GUYANA - DAY 9 - JANUARY 23RD 2014

ALL DAY AT IWOKRAMA WITH A WALK UP TURTLE MOUNTAIN

 

WEATHER. - CLOUDY WITH HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS, BRIGHTER LATER, VERY WARM

 

We met at 5:30am in the beautiful dining room that overlooks the river, it was still dark but we had to be at the river by 6am to catch our boat which would take us down river to the trail of the Turtle Mountain. The boat trip was lovely, it was getting lighter by the minute and soon we were finding birds. Anhinga, Neotropic Cormorant and Capped Heron were first on the list, the heron is a beautiful bird, like a cross between Squacco and Night Herons.




THE RESTAURANT AT IWOKRAMA LODGE

Once on land we took a forest trail that wound its way inland until we started to climb. The path got quite steep at times but steps and hand rails were provided. We stopped a few times to look for birds but generally it was very quiet. We found a family party of Giant River Otters which were a fantastic find and kept us entertained for half an hour.

The best bird we found was a Guianan Red Cotinga, but we also turned up Green Oropendola and when we got to the top of the mountain we found the prized Orange-breasted Falcon, nice bird.



VIEW ACROSS THE LAWN TO THE RIVER ESQUIBO

On the way back down we walked through a torrential rainstorm and we found an ant-swarm which was attended by a few antbirds the best of which was a White-plumed Antbird.

Back on the boat for the return trip we found a lovely plover called Pied Lapwing, also an Osprey flew over and several Red and Green Macaws.


WILSON'S SNIPE

Aster a nice relaxing lunch break we took a walk around the grounds finding some Yellow-throated Flycatcher, Ruddy-breasted Seedeater and a snipe that confused everyone, including the local guides. Was eventually concluded that it was a Wilson’s Snipe and not a South American Snipe after consulting the internet and looking at many photographs.

Walking along the tracks near the lodge we found a few species such as Red-legged Honeycreeper, White-throated Toucan and Scarlet Macaw. Just before dinner we walked

THE VIEW BACK TO THE RIVER FROM TURTLE MOUNTAIN

down to the riverside to look across the water for Ladder-tailed  Nightjars, we found some interesting bats that appeared to be fishing but not the nightjar.

 



BLACKISH NIGHTJAR