WEATHER - CLOUDY WITH SHOWERS AM - BRIGHT, WARM AND BREEZY PM
Today was a bit anti-climatic as
far as the birding was concerned because our itinerary was blighted by delays
caused by bad weather. We got up early and travel to Ogle Airport for an
internal flight at 7:30am. We arrived at 6:30am as instructed but the aircraft
didn’t actually take off until 11am. A walk near the airfield produced our
first Limpkin and also many species we had seen yesterday. From the departure
lounge we added Red-breasted Blackbird to our list and we had close views of
Southern House Wren.
Our first stop was Kaieteur
Falls, a magnificent sight both from the air and on land. It is the biggest
single-drop falls in the world where water drops over 700ft without touching a
ledge. Several viewpoints gave us a good opportunity for photography, we had
the place to ourselves it was real wilderness. Bird life was next to nothing
but we did see the two species of swift that nest behind the falls, a huge
flock of White-collared Swifts swarmed overhead at times as did fewer numbers
of White-chinned Swifts.
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| KAIETEUR FALLS |
After 2 hours at the falls we
boarded the light aircraft once again and flew to our first lodge some 50
minutes further into the interior. Rockview Lodge is a wonderful place and sits
on the edge of a huge savannah plain and it has its own air-strip. The grounds
are full of birds and there many trails to explore that lead into secondary forests and
hillsides. The lush gardens are lovingly
cared for by Colin, the owner and are sympathetic to the local wildlife.
A 3 hour walk took us through
some open savannah and into a forest which climbed steadily up a hillside, it
was wonderful. The clouds had cleared and we had our first good weather since
arriving. A Yellow-bellied Elaenia was found on it’s nest then birds came
quickly: Vermillion Flycatcher, Plumbeous Seedeater, Grassland Sparrow,
Burnished-buff Tanager to name but a few.
The panorama trail led up the
hillside and at the top offered some fantastic views over the savannah, we could
see for miles. Nice bird sightings included: Swallow-winged Puffbird,
Green-tailed Jacamar, White-bellied Antbird and distant sightings were made of
Double-striped Thick-knee and Savannah Hawk.
As we walked back to the lodge in
semi-darkness a Nacunda Nightjar flew around us, a lovely ending to the day.
Dinner was taken al-fresco beneath a huge mango tree, cold beers were served
all round, lovely!
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| THE AIRSTRIP AT ROCKVIEW LODGE CALLED ANNAI |
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| OUR ARRIVAL AT ROCKVIEW |
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| SWALLOW-WINGED PUFFBIRD |
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| SOUTHERN LAPWING |
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| DOUBLE-STRIPED THICK-KNEE |
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