (at 3.30pm can you believe it?) and all we got for our efforts was a Brown Booby out at sea after a search for White-winged Parakeet drew a blank. We toasted our success tonight with beer and mojitos and looked forward to the next leg of our journey….

PUERTO RICO DAY 4

I wasn’t sure how today would pan out and in all truth it didn’t start too well as we searched for the endemic Yellow-shouldered Blackbird by walking along the mosquito-ridden Mangrove Trail in La Parguera. No blackbirds of course but Northern Waterthrush, Prairie Warbler and the endemic Adelaide’s Warbler showing well for everyone. About an hour later we eventually nailed the tricky blackbird when David C spotted 4 flying past us and perching a bit distantly in the treetops, but what a relief I can tell you! 

    So we hot-footed it back just in time to the hotel for breakfast before heading up into the dry forest of Guanica where I’d been doing some research and it seems the tricky Antillean (Puerto Rican) Euphonia has sometimes been seen… Not often but a few times over the past ten years. Long odds I know but I didn’t fancy driving back up the winding lanes to Maricao tomorrow. Anyway, a Pearly-eyed Thrasher showed well in the car park as we set off on the long, hot and uneven trail into the dry forest. Adelaide’s Warbler was numerous, as was Puerto Rican Tody, and we also saw a pair of Puerto Rican Bullfinches but I was on a mission. 

Pearly-eyed Thrasher

Puerto Rican Tody

    We had walked just about halfway along our chosen trail when I heard the unmistakeable call of an Antillean Euphoniaand we managed to track a group of at least 3 down, with one particular male stopping in a large tree next to the trail for a good few minutes. I just couldn’t believe it and what an adrenaline rush to finally see this last endemic/race. Oh yes life is good! Walking on and buoyed by our success we managed to get on a calling Caribbean Elaenia in the dense vegetation before returning to the minibus. 

Depending on who you follow this is Antillean Euphonia or Puerto Rican Euphonia

    Leaving here it was about 40 minutes drive to Laguna Cartagena, seeing our first Yellow-faced Grassquits en-route – and what a time we had from the tower overlooking the main lagoon. Best of all were half a dozen West Indian Whistling Ducks, along with a few Least Grebes and 4 Ring-necked Ducks – something of a rarity here. Other goodies included Purple Gallinule, 8 American Wigeons, lots of Blue-winged Teal, many Ruddy Ducks, a Sora for David C, Black-crowned Night-heron, Glossy Ibis, Western Osprey, Glossy Ibis and other common species. 

   From here we headed over to Cabo Rojo but the gate was just being closed to the lighthouse as we arrived at 5pm so stopped to look at a flock of Stilt Sandpipers just to piss the guard off! As we were there a flock of Least Sandpipers flew in and landed right in front of us. Another access road into Cabo Rojo was good as we stopped on the approach road and birded the grass and acacia scrub where we had the bizarre combination of Indigo Bunting, Black-faced Grassquit, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and a few Red Bishops skulking in the scrub, with Venezuelan Troupials serenading us from the treetops, a White-crowned Pigeonperched up nearby (again found by David C who was on fire today), and a pesky couple of Grasshopper Sparrows calling away but failing to show. Out on the lagoons a flock of 100+ mixed ‘peeps’ held mainly Least Sandpipers, with several Westerns and one or two Semipalmated Sandpipers mixed in to round off quite a good day, despite missing lunch – sorry Gordon!

PUERTO RICO DAY 3

So this was just one of those days that show the ups and downs we birders have to endure for our passion. We began up at Maricao, some 300m higher in elevation that our current hotel. That makes all the difference if you’re an Elfin Woods Warbler, as the habitat is subtly different and yes, there is smaller, dwarf-type vegetation here, but I’ve never seen the warbler in those smaller trees tbh! We arrived at 6.45am and it took a good 90 minutes before we layed eyes on the wee blighter but after what seemed an eternity we had excellent looks at this pretty endemic. 

Elfin Woods Warbler

Puerto Rican Tanager

Puerto Rican Tanagers are common up here as well and we saw plenty during our warbler vigil along the road, and we also picked up a Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Northern Parula, several Green Mango’s, as well as PR Bullfinch, PR Tody, PR Spindalis, and the local race of Loggerhead Kingbird. We walked a little bit along a nearby trail and nailed our main target of Lesser Antillean/Puerto Rican Pewee. But alas….no euphonia. 

   Breakfast back at the ranch was excellent and we hung around a while in the vain hope of seeing the euphonia before heading back up to Maricao, stopping to check another euphonia site and only finding a migrant Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The forest was deathly quiet up here as it was now nearly midday, so we drove down to the lowlands and over to the far side of Cabo Rojo. Here, some really fab lagoons held nearly 50 White-cheeked Pintails, along with Great Blue Heron,  100+ Stilt Sandpipers, several Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher and lots of Black-necked Stilts. Walking along the beach trail we scoped some Royal Terns, found an obliging Mangrove Cuckoo, as well as Prairie Warbler, many Grey Kingbirds and David C found a Lesser Antillean/ Puerto Rican Mango. 

Lesser Yellowlegs

Mangrove Cuckoo

Stilt Sandpipers

   We left here just as the heavens opened for the second afternoon running and called in to La Parguera where we searched for Yellow-shouldered Blackbird despite the rain. A Yellow Warbler, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper and a Yellow-crowned Night-heron were scant compensation and with more heavy rain dogging us, drove just 15 minutes to our next hotel. 

Puerto Rican Nightjar

   After dinner we drove 7 minutes away and were treated to fantastic views of a Puerto Rican Nightjar hovering right overhead on two occasions before finding one perched in the bushes. What a great way to finish the day, more than making up for missing the blackbird…. At the moment!

PUERTO RICO DAY 2

    With sunrise not until 06:45 it felt like a lie-in not meeting at the minibus until 06:30 and a short 25 minute drive to Rio Abajo was over before we knew it. This is a fantastic birding site and incredibly we found at least 4 Puerto Rican Parrots quite easily as they were calling and constantly moving over the road and perching to feed on fruits in plain sight. Ok so one had a radio transmitter and one definitely had some rings/bands but this is the main reintroduction site for this incredibly rare species and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing them. 

Puerto Rican Parrot

    In fact our couple of hours was a bird fest from start to finish as we had our first Puerto Rican Tody perched up and calling right beside the road – it was just a shame it was tOo gloomy at this early hour to get a record shot. Oh well….! After the amazon experience we stayed for quite a while at a clearing where we saw several Puerto Rican Vireos, a Puerto Rican Emerald put in a couple of appearances, Lars found an Adelaide’s Warbler, we saw another Northern Parula and an American Redstart was seen, Puerto Rican Spindalis glowed in the canopy, and lastly a Puerto Rican Flycatcherwas seen well. We’d also had a Broad-winged Hawk perched up too. Just around the corner we glimpsed our first Puerto Rican Bullfinch high up in the canopy, but then found several more with one particularly obliging individual being seen just before a Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo decided to appear right next to Lars! This beast then started to sun itself with outstretched wings and a fanned tail whilst we drooled over the views. The only slight disappointment was a Puerto Rican/Lesser Antillean Pewee never stayed around long enough for everyone apart from me to see.

Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo

    Leaving here we returned to the hotel, had a nice breakfast and then packed up the minibus and drove around 20 minutes to some cliffs where the hoped-for White-tailed Tropicbirds performed admirably. En-route a flock of Cattle Egrets, some Glossy Ibis, Killdeer, Red-tailed Hawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk were all nice padders. At the cliffs we saw up to ten tropicbirds flying over the ocean, with a few coming reasonably close. With our eyes to the skies we scored a few Caribbean Martins amongst the numerous Cave Swallows, as well as huge Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds, plus a pair of American Oystercatchers flew by. 

White-tailed Tropicbird..... much better photos to follow...

Cave Swallow

    Following this, a quick stop to collect our picnic lunch and a fuel stop were made before the 90 minute drive to our next hotel. This was when we hit a tropical downpour that lasted most of the rest of the day. Roads became rivers and the winding route through the hills became a little torturous to say the least. I was mightily relieved to arrive at our wonderful accommodation in the hills not far from Bosque Estatal Maricao.     

    Upon arrival we headed into the restaurant for coffee as the torrential downpour still hadn’t  abated, much to everyone’s frustration. We were reduced to scanning from the restaurant veranda until the rain eased and we could actually pick out a few Scaly-naped Pigeons perched up in the forest below. Fortunately the rain did stop briefly, allowing us to offload the luggage from the minibus without getting drenched, but we had to endure several more showers. We were actually getting quite good at dodging them! In between bursts of rain we found a much-wanted Puerto Rican Tanager that allowed fine scope views but it didn’t make it look any prettier! A pair of Venezuelan Troupials positively glowed in the canopy of a cecropia, a Green Mango gave repeated views beside the restaurant, a Magnolia Warbler was found and we ended the day with a Puerto Rican Owl. Nice!

Puerto Rican Screech Owl

PUERTO RICO 2022 - DAY 1

    With everyone arriving a day early we had a really nice rest this morning, not leaving the hotel until after I had picked up the rental van and returning to the hotel at 10am. It wasn’t the best hotel in the world but it served a purpose, but what was good (and you have to be a birder to appreciate this) was we were only 1.9kms away from a Green-throated Carib stakeout that had been producing superlative looks at this tricky species for the past few weeks. It wouldn’t still be there, would it? Oh yes baby it was! No sooner had we exited the minibus we were watching a pair feeding amidst a large flowering tree right next to our parked vehicle. We enjoyed repeated views of this cracking hummer (and is there ever such a thing as a bad hummer?), which seemed to be doing a circuit of the surrounding area and returning to its favourite tree every ten minutes or so. We also saw our first Puerto Rican Spindalis, Red-legged Thrush and tried hard to ignore the ubiquitous Greater Antillean Grackles all around us. 

Green-throated Carib

    Leaving here we drove around 30 minutes to El Yunque, arriving at the worst time of day, and it showed as we struggled to get on anything for a while. Eventually, Puerto Rican Loggerhead Kingbirds were admitted to our fledgeling island list, along with Grey Kingbirds, a single Northern Parula and a Magnificent Frigatebird. Oh I forgot to mention the driveby flock of Caribbean Martins seen by a few of us as we drove along the motorway en-route - but they'd be a daily sighting from now on. A very brief Puerto Rican Mango (split from Antillean Mango allegedly) didn’t make it onto our lists due to the ultra brief sighting, although I did note it had a black belly and the mantle seemed to be a light gold colour in the sun…. 

    So giving this up as a bad lot we drove down and visited a nice little restaurant where we spent way too much time, no doubt due to the cold beer being consumed by my group! However, it was worthwhile for our first sighting of Puerto Rican Oriole and Puerto Rican Woodpecker, some showy Zenaida Doves, along with a group of Smooth-billed Anis. This little lot really gave us an adrenaline surge so we headed over to Las Croabas where our search for Antillean Crested Hummingbird drew a blank, but we did have Venezualian Troupial, another oriole and woodpecker, as well as Common Ground Dove. 

Puerto Rican Woodpecker

    By now it was 4.30pm and we drove the two hours to Cambalache Forest, but our journey was prolonged by a long tailback just the other side of San Juan but during the drive we did see a Western Osprey and a flock of Cave Swallows. Arriving at dusk, it was too late for any other birding apart from a stab at Puerto Rican Owl, which was our aim anyway. We heard two individuals but try as we might the forest was just too dense, despite getting rather close on one occasion. Oh well, we’d save that one for later!  Our digs for the night were a little quirky but the restaurant did us proud with a very nice meal and we were tucked up in bed by 10.00pm ready for a big day tomorrow.

OMAN BIRDING ADVENTURE

So the world is opening up at last. And where to go birding? Certainly Oman ticks a lot of boxes, whether it's Crab Plover, Hypocolius, Omani Owl or the other Arabian specialities that float your boat. Or just some good birding visiting mountains, lagoons, desert, wadis and oases, and a pelagic thrown in for good measure..... Oh and for sure there's a mad-mix of Palearctic, Afrotropical and Oriental birds on offer.... 

We have tours to this amazing birding destination in December 2021 and February 2022

View the tour itinerary here: Oman Birding Adventure Tour Info

Grey Hypocolius

Crab Plover

Arabian Babbler

Sand Partridge

Arabian Wheatear

Crowned Sandgrouse

Jouanin's Petrel

Menetries's Warbler

Nile Valley Sunbird