Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary

Cuba, Day 6, 9 March 2017 - Soplillar, La Boca & Playa Larga

A 07.30 rendezvous with my guide for the morning Angel was on the cards today but there was just one snag - he failed to turn up! I sat outside our digs for ages waiting for him but by 08.15 it was pretty clear he wasn't coming.
So, plan B had me driving the short distance to the dry woodland at Soplillar to try my own luck. As I arrived I spotted a couple of birders and a guide in the woods so sauntering up to them we got chatting and the French couple and their guide invited me along! I thought this was a stroke of luck but as the morning progressed it became clear the guide wasn't very good (his id skills left a little to be desired!) and the couple were a bit dudey and believed everything he told them - until I kept correcting him! At one point he called me an 'expert' which was a little rich coming from a local guide!

Anyway, despite that we saw some half decent birds the best of which were some mega close views of a Cuban Pygmy Owl and 5 Cuban Parakeets. Also seen in the couple of hours I was there were 2 Cuban Trogon, Cuban Tody, Grey Catbird, Red-legged Thrush, 6 Great Lizard Cuckoo, Killdeer, 2 American Kestrels, c10 West Indian Woodpeckers, Cuban Vireo, Prairie Warbler and Ovenbird.

American Kestrel

Great Lizard Cuckoo

Cuban Trogon

Cuban Emerald

Great Lizard Cuckoo

Cuban Parakeet

West Indian Woodpecker

Cuban Pygmy Owl

Killdeer

Smooth-billed Ani

After taking my leave from them I headed back towards Playa Larga and then north back to the ponds and woods at La Boca. Being in the middle of the day things were quiet but I did get Prairie Warbler, Cuban Oriole and 2 Belted Kingfishers whilst over the road at the pool behind the bus shelter were an Anhinga, Neotropic Cormorant and Louisiana Waterthrush.

Later that day I went in search of Angel and he pulled up on his moped in the village to ask if I was Chris! We hastily made plans to meet at the crack of dawn the following day. An evening walk along a track east of the village was pretty uneventful and through a rubbish dump! Nevertheless I did see Tawny-shouldered Blackbird, Northern Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, La Sagra's Flycatcher, Cuban Pewee, Ovenbird, Yellow-headed warbler, Cuban Crow, Grey Catbird and Cuban Trogon.

Prairie Warbler

Anhinga

Louisiana Waterthrush

Neotropic Cormorant

Ovenbird

Northern Parula

Cuba, Day 5, 8 March 2017 - Palpite & La Boca

This was the day we left Vinales and headed east via the southern edge of Havana and then down to the Zapata Peninsular. We were staying at Playa Larga at the head of the Bay of Pigs. A quick stop at the Embalse Nina Monita again while passing only added Pied-billed Grebe and c6 Killdeer but it was pretty much the same as our first visit except the big rafts of duck were miles away at the far end. The big crowds at the rest stop meant we didn't hang around long and continued on to reach Playa Larga mid-afternoon.

After checking in I needed some birding and Bee Hummingbirds beckoned! I found the necessary house in the nearby village of Palpite after a passer by pointed it out to me. I had been looking for a pink house but it's actually green! Within seconds of walking into the back garden a Bee Hummingbird was hovering 18 inches in front of my nose! I went on to see 2 females and a stunning male around the large flowering shrub and feeders there. The hosts are a lovely quite elderly couple who make visiting birders really welcome. I can't recommend it more highly! Their shrub/garden also held showy Grey Catbird, Western Spindalis, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Cuban Oriole and Cuban Blackbird. A Crested Caracara flew over too.

Bee Hummingbirds

Grey Catbird

Western Spindalis

Black-throated Blue Warbler

After a tip off from another birder there I headed a mile or so north to the area around the crocodile farm at La Boca. Here I had a lovely end to my day with plenty of migrant warblers - 2 Northern Waterthrushes, 8 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 2 Black-and-white Warblers, 5 American Redstarts and 3 Northern Parulas plus Yellow-throated Warbler and Prairie Warbler both of which were new birds for me. The pools held Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, American Purple Gallinule and Common Gallinule while Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 2 West Indian Woodpeckers and several Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds were also knocking about.

Green Heron

Northern Waterthrush

American Redstart

Cuban Oriole

American Purple Gallinule

Common Gallinule

Cuba, Day 4, 7 March 2017 - Valle de Silencio & Embalse Pressa al Salto

Today was essentially a non-birding day. As I'd cleaned up yesterday I ventured out with the girls today for a visit to a tobacco farm and a long walk in the Valle de Silencio area just outside Vinales. The whole thing was a little touristy with loads of horse riders everywhere and guides I didn't really take to but the scenery was spectacular and I naturally took my camera and bins!

Walking through small arable fields a small flock of Scaly-breasted Munias proved to be the only ones of the trip and Smooth-billed Anis were everywhere. On the walk it was mainly the commoner species that were knocking about but at a patch of pines near the entrance to the valley I was very pleased to find a pair of Olive-capped Warblers and unlike yesterday I was able to get some pics this time. On the lake was a Muscovy Duck (!) and 3 Killdeer flew in while the other sightings included Zenaida Dove, Cuban Tody, American Redstart, Northern Parula, 4 Cuban Martins, La Sagra's Flycatcher, Cuban Pewee, loads of Yellow-faced Grassquits and a lovely showy Yellow-headed Warbler which positively posed for my camera!

Olive-capped Warbler

Yellow-headed Warbler

Scaly-breasted Munia

Muscovy Duck

A late afternoon drive to a promising looking lake to the east of Vinales, the Embalse Pressa al Salto was very nice. the lake itself was pretty quiet with Great Egrets, Brown Pelicans, Neotropic Cormorants and a Belted Kingfisher but a stroll up the engtrance road for a few hundred yards produced yet another Olive-capped Warbler, Grey Catbird, Northern Parlua, American Redstart, Yellow-headed Warbler, 3 Red-legged Honeycreepers and 2 Western Spindalis.

Cuba, Day 3, 6 March 2017 - La Guira NP and Vinales NP

My first early morning saw me heading back east from Vinales to La Guira National Park close to where I'd been at the Cueva de los Portales the previous afternoon. The roads there were awful but I eventually made it to the start of a recommended birding trail where a track leaves the road within the national park. It was very windy which made birding quite difficult but along the track were a pair of Yellow-faced Grassquits, 2 Western Spindalis and Black-and-white-Warbler before a real spot of luck in the form of a circling Gundlach's Hawk! This tricky to see species gave me the boost I needed and as I got to the 'pine zone', with the trees blowing all over the place I eventually located one of my main targets - Olive-capped Warbler of which I eventually saw c6. Further up the track a Ruddy Quail-dove was on the deck but wouldn't let me get anywhere near it before it flew into cover and a male Black-throated Blue Warbler showed well. When the track petered out near a derelict building I retraced my steps back to the road. A wander west along the lane for a few hundred yards had me oogling a fantastic pair of Cuban Trogons while I also had 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Zenaida Doves, 2 Cuban Emeralds, 3 West Indian Woodpeckers, Cuban Pewee and the first of many Great Lizard Cuckoos. After leaving the site I tried a couple of roadside sites a few miles away looking for Cuban Grassquit but dipped at both!

Cuban Trogon

Yellow-faced Grassquit

The pines that held Olive-capped Warbler at La Guira

I then made the torturous drive back to Vinales picking up a cuban student hitchhiker on the way which helped alleviate the boredom! Back at our casa the girls were out so grabbing a quick sandwich I headec off out again - this time into the Vinales National Park SW of the town. There is a trail here off the main road which proved to be superb! I had to drag myself away after a wonderful 3 hours chock full of goodies. In no particular order I had - 3 White-crowned Pigeons, 6 Cuban Emeralds, 3 Cuban Trogons, 2 Cuban Todys, 2 Cuban Pewee, 3 La Sagra's Flycatchers, 2 Cuban Solitaires, Cuban Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo (a very nice surprise!), Yellow-throated Vireo, Northern Parula, Ovenbird, c15 Yellow-headed Warblers, c15 Red-legged Honeycreepers, c10 Western Spindalis, 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, 4 Indigo Buntings and then, as a final hurrah - a lovely male Cuban Grassquit. In a day I'd cleaned up on virtually everything the area has to offer!