We got up at 5 AM, got ourselves organized, and joined our four other house mates for a delicious breakfast of fruits, cheeses, bread pudding and eggs. At 6:40 Arturo arrived with the bus and we joined the others for a ride in the dark. Eventually we could see bits of ocean through the shrubs as daylight appeared. We drove down the east side of the narrow Bay of Pigs. We turned inland to the community of Bermejas where we parked at the side of the road next to an unmarked path. We walked a short ways to a crude fence-like bird hide and immediately began seeing the beautiful Blue-headed Quail Doves, along with Grey-headed Quail Doves feeding on the ground. The light was still pretty dim so photography was difficult, but the doves were very cooperative and even scurried around the blind and joined us!
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Blue-headed Quail-
dove |
We continued on to La Cuchilla, a lovely marshy area and saw quite a few rare Red-shouldered Blackbirds - similar to our Red-wing Blackbirds in appearance and song, but duller.
We then saw a very cute, tiny Bare-legged Owl glaring at us from its nesting hole.
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| Bare-legged Owl |
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| Cuban Pygmy Owl |
We turned around and stopped at a little snack shop where Bob and I bought a half liter of chocolate/vanilla ice cream as it was the smallest size. There was a large monument to the Cubans who died fighting off the CIA-sponsored Cuban exiles. We walked along the roadside looking for birds and Bob called to me; I turned and managed to trip over a chunk of limestone and fell in a turning roll, hitting my right elbow and wrist and leg in front of everyone! Several people dashed over and picked me up and I hobbled off.
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| Cuban Parakeet |
The bus took us back to the coast where the water was amazingly turquoise and beautiful! There were a few souvenir and dive shacks.
We walked over to a cenote, Cuevas de Los Peces (cave of the fishes) a limestone sinkhole, that was filled with saltwater. Busloads of French and other tourists were descending on the area and jumping into the water. We had a good lunch of crocodile and fish which I had difficulty eating as my arm was so stiff by that time. Then we had a little time to go swimming in the ocean if we wanted to.
The changing room turned out to be a tiny toilet cubical and I figured I should take it easy anyway, so Bob and I walked over to the shore. There was no beach just undercut sharp limestone descending into the water so I’m glad I passed on that opportunity.
It was in the 90s and the birding was quite quiet, but we took an hour and a half stroll through some woods and didn't see much. At 4 PM we returned to Casa Kirenia where I got a bag of ice and iced my wrist and elbow and napped a bit. At 6:15 we walked to the Hostal Enrique and joined the others on their rooftop terrace for the list, fortified with delicious mojitos.
We enjoyed a dinner of roast pork back at our hostal; everyone except me went out on a night drive to look for nightjars . My arm was getting better, so I decided to rest.
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| Red-headed Brown Anole Lizard |
We then saw a very cute, tiny Bare-legged Owl glaring at us from its nesting hole.
We walked over to a cenote, Cuevas de Los Peces (cave of the fishes) a limestone sinkhole, that was filled with saltwater. Busloads of French and other tourists were descending on the area and jumping into the water. We had a good lunch of crocodile and fish which I had difficulty eating as my arm was so stiff by that time. Then we had a little time to go swimming in the ocean if we wanted to. 
The changing room turned out to be a tiny toilet cubical and I figured I should take it easy anyway, so Bob and I walked over to the shore. There was no beach just undercut sharp limestone descending into the water so I’m glad I passed on that opportunity.
