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Cuba
November 2007
Wildlife Trip report
and Photographs
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www.Digitalwildlife.co.uk
Many of the below images
are record shots but some may be good enough for publication. For any
enquiries please contact me via e-mail, details on this page Click
here
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I spent two weeks during November 2007 in a (Cuban)
five star Hotel (Melia) on Cayo Guillermo, which is attached by a Causeway/bridge
to the larger island of Cayo Coco on the northern coast of Cuba. I was
there for a family wedding, so though not strictly a bird watching holiday;
I did get up most mornings and explore the area around the Hotel which
produced excellent birding on its own, habitat includes extensive water
and mangrove areas, scrub and scattered trees, the hotel grounds and
obviously the beach.
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3200 Click for more pictures of this species
Green Heron, (Btorides virescens) seen regularly around the hotel
fish ponds and other lakes and mangrove.
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The journey from the air port across Cayo Coco
to the hotel at dusk, produced the first bird of the trip a Crested
Caracara, an excellent start.
The next morning I was up at dawn and birding
around the Hotel (Melia) on Cayo Guillermo. I had taken with me the
'field guide to the birds of Cuba - Orlando H. garrido and Arturo
Kirkconnell' I had no knowledge other than the information in this
guide to help me. Honestly the first bird a saw was a House Sparrow!!
It wasn't long before a barrage of new birds
was bombarding me. These included variouse American
Warblers, many species of Herons and Egrets around the lakes and
mangrove areas along with Belted Kingfisher and Cuban
Black/Crab Hawk, Turkey Vulture
and many others. There are four pages of photos here and a little
information.
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2473 Click for more pictures of this species
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) The commonest raptor in all the
areas i visited.
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View from the Hotel beach at Cayo Guillermo. This
pier had been wrecked in a storm, but was put to good use every morning
by the local Royal Terns, Laughing Gulls and Neotropic and Double
Crested Cormorants.
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2483 Click for more pictures of this
species
Cuban Black Hawk or Cuban Crab Hawk
(Buteogallus gundlachii formally Buteogallus anthracinus gundlachii)
emdemic, and common. One bird frequented the hotel grounds and was
fed crabs by hand by one of the grounds staff.
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7510 Click for more pictures of this species
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Common around the Hotel and Cayo coco
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2526
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) Common on Cayo Guillermo
4548
House Crow (Corvus splendens), just this one bird on one day
hanging around the
hotel pool
(Melia Cayo Guillermo), this is a common Asian bird know to have colonisd
other areas of the world by hitching a ride on ships.
Does anyone know of other Cuban records?
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7483
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) Seen almost daily on Cayo Guillermo
7530
Greater Antillean Grackle (Quiscalus niger) common scavengers
around the hotel
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3327 Click for more pictures of this species
Great Egret (Ardea alba) also known as the Great White Egret and White
Heron.
Common, one morning i saw over 100 of theses birds together on one of
the nearby lakes.
2551
Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) formerly known in North America
as the Louisiana Heron,
seen almost daily on Cayo Guillermo
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Common on Cayo Guillermo
4402
Above and Below,
both pictures show a flock of egrets and Ibis photographed early one
morning not far from the hotel.
There are White Ibis, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret (white and dark morphs)
Tricoloured Herons, and Black necked Stilt.
Both images can be clicked and will open up larger
4410
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2794 Click for more pictures of this species
Sanderling (Calidris alba), often seen running around on the
tourist beaches
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4420 Click for more pictures of this
species
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), common in scrub areas.
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2767
Sunrise, Cayo Guillamo, Cuba |
3284
One of many Lizards (Anole Species) seen around the Hotel. There were
also tree frogs and crabs often around the grounds. |
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7532
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called Snakebird, Darter,
American Darter, or Water Turkey. One or two seen on Cayo Guillermo.
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2496
1st winter Reddish Egret, (Egretta rufescens) Cayo Guillermo
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2860
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) Cayo Guillermo |
4292
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus ) Cayo Guillermo |
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4353
American Coot (Fulica americana) Cayo Guillermo
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