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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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Warblers
A lot of North American Warblers winter in Cuba
and many were easily seen and often responded very well to pishing,
however none of them were particularly easy to photograph. Warblers
were a major highlight.
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2421 Click for more picture of this species
Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum) - The commonest warbler, easily
seen around the Hotel
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4399 Click for more picture of this
species
Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis). Common.
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) Baga Park and Loma de Cunagua
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4328 Click for more picture of this species
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) female above and male
below. Not difficult to find on Cayo Guillermo.
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4130 Click for more picture of this
species
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) Baga park
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Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)
reasonably common, sadly I didn't photograph any males which are stunning.
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Common Yellowthroat, (Geothlypis trichas) reasonably common
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Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor) reasonably common |
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Northern Parula (Parula americana)
Lovely little birds seen several times during my two week stay but
never very well, shame about the picture!
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Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) reasonably common
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4236
Cuban Vireo (Vireo gundlachii) Cuban endemic, Cayo Paredon Grande
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Thick-billed Vireo (Vireo crassirostris) Cayo Paredon Grande
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) Cayo Coco
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I ticked a total of 90 species over the two weeks
including eight Cuban endemics, and spent only a few hours on mainland
Cuba. In addition to the species mentioned in these pages the below
species were also seen.
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea
Blue-winged Teal Anas cyanoptera
Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serratus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavides
Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Caspian Tern Sterna caspia
Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis
White-crowned Pigeon Columba leucocephala
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Cuban Blackbird Dives atroviolacea
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Cuban Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium siju Heard
Only
Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
Heard Only
Biggest dips
Great Lizard-Cuckoo Saurothera merlini
(Two seen and id'ed by others, I just
didn't get tickable views, gutted!)
West Indian Woodpecker Melanerpes superciliaris (!?!)
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I would recommend a Holiday in Cuba to anyone,
birder or not since everyone from the party of 30 I went with (all
non-birders) enjoyed it. All the Cubans we encountered were friendly
and helpful. I can't imagine any birder not getting something out
of it, I would love to go back and hopefully one day I will get the
chance to do mainland Cuba properly. The ideal bird watching/ wildlife
watching holiday in Cuba, would take in the Zapata area where many
other endemic species can be found.
I hope you have enjoyed the photographs and information
on these pages.
Richard Ford
www.digitalwildlife.co.uk
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