T & T Part 11: Caroni Swamp

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know we have a swamp near our home.  Swamps are wonderful places, contrary to what some people might think when they hear the word 'swamp'. A swamp's reputation to the general public might not be very good, but to nature lovers, as I said, swamps are wonderful places.  Maybe that's why, on our visit to Trinidad, they saved Caroni Swamp for our last night.  

Caroni Swamp is most famous for its Scarlet Ibis, the national bird of Trinidad, and they are very beautiful birds, so this is well deserved.  However, I'm getting ahead of myself...we saw some other great birds there first.

On the way into the Caroni Swamp boat launch, we saw Yellow-hooded Blackbirds.  We have lots of Red-winged Blackbirds in our swamp at home, but these were quite different and very handsome.

The next birds we saw also a name similar to ones we have at home.  

Would you have guessed it's called a Masked Cardinal or Red-capped Cardinal?  Though it has 'Cardinal' in its common name, it is actually in the tanager family and is not closely related to our Northern Cardinal.  The one above is an adult.  Did you notice it has a band on its leg?   Of course, you see the blue color behind it.  That is not blue sky,  it's a blue truck in the parking lot at the Caroni boat launch!  

There was a juvenile Masked Cardinal nearby, which was bound and determined to chase the 'other' bird (his own reflection) away!

While it was really neat to see the Masked Cardinals, I kind of felt sorry for the poor guy, spending so much of his time in futile effort.

He kept at it the whole time we were there, and the lady in the parking lot booth said he's been at it for days.

He pecked and pecked; and kept sliding around on the slippery surface of the top of the truck mirror.  Hopefully he'll get the idea soon that he doesn't need to fight with his own reflection.  (And, hopefully, he won't damage any vehicles)!

We arrived at the boat launch in the late afternoon.  The timing was for a reason... we wanted to be in the swamp when the Scarlet Ibis came in to roost.

The skies looked ominous as we went along, but we had our umbrellas.  It was too warm to wear raincoats!

The rain held off, luckily, as we motored thru the red mangroves.

We saw a Spectacled Caiman, and also some kind of a large snake curled up in a tree.  None of my photos of those were very good, and I will admit I was not too disappointed about that!

People in this other boat were also enjoying the sights.

We passed them, and they passed us a few times, as we stopped to watch and photograph various birds and animals.

A popular bird for people in both boats was this Tropical Screech Owl.  I think the guides all knew where he was, because it seems he would be rather hard to spot otherwise.  He wasn't making any sounds and his coloration blended right in with the trees.

In contrast, this Black-crested Antshrike was not hard to pick out, as he was hopping around right at the end of some branches.  Like the owl, his colors are not bright, but I think he's quite a neat-looking bird.

However, the best was yet to come.   It wasn't long before we started seeing them.

There's a Scarlet Ibis on the left (but I didn't have to tell you that, did I?!) with a Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret on the right.  Our boat passed by quite a few juvenile Ibises that were wading in the water, foraging for food.  They are not fully scarlet like the adults.  

Then we started seeing quite a few Ibises flying in to the roosting trees.

Photographing them from a boat bobbing up and down in the water in the early evening light wasn't the best, but in person they were a truly gorgeous sight!

Besides the Scarlet Ibises (and a bunch of other birds like the herons and egrets) there were two FLAMINGOS!

The boat guide told us the darker one was probably an older one and the pale one a young bird.

To me, and I'm not sure exactly why, they were incredible to see in the wild.  I guess because I've seen a lot of them in zoos so it's neat to know they are 'out there' in a natural habitat doing well.  And besides that, they are certainly odd-looking creatures!  Especially when they fly...

The boats were careful not to get too close so we would not disturb the Flamingos and Ibises, for which I was glad.  They flew not because they were bothered, just because they wanted to, it seemed.

We did get rained on lightly for a brief time, but no one minded.  We were all enthralled by the swamp!  No one really wanted the experience to end, but we finally had to leave so the boat would get back before dark.  I couldn't resist one more photo... even though it's blurry-- of the Scarlet Ibises and the Flamingos.

 With this, I'm saying 'good-bye' to Trinidad and Tobago (with the except of a planned index of all the posts).  I hope you enjoyed my virtual field trip.  Maybe I've encouraged you to take a trip there for real.  I know I would love to go back someday!

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!