After breakfast at 6:15 we joined the others in the bus along with Frank, our local guide.
The endemic bird species are mostly endangered, but the local guides know exactly where they are, so we have a good chance of identifying them. We also have a representative of the Cuban Conservation Trust along and our Cuban naturalist guide, Dr. Luis Diaz, who is one of the top herpetologists in Cuba and has been pointing out a wide variety of beautiful lizards for us. Gonzalo manages the logistics for our trip and gives us lectures on Cuban culture. With all this assistance, its no wonder that of the 48 possible birds Bob was hoping to add to his life list, he already has 37!
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| Zapata Sparrow |
Our driver, Arturo, turned off a main road onto a narrow dirt one and very slowly drove down it in the dark. It has been frustrating as we were told not to bring a GPS to Cuba (not sure why) so it is very difficult to tell where we are especially in the dark! We figured out later that we had been traveling through the huge marshy area north and west of Playa Larga. The ground fog lifted and we found ourselves in a lovely swampy area with open water and scattered islands, called La Turba. Frank quickly called up the Zapata Sparrow and other local species.
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| Two Greater Flamingos & A Roseate Spoonbill |
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| Black-necked Stilts |
Arturo somehow managed to turn the large bus around on this one-lane road and we drove to Las Salinas, an area of open shallow water with some platforms from which we could see beautiful Black-necked Stilts, a favorite Santa Barbara bird, but lovely to see in such numbers, White Pelicans and gorgeous, dark pink Flamingos and one Spoonbill.
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View from the Tiki Hut |
We went back to town and stopped at the Tiki Hut Restaurant for lunch on an open-air terrace overlooking the bay. Most of us had Pina Coladas and then a platter of red snapper, squidZS() and shrimp. Not the obvious beverage for an afternoon of serious birding, but Jon, our Wings leader, suggested it, so why not?
After lunch we drove to the little village of Palpite and stopped at Bernabe’s house.
The lady greeted us and took us to her back yard where she has set up several hummingbird feeders. We took turns holding the feeder and experienced having the world’s smallest bird, the Bee Hummingbird at 2.5” in length, inches away from us! This tiny creature zooms around and looks even smaller than its size! It has a iridescent red throat, white underneath, and an iridescent blue back—just gorgeous! The Cuban Emerald Hummingbird, at 4”, that we have been seeing these past few days, was there also so we could compare their sizes,
We returned to Casa Kirenia for several hours of relaxation! I grabbed a shower and then walked the one block to the town beach with lovely views due south to the Caribbean Sea. I waded in the bath tub-warm water! We gathered together at 6:15 for the List and mojitos and then return to our guest houses where our host served us local lobster tail, huge grilled split tails, which I’m afraid I couldn’t finish.
My wrist, elbow and leg bump are a little better today, so I guess I'll survive!
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| Our Room at Casa Kirenia - with Swan Towels! |
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