Our Trip to Trinidad & Tobago: Links & a Few More Photos

We experienced so many wonderful things in Trinidad and Tobago that it took me 11 blog posts to cover the highlights.  To wrap them all up, I thought it might be helpful to have a post with clickable links to all eleven posts, especially if you are planning a trip there.  

If you've already read all the posts, then I hope you enjoy these photos which have not been on the blog before.  Usually my photos 'go' with the words, but this time they are just sort of random!

(I usually use between 15 and 25 photos per post, but I have 762 photos from our trip... so I still have a lot of photos you haven't seen!)

Purple Honeycreeper

My very first post about the trip was an introduction; with a variety of my favorite photos.  It is called, "Ten Days in Trinidad and Tobago".  I'm going to end my blog report the same way I started, with a few more of my favorite photos.

Post number two was about the Asa Wright Nature Centre.  Click on the title to read "Asa Wright - The Place and the People".  

Barred Antshrike

Then it was on to the Hummingbirds.  As I wrote in this post, "T & T Part 3: The Hummingbirds" we saw 12 of the 18 possible species of hummers while we were in Trinidad and Tobago.

White-necked Jacobin preening

In post number 4, I wrote about the amazing trees we saw on Trinidad in "T & T Part 4: The Tremendous Trees".

I think the birds were having a party in this tree!

Next was a post called "T & T Part 5: The Bird Magnet" about one particular kind of tree that attracts many beautiful birds.  Most of the photos in the post are of brightly-colored tanagers and other birds that eat the fruit of the Wild Tobacco tree.

Violaceous Euphonia

Number 6 was also about birds, but this time it wasn't the 'pretty birds' it was "T & T Part 6: The Bizarre Birds".  That one is about an Owl, two birds with beards, Oilbirds,  Chachalacas (that say their name), and Flamingoes.

Great Antshrike

"T & T Part 7: The Nests" is pretty self-explanatory.  I might have set a record with that one though, using 33 photos.  I tried to include photos of not just the nests, but the birds that made them.  Although the last photo in that post leads into the next post... about turtles!  "T & T Part 8: Leatherback Turtles".

Caligo butterfly

Then I wrote about monkeys and other animals in "T & T Part 9: The Critters".

Green-rumped Parrotlets

Post 10 was called "T & T Part 10: Cuffie River Nature Retreat" which was about our lodging for the 4 days we were on Tobago (and the things we saw there).

Orange-winged Parrots in a rain storm

Finally, the last post in the series was called, "T & T Part 11: Caroni Swamp".  Our visit there was the 'grand finale' of our 6-day stay on Trinidad.  It included another owl, beautiful scenery and lots of birds, including Scarlet Ibises and 2 Flamingos!

One post I thought about writing but didn't, was about birds taking baths!  When it rained, that seemed to be the time for birds to get cleaned up!  That was fun to watch-- whether it was a 'shower' on a perch...

White-necked Jacobin taking a shower in the rain

or a bath in the birdbath!

Palm Tanager taking a bath

Another post I thought about doing was about the many kinds of flowers we saw, but I knew so little about them it would have been hard to do more than post photos. 

Frangipani or Plumeria flowers, very sweet-smelling!

Though our trip was specifically a birding trip (and we wound up seeing a total of 170 species of birds) we really enjoyed all the aspects of nature we experienced on Trinidad and Tobago.  

Butterfly on Hibiscus flower

I hope my blog may have inspired some of you to travel to "T & T" yourselves, or at least that you enjoyed this virtual 'field trip'!







 

Ten Days in Trinidad and Tobago

The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are a birder's paradise located off the northern coast of South America .  Recently, my husband and I were very blessed to spend 10 days there.  Whether the sun was shining or rain was falling, we enjoyed all the amazing and beautiful things we saw.  While I usually write about the beauty of nature here at home, I have too many photos from Trinidad and Tobago not to share some of them with you! So, once again "This Is My Father's World" is going on a 'field trip'. (Other trips have included Colombia, Florida, and Texas).

For this post, at first I thought I'd only pick a few photos... to let you know why I haven't posted in the last 2 weeks-- but I couldn't choose just a couple!  Instead, I'm going to share a number of my favorites to get us started on our 'trip', then I'll post more about the birds, flowers, turtles, monkeys, and scenery as I have time.  I hope you enjoy the 'trip', and 'stay tuned' for more.

A male Tufted Coquette perched during a rain shower.  He's only 2  3/4" long!

A male Black-throated Mango in the sunshine

A White-necked Jacobin taking a bath in the rain

A Ruby-topaz Hummingbird fluffing his feathers in the sun

Those are 4 of the 12 kinds of hummingbirds we saw in Trinidad and Tobago!  There are 18 kinds listed in my T & T species checklist.

A BUNCH of Bananaquits (also known locally as Sugar Bird) at a feeder at Asa Wright Nature Centre!

A Bay-headed Tanager eating a berry in the pouring rain.  (Luckily, we were on the veranda!)

This Hibiscus flower looked especially beautiful when the sun came out after a brief shower.

While we went mainly for birds, it sure was fun to watch a family of White-fronted Capuchins in the rain forest.

The hanging Crested Oropendola nests add an intriguing touch to the silhouette of this tree.

In the opposite extreme of nest types, a Laughing Gull hatches from a very basic one on the ground. 

We also had the amazing experience of watching this 600+ pound Leatherback Turtle lay her eggs on the beach one night.

We didn't have to go out at night to see this Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.  While they are more active at night, they can also be seen and heard during the day.

A juvenile Masked Cardinal was pecking the top of a shiny car mirror.  He put on quite a show, though I felt a little sorry for all the energy he was expending trying to chase away the 'other' cardinal. 

A 'famous' Trinidad Motmot.... on the island of Tobago, where they are actually more common than on Trinidad.

And, finally (for now) two wild Flamingos we saw while watching Scarlet Ibis come in to roost at Caroni Swamp.  Seeing them seemed almost surreal!  I mean, we're used to seeing plastic ones in yards or live ones at the zoo, but out in an actual swamp? Incredible!