Trinidad/Tobago - Day 6

3/1/2004 (Monday) 

Around 6:30 a.m., we headed back up the dirt road. The Chachalacas were making terrific noise, as were a group of Orange-winged Parrots. We got more good looks at the antwrens and antshrikes, as well as both grassquits. I got a good but fast look at a Rufous-tailed Jacamar. At first glance it looked like a really big hummingbird, but then the field marks hit me. It moved back into the brush before Teri could get on it. Farther down the road Teri spotted a Ruby-topaz Hummingbird, which was beautiful with a surprisingly red tail. It showered on us twice, but luckily we’d left our new raingear in the hotel room so it didn’t get wet! We actually stayed pretty dry by getting under a tree, and later under a rock overhang. On the way back we saw another Ruby-topaz hummer, and the jacamar made a single flycatching flight.

Rufous-vented Chachalaca

Male Barred Antshrike

We went snorkeling again after breakfast. We swam out farther to a really nice area, but we got into some small jellyfish that were stinging Teri quite a bit, so we got out of there. The Jellyfish weren’t bothering me much, but they left little red spots on Teri, and she said that they felt like bee stings. Teri got out, and I snorkeled around for a bit longer, then we headed back to the room to relax as we were both getting a little run down.

The view from our balcony.

Relaxing on the balcony.

Mark updating the bird list.

After lunch we went out on “Frank’s Glass Bottom Boat Ride” First we went over some really nice coral reefs while Frank pointed out the various fish species to us. In addition to the many fish we saw the largest Brain Coral in the world. It was around 24’ long, 16’ wide, and 8’ tall. The parrotfish had eaten some pretty large holes in it, but it was certainly impressive.

Waiting on the dock.

Frank's Glass Bottom Boat.

We landed at Little Tobago Island and hiked in on a steep trail. We first went to a small steep-sided bay where Red-billed Tropicbirds, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown and Red-footed Boobies were flying. 

Red-billed Tropicbird

The rock in the middle of the pictures has a Brown Booby nest on it.

We saw both Brown Boobies and Red-footed boobies.

Then we went to an area where Red-billed Tropicbirds were nesting on the ground within just a foot or two of the trail. In the same area was a cove where both Booby’s had nests on the opposite side cliff.

Red-billed Tropicbird

We re-boarded the boat and as we pulled away saw a large Iguana climbing a rock right at the edge of the ocean. The boat stopped on the way back to allow about twenty minutes of snorkeling, but we hadn’t known about it so did not have our gear.

Beautiful views.

Red-billed Tropicbirds flying.

Back on the dock.  Time to relax.

Next time: Our last couple of days spent relaxing and final thoughts on the trip.