Armed with "Birds of Cuba" (Garrido and Kirkconnell) as my field guide, my target species for this trip were -
1) Bee hummingbird - the smallest bird in the world, a must see!
2) Cuban trogon - the national bird of Cuba
3) Cuban tody - the "pin-up" cute bird, also an endemic.
My target list was made keeping in mind that I was visiting Havana, Vinales and Maria la Gorda but not the Zapata peninsula. This was really a scuba diving holiday.....birding comes second.
Flicking through the field guides plates now, I'll list what I managed to find.
1. Magnificent frigatebird - only 1 or 2 individuals seen at MlaG.
2. Brown pelican - 1 sorry-looking individual at Havana port area.
3. Neotropic cormorant - 1 in flight at MlaG
4. Anhinga - 1 high over Vinales but unmistakable in flight.
5. Reddish egret - brief views from bus en route from Hav to Vin.
6. Great blue heron - as with reddish egret.
7. Great egret - as with reddish egret.
8. Snowy egret - 1 or 2 at MlaG.
9.Cattle egret - Abundant, daily.
10. Green heron - nearly daily.
11. Turkey vulture - Abundant, daily.
12. Snail kite - Male at MlaG, female seen perched near Pinar del rio.
13. American kestrel - Abundant along motorway.
14. Helmeted guineafowl - 3 (escapees?) at MlaG
15. Killdeer - def. the most common wader. Seen nearly every day.
16. Black necked stilt - 1 individual near Pinar del Rio.
17. Laughing gull - only 1 or 2 on the whole trip.
18. Sandwich tern - seen 4 or 5 times from MlaG, IDed using video footage.
19. Plain pigeon
20. White crowned pigeon - over MlaG almost daily
21. Mourning dove - daily
22. Collared dove - pair in Havana city centre.
23. Zenaida dove - common around Havana.
24. Smooth billed Ani - several seen at MlaG and Vin.
25. Great lizard cuckoo - twice(obscured views)at MlaG, hunting cicadas and quite vocal.
26. Antillean nighthawk - every evening over Hav, Vin and MlaG. Roosted in tree at our Casa.
27. Antillean palm-swift - common wherever there were palms! Also nested in hotel palm-thatched roof.
28. Cuban trogon - 1 from bus near Vin, 2 at MlaG.
29. Cuban emerald hummingbird - abundant at MlaG in hotel gardens.
30. Bee hummingbird - several feeding in the gardens daily at MlaG. I'm still editing video footage, but it does show male, female and juvs.
31. Cuban green woodpecker - pair at Vin, several at MlaG.
32. West indian woodpecker - common on the beach! at MlaG. Nesting in palms. Fearless.
33. La sagra's flycatcher - I found it hard to separate from Cuban peewee using this field guide but I think the pic below is the La sagra's. Family nesting near my hut at MlaG.
34. Cuban peewee - flycatchers seen daily - hard to ID
35. Gray kingbird - daily at MlaG. and common along motorway.
36. Loggerhead kingbird - common at MlaG. Pair seen here at nest.
37. Black whiskered vireo - very common, always heard.
38. Cuban vireo - seen once at MlaG.
39. Cuban crow - scarce at MlaG. Very vocal but shy.
40. Cave swallow - 1st bird seen as I set foot in Cuba, at the airport! Abundant in Hav.
41. Cuban martin - common in Hav.
42. Barn swallow - 1 seen at beach at MlaG.
43. Red-legged thrush - common. MlaG, Hav and Vin.
44. Northern mockingbird - common everywhere.
45. Yellow-headed warbler - common at MlaG. Daily.
46. Stripe-headed tanager - Common at MlaG. also afew at Vin.
47. Yellow faced grassquit - common at MlaG. Several daily.
48. Cuban bullfinch - daily at MlaG, very confiding, suspended nest near my hut. Seen here building.
49. House sparrow - abundant in Hav.
50. Shiny cowbird - 1 male in park in Hav.
51. Greater antillean grackle - abundant and widespread.
52. Cuban blackbird - a few individuals at MlaG and Vin
53. Black cowled oriole - common at MlaG, but getting rarer, I filmed one being pounced upon by one of the many feral cats in the Guanahacabibes national park!
So made the half century, but dipped on the target tody. Shame to have dipped on all the owls too, as they are a fav of mine. Loved the bee hummers and the roosting nighthawk was a highlight too.
Other wildlife included huge iguanas,
many species of small anole lizards, geckos, white-tailed deer and these hutias (giant tree rodents) which took me very much by surprise whilst scanning the treetops.
I'll take care of the diving and underwater life on my other blog, once I've edited all the underwater footage. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the birding more than the diving on this trip.
I'll sign off with a pic of me in typical holiday tourist mode..... trust me to find an Austrian mircobrewery in downtown Havana.
