Little Bittern, Spotless Crake at Coolum Industrial Estate

Magpie Goose

Australian Little Bittern and Spotless Crake have been seen in the recently created wetlands on the Eco Industrial Park near Coolum on the Sunshine Coast. Two small wetlands in the industrial estate deserve to be on the map of local birders. In the absence of any decent freshwater wetland reserves in the region, these artificial wetlands in industrial and residential estates are playing an important role in providing habitat for waterbirds.

Australian Little Bittern

I saw a male Australian Little Bittern today at the best of the two wetlands, located on the corner of Research Place and Quanda Road. The second wetland is about 1km away, on the right at the end of Quanda Road. The bird could not be photographed; this image was taken last year at Parklakes.

Coolum Eco Industrial Estate Wetland

The wetlands are a nice combination of lily ponds and reed beds, surrounded by wide paths. Even concrete seating is provided. Full list of birds here.

Plumed Whistling-Duck

Also at the Research Place wetland were 1 Spotless Crake, 3 Latham's Snipe, 1 Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo and both Wandering and Plumed Whistling-Ducks, along with several Magpie Geese.

Parklakes Wetland

On the subject of Parklakes, this wetland today is a pale shadow of its former glory. This time last year, Australian Little Bitterns were nesting there (including the bird in the image above); Spotless and Baillon's Crakes were everywhere. Now, most of the once extensive reed bed has been destroyed because the Sunshine Coast Council instructed the Parklakes residential estate developers that the wetland had to be "renovated". The developers believe the final result will be a better wetland; whether the waterbirds agree remains to be seen. During a visit this week, about 200 Plumed Whistling-Ducks were present but nothing of interest.

Varied Triller pair (female left, male right)

On the home front, a pair of Varied Trillers have been about the house while a recently fledged Pacific Baza is being fed by its parents.

Juvenile Pacific Baza

Other babies about included a Pink-tongue Skink, the first for the garden.

Pink-tongue Skink juv

Another addition to the garden reptile list was Eastern Water-Dragon at the bedroom window.

Eastern Water-Dragon

Plenty of Wall Skinks about.

Wall Skink 

While elsewhere, a Saw-shelled Turtle was sunning itself above Wappa Dam.

Saw-shelled Turtle

Airport, Cars Threaten Ground Parrot on Sunshine Coast

Ground Parrot hit by motor vehicle, Sunshine Coast. Pic Richard Maguire.

A combination of plans for a new airport runway and motor vehicle collisions threatens to exterminate the Sunshine Coast population of the rare Eastern Ground Parrot.

Analysis of reports prepared for the $350 million Sunshine Coast Airport expansion plans leaves no doubt that the project will have devastating consequences for the largest population of Ground Parrots surviving in Queensland outside the Great Sandy World Heritage Area. Plans for a new east-west runway to be bulldozed through the parrot's habitat proceed as it emerges that the local population of the bird is struggling to cope with another hazard: collision with motor vehicles.

Ground Parrot habitat in Sunshine Coast Airport

Surveys by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service estimate that the population of the Ground Parrot in the vicinity of the airport at Marcoola is between 14 and 20; most if not all the birds occur within its fenced boundary. The airport population is estimated to comprise 25 per cent of all Ground Parrots remaining on the Sunshine Coast at scattered sites between Noosaville in the north and Marcoola in the south.

Birds at some sites, such as Mt Coolum National Park, appear to have disappeared in recent years. The airport birds are likely to be the only population of the species in the region with the potential to survive in the long term. This is because the parrot's wallum heath habitat at the airport is regularly slashed, preventing it from being choked by the growth of woody plants and weeds in the absence of a fire management regime. Most other Sunshine Coast sites where the parrot occurred no longer provide suitable habitat for this reason. As well, the airport fencing provides protection from introduced foxes and feral cats.

Artist's impression: existing N-S runway and proposed E-W runway: Image Sunshine Coast Daily.

Last month, a young female Ground Parrot was hit by a car in Keith Royal Drive, which runs parallel to the eastern fence of the airport. The bird was about 500 metres east of the main Ground Parrot population inside the airport fence and would have fledged recently. The parrot had a ruptured air sac but fortunately survived after being nursed at Australia Zoo. It was released outside the airport fence at a site where no Ground Parrots have been reported in recent times; hopefully it found its way back to the main population.

A Ground Parrot was killed in November 2013 after colliding with a motor vehicle in the same area. Its body was found in the driveway of a service station in David Low Way, a block away from Keith Royal Drive. Two collisions between parrots and cars in two years is cause enough for concern, but the toll is likely to be higher.

The Sunshine Coast Council's environmental impact statement for the airport expansion shows that 7.8 hectares of the parrot's habitat will be destroyed by the new runway but says this area is not the one most frequented by the birds. As some sort of offset, the council - which owns the airport and is the prime mover of the expansion plan - proposes that an additional 5.8 hectares of land adjacent to the site be managed "in a manner expected to encourage Ground Parrot use". 

The rehabilitated Ground Parrot hit by a vehicle. Pic by Australia Zoo

It is disingenuous to suggest that the problem is resolved simply by creating a new area of habitat to replace a perfectly suitable area of habitat that is to be destroyed, especially when the new area is significantly smaller.

Surveys show that the Ground Parrot population is concentrated in a relatively small area to the west of and close to the existing north-south runway. The new runway would run east-west from the existing runway directly through the southern half of the area frequented by the parrots. The runway would be 2.5 kilometres long - 650 metres longer than the existing runway. Apart from the direct loss of a significant portion of the parrot's habitat, there is little doubt that the new runway with additional human activity, lighting and noise will be highly disruptive to the parrots.

It is not possible to see how this already struggling population of Ground Parrot will survive if the airport expansion plan proceeds. As well as Ground Parrots, the expansion will have impacts on two threatened frog species. The proposed runway also cuts through a large swathe of grassland to the west of the airport on former sugarcane farmland that provides refuge to several rare species including King Quail and Eastern Grass Owl. The environmental impact statement makes no reference to possible impacts on these grassland species. 

Eastern Ground Parrot - Pic by Graeme Chapman

The impact statement notes that because of the fencing, the airport Ground Parrots are probably the only Australian population of this threatened species that it not subject to exotic predator threats. All the more reason to tread cautiously and abandon what critics describe as an extravagant and unnecessary infrastructure project. Sunshine Coast residents suffer from abysmally poor public transport, including the absence of rail services along the heavily populated coastal strip. There are better ways to spend $350 million.






   

Letter-winged Kite on the Brink?

Letter-winged Kite - Pic by Peter McDonald

One of Australia's iconic raptors may be seriously at risk of extinction. The fate of the Letter-winged Kite appears to have escaped the notice of the authorities and, for the most part, the birding community. It is likely that feral cats are the cause of a crash in populations of the world's only nocturnal raptor, and that protecting dingoes may be a key part of the solution to save the species.

I became concerned about the kites during an influx of predominantly inland bird species to coastal areas in 2012-2014. These movements occur from time to time following periods of heavy rainfall inland, when birds breed prolifically. When floodwaters subside and ephemeral wetlands dry up, many birds move to coastal areas. Letter-winged Kites are often among the mix; during one such influx for instance, I found several kites on the beach on North Stradbroke Island (see here) in 1977.  In 2012-214, however, there were no reports of Letter-winged Kite from coastal eastern Australia although several other predominantly inland species (such as Black Kite, Black-tailed Native-hen and Australian Painted-Snipe) were turning up in regions such as south-east Queensland, where they are normally absent.

Something appeared to be amiss. Meanwhile, birders travelling the inland were reporting seeing fewer and fewer kites as the years progress in areas where they were once reliable and even quite common at times. The plight of the Letter-winged Kite is highlighted in an article by Sean Dooley in the newly published December 2015 edition of Australian Birdlife; at the time of writing I've not had the opportunity to see the article, but it is encouraging that attention is now being drawn to the matter.

The rainfall events referred to above are usually associated with explosions of populations of the Long-haired Rat (Rattus villosissimus) and other native rodents upon which the kites feed. Letter-winged Kites congregate and nest during these explosions; when rodent numbers subside, kite numbers also decline and the birds disperse. 

Feral cat in a Letter-winged Kite nesting tree - pic by Lindsay Cupper

Chris Pavey, an arid zone ecologist with the CSIRO, reports the results of surveys on Andado Station in the south-east of the Northern Territory following two such rodent explosion events in 2001-2002 and again in 2011-2012. In 2001-2002, a maximum count of 121 Letter-winged Kites was recorded. In 2011-2012, the maximum count of kites was just 9. Although local factors may have influenced this discrepancy, it is a quite a dramatic demonstration of what appears to be going on out there.

Feral cats have been around for many decades but anecdotal evidence suggests that populations are increasing in northern and central Australia. The kites are likely to be impacted in two ways. Adult kites and chicks are known to be killed by cats during nesting events, with entire colonies having been eliminated by feline predation.

As well, cats compete with kites for rodent prey. A study by Chris Pavey and colleagues Stephen  Eldridge and Mike Heywood looked at competition between kites and three introduced mammalian predators - dingoes, foxes and cats - over 3.5 years in the early-2000s. They concluded there was considerable potential for food-based competition between the kite and mammalian predators, particularly foxes and cats. While Letter-winged Kites had a very narrow dietary niche (native rodents), mammalian predators could exploit other prey in lean times. The scientists concluded that the mammalian predators captured 11 times as many rodents during the study period as the Letter-winged Kites.

Feral cats in Letter-winged Kite nest. Pic by Jack Pettigrew

In 1992, an unusually large concentration of feral cats at Davenport Downs Station (now Astrebla National Park) in south-west Queensland attracted national media attention. At one point, 85 cats were counted at rest in 73 coolabah trees. Many were lying in nests that had been used by Letter-winged Kites just weeks earlier. What was not widely reported at the time, however, was that similar concentrations were not being noted in areas of similar habitat elsewhere in the region.

Dingo at Night Parrot site. Pic by Steve Murphy

University of Queensland scientist Jack Pettigrew, who is something of an authority on the species, concluded that the explosion in cat numbers at the site was related to the recent shooting at the time of more than 50 dingoes in the area. Jack is not alone in suggesting that protecting dingoes may be crucial to controlling feral cat numbers and the long-term survival of Letter-winged Kites and other endangered species. Research scientist Steve Murphy has suggested that dingoes may be playing an important role in controlling cat numbers in the area in south-west Queensland where Night Parrots were discovered by John Young in 2013 (see here for more).

Letter-winged Kite. Pic by Lindsay Cupper

Predation of livestock by dingoes and feral dogs has had serious impacts on the grazing industry, but many farmers in recent years have switched from sheep to cattle, which are much less likely than sheep to be taken by dogs. It may be time for state government authorities to consider the wisdom of continuing their war against dingoes in those parts of the arid zone where Letter-winged Kites and other rare wildlife are threatened by the growing menace of feral cats.

  

 

   

Trip Report - Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Grand Caymans

Bare-legged Owl

October 24 – November 21, 2015

INTRODUCTION

This trip to the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean was undertaken immediately after a 3-week birding tour of Panama (report here http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=2628 and following blog post) with Glenn Scherf, Bill Watson and Sandra Watson. Our intention was to mix birding with cultural, culinary and various pursuits, and our destinations lived up to expectations. We did very well with the endemics and regional endemics on the four islands. Of the 90+ species we were chasing, we dipped (inexplicably) only on Chesnut-bellied Cuckoo on Jamaica and for Bill, West Indian Whistling-Duck and Antillean Euphonia (both of which I had seen in the Dominican Republic). We managed this impressive result while birding mostly in the mornings, freeing up the afternoons for travel and other activities.

We opted to self-drive in Puerto Rico for our 6-day visit, as the distances are relatively short, the roads are good and the sites are easy to find and bird. We elected not to try for the endemic parrot as the site was out of the way and requires prior arrangement with the authorities. Our focus on the island was in the south-west, where most of the specialties can be readily found.

For 7 days in Jamaica, we hired Wayne Murdock of Attraction Links (http://www.attractionslink.com/) to drive and provide the vehicle; driving around Jamaica can be challenging so this was a good move. Wayne is not a professional birding guide but knows the sites; beware that you will need to pay for his meals and costs not in the contract. We were on Grand Cayman Island only in transit, but with enough time to find the single endemic.

In Cuba for 15 days, we were again self-driving but arranged for Andy Mitchell in London (kingbird@cubabirdingtours.com) to organise a package with Havanatur that included car hire and the more expensive hotels. Andy also lines up local guides, organises for them to book your remaining accommodation in rural casas, and provides detailed directions for finding your way around. The directions proved to be accurate, easy to use and useful in Cuba, where road signs can be absent or easy to miss. Hiring Andy did not add much to the cost if we had arranged everything ourselves. Cuba proved to be a most impressive destination, from both cultural and birding perspectives.

ITINERARY

October 24. We flew from Panama City to the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, via Bogota. After a long travel day we stayed overnight at the convenient but expensive Airport Hotel. (See here for Puerto Rico bird pics).

Mary-Lees-By-The-Sea

October 25. We picked up our car up from the airport early in the morning and drove 2 hours across the island to the south-west town of Guanica, booking into Mary Lees By The Sea, a self-contained apartment complex on the water a few kilometres from town. In the afternoon we drove west a short distance to Parguera where we saw a flock of Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds at a traditional site by a small seaside store.

Maricao State Forest

October 26. We drove north into the mountains to Maricao State Forest, where the wet forest contrasts with the dry scrub around Guanica. In the early morning a Puerto Rican Nightjar flew across the road. Our efforts at Maricao centred on trails and the roadside around the state forest administration centre. Many island endemics showed including Puerto Rican Emerald, Puerto Rican Tody, Puerto Rican Woodpecker, Puerto Rican Vireo, Puerto Rican Spindalis and Puerto Rican Bullfinch. The Puerto Rican Tanager – expected to be given its own family - was common and frequently a flock leader. Elfin Woods Warbler is one the island's more difficult targets but we found it in 2 spots, including the turnoff from the main road to the park centre. Other birds included a couple of fly-by Green Mangos and a Key West Quail-Dove on a trail. When we returned to Mary-Lees-By-The-Sea we found Pearly-eyed Thrasher to be common.

Guanica State Forest

October 27. Before dawn we went back along the road towards Guanica, where we had good looks at Puerto Rican Nightjar at the 3.5km mark. We drove a few kilometres east along the scenic coastal road to a track that heads north up a slope into the Guanica State Forest. In the dry thorny scrub we found Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Puerto Rican Flycatcher, Caribbean Elaenia and Adelaide's Warbler. Another Key West Ground-Dove was seen.

Coast near Guanica

October 28. Back in the state forest on a trail at the road's end, a Puerto Rican Pewee was seen briefly in the morning. We left our comfortable apartment to travel across the island to the Humacao Reserve on the east coast. We found Antillean Crested Hummingbird and Green-throated Carib quite easily in flowering trees along levy banks in the wetland. We headed north for our overnight accommodation in the Ceiba Country Inn. In the hotel grounds after some effort we scored nice views of Puerto Rican Screech-Owl.

October 29. We saw the last of our targets, Puerto Rican Oriole, in the hotel grounds in the morning before departing for San Juan, where we stayed in the Coral by the Sea Hotel.  In the afternoon we visited the Del Morro Castle and San Juan Old City.

Del Morro Castle

October 30. We flew to the Jamaican capital of Kingston via Fort Lauderdale in the U.S. We were met at the airport by Wayne (he was late) and it was dark by the time we were leaving suburban Kingston. It took a couple of hours on a slow, windy road to reach our accommodation, Starlight Chalets, near Section. The hotel was ordinary and the food highly overpriced, but the place is very birdy, with superb views across the valleys. See here for Jamaica bird pics.

With Wayne Murdock, Hardwar Gap

October 31. The day began around the hotel grounds with (Red-billed) Streamertail, Sad Flycatcher, White-chinned Thrush and Orangequit. A party of Yellow-shouldered Grassquits was spotted along the road to Section. We spent the morning on the higher slopes of the Blue Mountains-Hollywell National Park around Hardwar Gap, especially the forest within a few kilometres of the Gap Cafe on both sides at about 1500m. A feast of endemics included Ring-tailed Pigeon, Jamaican Woodpecker, Jamaican Oriole, Jamaican Becard, White-eyed Thrush (much scarcer than White-chinned), Jamaican Vireo and Jamaican Euphonia. We saw a Greater Antillean Pewee, a difficult-to-find species.

View from Starlight Chalets

Blue Mountain Vireo is another of the island's trickier birds but we found several. Arrowhead Warbler proved to be quite common. In the afternoon we birded around the chalet gardens, scoring an unexpected Jamaican Mango and to top the day off, close views of a Crested Quail-Dove on the road near the hotel.

November 1. We again birded Hardwar Gap, this time going a little further to Woodside Road. We saw Jamaican Tody, Jamaican Elaenia and Greater Antillean Bullfinch, with brief views of a Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo. In the afternoon we visited Dennis Coffee, a farm where the famed Blue Mountain coffee is grown organically by a community of dope-smoking Rastafarians.

Dennis Coffee Farm

November 2. We were up well before sunrise to try for Jamaican Owl and were not disappointed. A pair called for a while before an owl flew in very close in response to playback of a juvenile begging call; it perched briefly a couple of metres above us. As the sun rose we found Rufous-tailed Flycatcher in the garden. We left the mountains to head to the north coast town of Port Antonio, where we checked into the pleasant Bay View Eco-Resort.

Port Antonio

November 3. We headed east for a 45-minute drive to the Ecclesdown Road in the John Crow Mountains. We easily found our main targets after being confined to the car for a couple of hours by heavy rain. Good numbers of Yellow-billed Parrots and Black-billed Parrot swere encountered along the road along with an obliging Jamaican Crow, which responded to playback of an Australian Raven call. We saw (Black-billed) Streamertail, lumped by Clements with Red-billed. In the afternoon we had nice views of Jamaican Mango in Port Antonio and took time out to absorb the beautiful coastal scenery.

Coast near Port Antonio

November 4. We searched the well-vegetated hills around Port Antonio for our sole remaining targets – Chesnut-bellied Cuckoo and Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo, which I had seen briefly at Hardwar Gap. We saw the lizard-cuckoo well but the other cuckoo frustratingly eluded us.

Bob Marley Museum

November 5. We left the hotel, calling into the Castleton Botanic Gardens, where we had a pair of Jamaican Crows, and in the outskirts of Kingston we visited the Bob Marley Museum, where you need to be wary of overbearing guides. We stayed at the Port Royal Hotel near the airport.

November 6. We departed Jamaica for Cuba via George Town on Grand Cayman Island. During the brief transit stop, when you need to purchase your Cuban tourist cards, we left the airport and walked to scrub close by where a Vitelline Warbler, the Caymans' only endemic, duly emerged. We flew to Havana, dealt with paperwork complications and picked up the vehicle at the airport. We drove 2.5 hours to our destination – the town of San Diego de los Banos in western Cuba in the dark, but Andy's directions ensured there were no problems. For Cuba bird pics see here and also here.

Cueva de los Portales

Our guide, Caesar Hernandes, met us at a prearranged spot (after some complications not worth detailing here) and escorted us to our accommodation – Casa JulioyCary. Casas are rooms attached to private homes, usually with en suites. The food and ambience of inexpensive casas in rural areas makes them are a more attractive accommodation option than the run-down government-owned hotels.

Casio JulioyCary

November 7. Caesar was booked with a tour group in the morning (another mix-up) so we found our own way to La Guira National Park, a 30-minute drive from town. We saw nice specialties including Great Lizard-Cuckoo, West Indian Woodpecker, Crescent-eyed Peewee and Puerto Rican Emerald as we ascended a rough road towards the Hacienda Cortina. In a grove of pine trees we found a pair of Olive-capped Warblers. Higher up in the limestone gullies we heard Cuban Solitaires calling and saw one up close.

La Guira

We were delighted to find a sub-adult Gundlach's Hawk perched a few metres above a trail; this is probably Cuba's hardest endemic other than the near-mythical Zapata Rail. Other goodies included Cuban Bullfinch and Yellow-headed Warbler. In the afternoon we hooked up with the now available Caesar to visit the Cueva de los Portales, a beautiful limestone cave complex used as a bolthole by Che Guevara during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The solitaire was again present along with La Sagra's Flycatcher and good numbers of two bat species. In the late afternoon we found a party of Cuban Grassquits in fields near San Diego, along with Cuban Blackbird and Tawny-shouldered Blackbird. Less endearing was a boisterous wedding party near the casa which went all night.

November 8. A travel day with a very long (10 hours, including a successful negotiation of Havana's suburbs) drive to the livestock ranch of La Belen in eastern Cuba in the Sierra de Najasa. The economic challenges facing Cuba become apparent as you travel around. Farming is often done by plough, either by hand or with livestock. Ancient vehicles lumber along the roads along with horses and carts. The people were nonetheless invariably polite and engaging. We arrived at our basic accommodation just on dark and none too soon, as the last 40 kilometres of road are seriously rough.

`

Near La Belen

November 9. We birded along the road into the ranch, seeing an exquisite Cuban Trogon (surely the classiest of its family with that tail), Cuban Parakeet and Cuban Green Woodpecker. Cuban Tody was bigger than todies on other islands. Cuban Palm Crow was interesting to compare with the more common Cuban Crow. Several Giant Kingbirds were in the mix and a Cuban Pygmy-Owl showed nicely. Later in the morning we met our prearranged guide, Camillo, but by then we had seen the local specialties.

November 10. A party of Rose-throated Parrots at the hotel was a good start to the day, then another long drive (4.5 hours) to the seaside resort of Cayo Coco, where we booked into the Hotel Sol Cayo Coco. Everything is included in the cost for these extravagant resort hotels including alcohol, but be warned - the cocktails are heavily watered down.

Cayo Paredon Grande

November 11. We drove east to Cayo Paredon Grande, birding tracks in the vicinity of the old lighthouse. Oriente Warbler and Cuban Gnatcatcher were found easily in the dry coastal scrub. Thick-billed Vireo was co-operative in mangroves nearby, where Cuban Oriole and Cuban Black-Hawk were also found.

November 12. Today we headed west to Cayo Guillermo, where Bahama Mockingbird proved to be much skulkier than the more numerous Northern Mockingbird. We believe we had a small party of Cuban (Zapata) Sparrow (race varonai) in the coastal scrub, which showed briefly before flying away. We looked unsuccessfully for West Indian Whistling-Duck around Melia Cayo Coco, supposedly a good site for the species.

Angel Garcia at Soplillar

November 13. Another long drive (5.5 hours) to Cuba's top birding destination – Playa Larga in the Bay of Pigs, where we met our guide, Angel Garcia (angelczcuba@gmail.com), who escorted us to our accomodation - another casa, the delightful Villa Rio-Mar (moticacuba@gmail.com) overlooking the historic bay. Our host, Daniel, was charming and helpful.

At Villa Rio-Mar

November 14. We headed off early with Angel to Soplillar, an area of forest close to Playa Larga. On the road in the early morning we had success with 2 close Grey-fronted Quail-Doves, followed quickly by 3 not-so-close Blue-headed Quail-Doves. On the scrub edge we had a pair of Fernandina's Flickers putting on a show, while the world's smallest bird, Bee Hummingbird, perched on a dead branch in a the tree top. In the afternoon we visited the Cuban Revolution Museum in Soplillar.

La Turba

November 15. An early start to La Turba and Cuban Nightjar performed well on the road into the huge Zapata wetland. We were in luck when a Zapata Wren perched on a reed close by and sung vigorously in full view; this species, endemic to the wetland, can be easy to miss. We had a pair of Cuban (Zapata) Sparrows on the road, these birds much closer than the ones on Cayo Guillermo. On the way back near Palpite, a pair of Red-shouldered Blackbirds took some coaxing before appearing, while a Northern (Cuban) Flicker was more co-operative.

Bay of Pigs, Playa Larga

November 16. Our focus here was owling in the very early morning. We heard a Stygian Owl in scrub on the edge of Playa Larga and eventually tracked it down. Unfortunately it flushed and although close, we had to make do with a reasonable flight view. Better luck was in store with a Cuban Screech-Owl which perched by the road in the open, with a couple more calling in the scrub.

Cueva de los Pecas

November 17. With all the specialties in the bag, a day for relaxation and sight-seeing. We visited the Bay of Pigs Invasion Museum in Playa Giron and La Ceuva de los Pecas, an impressive 70m sinkhole linked to the ocean by an underground cave. Blue-headed Quail-Doves are fed here and a group of 6 was very tame. A spot of snorkelling offshore was a pleasant diversion.

Havana Old City

November 18. As we left Playa Larga for Havana, we called in at a home in Palpite known for its trees favoured by Bee Hummingbirds. We saw several hummers (the males not in breeding plumage) before undertaking the 2.5-hour drive to the Hotel Armadores de Santander in La Haba Vieja (Old City).

Baroque Catedral de San Cristobal

November 19. A day around the Old City, visiting the Castille del Morro and Che Guevara's former home by taking a ride in one of the ancient automobiles that abound throughout Cuba. America's inhumane and vindictive embargo, imposed in the wake of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, continues to inflict a huge economic toll on this impoverished country.

Street art - human statue in Plaza Vieja

November 20. More sight-seeing, absorbing the cultural and historic ambience of places like the Plaza de la Cathedral, Plaza Vieja, Baroque Catedral de San Cristobal and Paseo del Prado.

Havana Harbour

November 21. Depart Havana.

Sight-seeing in Havana

For an annotated list of species, see here for the full trip report on Surfbirds.