Extra Swamp Tales – 10,000 Birds

One of many attention-grabbing facets of Trinidad’s nature is that each southern corners of the roughly boot-shaped island are dotted with wetlands. Some weeks in the past, I elaborated on a few of my experiences on the eastern and southeastern ends. Just lately we took a extra social drive to the other southern nook, to the very finish of the island the place the ocean is progressively reclaiming land, street and all. Right here too, the forest is interspersed with marshy habitat, and in some locations significantly sized our bodies of water.

Trinidad’s southwestern peninsula has pockets of moist savanna that assist sizeable groves of moriche palm. As such, the realm is without doubt one of the greatest locations to catch a glimpse of a Crimson-bellied Macaw or two. These small macaws don’t present their namesake pink bellies typically, however with yellow faces and blue flight feathers they’re nonetheless flashy little birds.

One in every of two Crimson-bellied Macaws that made a detailed go whereas we had breakfast on a distant entry street by way of the forest.

The mangrove swamps on the very finish of the peninsula are related in some methods to these on the other finish. Whereas we had been there, a pair of Rufous Crab Hawks noisily protested the presence of a Widespread Black Hawk that was comfortably perched within the vegetation. Ultimately, the stress mounted and the supposed interloper departed. Nearer to the street, a Noticed Tody-flycatcher was busy constructing a nest. A Cocoi Heron flew over, presumably in search of a spot to mount the traditional sit-and-wait however as a substitute discovered human observers. It aborted its mission with an ungainly financial institution over the treeline. Generally Scarlet Ibis may be seen right here as effectively, however there have been no vibrant pink splotches among the many mangrove roots and branches this time.

A Tricolored Heron stalked the darkish waterways.

The Icacos Lagoon is a magnificent spectacle even with out contemplating its wildlife. A whole bunch of individuals go to right here every year, lots of that are locals in awe of the panorama and dedicated to a number of hours in a automobile. From Port of Spain, the journey can take roughly three hours. However, it’s past refreshing to behold the unbroken wind over expansive wetland bordered by tens of millions of coconut bushes. On the uncommon event the place there isn’t a wind, the lagoon quiets and creates a close to impeccable reflection.

Birds are in fact, plentiful right here. In the event you don’t see at the very least one Nice Egret whereas right here, you’re most likely having a lower than common day and will self-prescribe an ice cream.

4 juvenile American Flamingoes had been a welcome shock. One other Nice Egret discovered itself within the body finally, and unsettled the flamingoes who had been resting quietly.

Eagle eyes discovered this Pinnated Bittern within the reeds.

One other pretty massive denizen of this space, Cocoi Herons nonetheless require a point of luck to come across. Regardless of their measurement and imposing stature, they’re skittish and are typically among the many first to vanish.

The one downfall of this picturesque location is the truth that there’s little or no shade, and with the solar climbing to near-overhead the warmth can simply vary between oppressive and debilitating. For these it’s extremely really useful to make the mandatory sacrifices to get there for dawn!