Trinidad/Tobago - Day 2

2/26/2004 (Thursday) 

We both had restless nights, thanks in part to the hooting Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl outside of our room, but did get some sleep. 

Mark outside the Cocoa Suite.

We awoke at 5:30 a.m. and were on the famous Asa Wright veranda at 6:00.

The world famous Asa Wright veranda.

We immediately began seeing the amazing birds that we’d spent so much time studying. First was a Blue-crowned Motmot; then Crested Oropendola, Bananaquit, Green Honeycreeper, Palm Tanager, Grayish Saltator, and White-lined Tanager. As the morning progressed we added Purple and Red-legged Honeycreeper, Blue-gray Tanager, and got looks at a pair of Channel-billed Toucans and a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, in spotting scopes. Orange-winged Parrots “blink-blinked” overhead.

Crested Oropendola nest.

Long, slender next are constructed to keep out monkeys.

View from the veranda.

View of forest and feeding table from the veranda.

Asa Wright is listed by Audubon as one of the top ten eco resorts in the world.  It comprises nearly 2,000 acres of mainly forested land in the Arima and Aripo Valleys of the Northern Range and located at 1,200 feet in the mountains of the Northern Range.

The Centre’s main facilities are located on a former cocoa-coffee-citrus plantation.

We had just bought digital cameras before this trip.  We were not sure how many pictures the memory cards would hold and were very careful not to take very many pictures.  

Unfortunately, most of our bird pictures are just little specks so there will not be a lot of pictures of the beautiful birds.

Chestnut Woodpecker

Green Honeycreeper

Crested Oropendola on a feeding table.

Agoti under the feeding table.

We called this guy "Stubby".

The breakfast bell rang at 7:00 a.m., and we ate breakfast with some of the guests and naturalists. At 8:30 we went on our orientation walk with Molly, one of many naturalists employed by the Nature Centre. She took us down the Discovery Trail, and pointed out numerous plants, flowers, termite nests, leaf-cutter and army ants, and several birds. Most interesting were two Common Potoos, which were roosting in trees. They looked exactly like branch stubs, and would have been impossible to find unaided. We heard a Bearded Bellbird clanging away, but did not see it.

Mark and Molly.

Termite nest high up in a tree

Common Potoo

Molly left us at the intersection of Discovery Trail with Bellbird Trail. We started down Bellbird Trail, but the continuing calls of the bellbird coaxed us back up to the intersection. There we found a Bearded Bellbird perched about fifteen feet up in a tree, calling endlessly. We actually had to move back away to get a decent view of the bird though binoculars. The volume of the calls was really unbelievable. 

Both Teri and I took videos with our digital cameras. The image of the Bellbird is tough to make out, but the audio comes through loud and clear! We watched him “clang” for a full twenty minutes.

Click on video for Bearded Bellbird call.
Turn up your volume!

Bearded Bellbird

After lunch we hiked down the Discovery Trail, then back up along the Chaconia Trail. As we neared the main house we saw both Green and Little Hermit feeding in the low flowers along the trail. We then walked down the road to the beautiful natural pool fed by the river, and then back up to the house along the Motmot Trail. 

That evening the naturalist played a John Acorn (Nature Nut) video featuring the birds of Asa Wright. We had a hard time staying awake through it, and headed off to bed for a good nights sleep.

Next time: Day 3 Clicking and Snapping - that's what Manakin's do.