GUYANA - DAY 15. - JANUARY 29TH 2014

ALL DAY AT ARROWPOINT LODGE

Our final full day of birding was ahead of us, it been raining quite heavily throughout the night but luckily for us it cleared by 5am when we got up for breakfast, well a cup coffee at least. We planned to take a boat ride at first light and return for an 8am breakfast which all went to plan. Our target species was the Crimson Topaz, a beautiful, long-tailed hummer that performs a courtship display in small numbers along the creek at dawn. It is a very special bird and we had superb views of a pair, the male performed well for us, what a beauty, this bird went straight to the top of most people’s favourites list.

setting out at first light along the river

We also had excellent views of another rarely seen bird, the Point-tailed Palmcreeper, at least 4 of them were chasing one another around the palm trees right besides our boat. Other birds that had to take second place in the viewing order were both the Rufous & Green and the Pygmy Kingfishers, a Black-capped Donacobious, Orange-winged Parrot, Silvered Antbird to name but a few. The whole experience was fantastic and the sightings made it truly memorable. Breakfast was served promptly at 8am and by 9am we were on the forest trail once again for the rest of the morning. 

 

Turquoise Tanager

Over the next few hours we bumped into a few feeding flocks and managed to get views of several antbirds and a couple of antwrens. We found the Long-winged and the White-flanked Antwren, as well as the Dusky and the Wing-banded Antbirds. Throw in a couple of Woodcreepers, tanagers, tyrants and tyrannulets and you have got yourself a nice feeding flock. We also had superb views of the Collared Puffbird, our second one of the trip.

 

We took a long lunch-break and then some of the group went for the final walk of the trip back into the forest, their target bird was the Ferruginous-backed Antbird which had eluded us so far. In the meantime those that remained in the gardens found a few species to add to the day list and  a couple for the trip list. Squirrel Cuckoo was seen well, also Moriche Oriole, Crimson-crested Woodpecker and a pair of Piratic Flycatchers.

Yellow-rumped Cacique at the nesting colony just above my room



 

Those that ventured into the forest were rewarded with great sightings, they found the Ferruginous-backed Antbird and saw it well. They also listed Flame-crested Tanager, White-crowned Manakin and a good number of other species.

Red-rumped Agouti on the lawn outside my room

Well that was the end of the tour, we had recorded 335 species of birds (321 seen plus 14 heard), we had seen pristine tropical rain-forest, met some of the indigenous tribes-people, sampled local hospitality, food and life-style. We had hiked the forest trails, trekked across open savannah and crept along the creeks in search of Guyana’s secret nature. It was hard at times, tropical forest birding isn’t easy, birds do not jump out onto the trail you have to search for them. Often we walked long distances for little reward, but the hard work often paid off in the end and we had some fantastic sightings.

Piratic Flycatcher - it was stealing nesting material from
the Yellow-rumped Caciques

 We had many wonderful experiences including some very special moments, I could list a series of places and magical times but each of us hold those memories in a different way, why not join us next year and experience your special  moments in Guyana, the land of ‘many waters’.