Reasons To Be Cheerful 1, 2, 3 - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Having experienced the difficulties of getting back from Awala-Yalimapo and then onward to Sinnamary should have alerted me to the possibilities of even more snags to come, but oh no just keep bumbling on. There were 3 good reasons to pay a visit to Kourou, just 60Km further east, but first I had to get there with most people advising of no or little public transport, I felt another 'hitch' coming on. When the great deal of help from Steve, diving round trying to recruit one of his mates to drive me there, drew a blank all that was left was Plan B - yes 'stick up a thumb'! He then drove me to a hotel on the outskirts of town, which was thought a strategic position to get a lift, and departed saying "if he could be of further help I needed only to return to his house". After 2 hours at the roadside, first in blazing sunshine followed by pouring rain, I decided to try my luck recruiting a ride from within the hotel. Ride? - they didn't even have a cup of coffee but where most pleasant for all that. After 5 hours I decided to return to town, book another night at my former digs and pay Steve a visit to offer an incentive to drive me to Kourou the next morning. He agreed to pick me up at 06:00 but by 07:00 he was still a 'no show' so I tried my hand elsewhere, firstly asking the advice of passers-by, second finding a collectivo taxi which was gallingly 'full' then approaching a gentleman using an ATM. Simple approach, "are you going to Kourou", simple answer "yes", I thought he was joking but sure enough within minutes we had picked up my bag and were on our way. Just over a hour and we were in the main square, me thanking my benefactor and offering a payment which he refused and heading off to find a hotel.

First of the 3 reasons for the visit were the 3 interesting looking 'Lakes' clearly marked on the map, which surely held some bird life, but 2 turning out to be stagnant.

Luckily the third, Lac du Bols Diable, was clean, on first inspection had an Osprey flying over it and was conveniently at the side of the hotelI found through a lovely lady working in a coffee bar.

The hope was to circumnavigate it but unfortunately the shore was blocked at the distant building, while there seemed to be no access at all to the Mangroves beyond. A very pleasant stroll in ideal weather conditions was a nice change and there were quite a few bird which in the main amounted to more of what we have seen already - you can only photograph it if it's there!

It's been a while since we've clapped eyes on
CARIB GRACKLE
so a good start followed by

COMMON GROUND DOVE

GREY-BREASTED MARTIN,

GREY KINGBIRD,

SMOOTH-BILLED ANI

 

and a 'flushed'

TRICOLOURED HERON.

RUDDY PIGEON quickly followed

along with one of three SPOTTED SANDPIPER

 

and distant views of a well populated colony of

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.

The first and only addition

to the Trip List today

was a

LEAST TERN

later joined by 2 others

but none closing to decent camera range.

A nice reminder of the Little Terns that may well 

be awaiting my return to Ferry Bridge!

TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD was represented by c3 individuals,

while GREAT KISKADEE numbers were nearer 300?

and RUDDY GROUND DOVE by a few,

and then that OSPREY again.

There was then something of a 'heart-stopping' moment

as I peered up a tree to see what at first was thought to be a 

Bobolink

but I fear not

these top three looking like moulting male

SHINY COWBIRD

in a fairly large colony of several dozen including

 
females

 

and juveniles.

Another species great to see again was

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD

while all day long there were familiar calls of what sounded like

HOUSE SPARROW

which indeed they were.

Interestingly, there is no indication of this species on the distribution maps

for any of the Guiana's in Restall, from which I have noted them in all three.

This fine looking IGUANA welcomed me back through the hotel security gate

but when I showed it to the 2 Receptionist their only comment was

"we bet it would be tasty".

This rather formidable looking Insect completed the day's 

wildlife activities, but it was worth taking a look

around the tidy community of SAVANE

just to give the reader some idea of this smart little town.

Even the graffiti of the town name was well placed,

and beyond there was some excellent looking forest

and areas of cultivation which I did take a long look around.

Everything looked healthy in this Vine Grove

 

with COCONUTS at the back,

while there was even a 'pose' from the busy Banana Man.

Upland or Bust!

I think there has been far too much dripping about the rain in past days, so I'm going to leave it out. The other side of the coin is each evening, dressed in just a towel (not a pretty sight) I sit on the same balcony eating a variety of marinaded beef, spiced pork, smoked chicken etc along with some of the best bread ever and a glass or two of wine. Doubt there are many in UK, or Eastern Sea-board of the USA doing that at this time. Anyway, ever onward and 'good fortune' once again visited me today as

STEVE and young son LUDOVIK

simply stopped to say hello, as so many people seem to do here.

Out for a jaunt, on Steve's day off as a Security Officer, they asked if I'd like to see some of the countryside a little further away from the town. Now, if I told you the word Savanna sprung to mind, you'd likely not believe it, but with 10/- worth of bunkers added as a gesture of their kindness we were underway. There was some difficulty with language, but bird was fully understood and they seemed to know the terrain I was after, while all the time the boy was fascinated by the binoculars, my hat and hair, do I put 'perfume' on it indeed - "from the mouths of babes"! We started at the football pitch at the edge of town, I had said flat, sparsely vegetated areas might be best but already a good number of

BLACK VULTURE

were on the wing

and there was certainly no surprise when the first of a dozen

BLUE-GREY TANAGER
turned up, this one having bitten off more than it could chew
loosing it as a consequence.

Plenty of WHITE-WINGED SWALLOW looking better,

in the bright sunshine, than I'd seen before.

RED-BREASTED BLACKBIRD

 

while this unexpected SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, 

nowhere near the size of an Upland Sandpiper, 

did get the adrenalin pumping momentarily as it flushed from close by.

Our short spell of birding together was over by early afternoon, but having told David of the target birds liking for airstrips he suggested a site described as a Nature Reserve. Later in the day I took the 30 minute walk to the area

which had no signs suggesting a NR

but with low grassland and a number of pools it looked likely to be supporting a 'wintering Wader'.

It was also noticeable that the clouds were gathering and darkening, but no need for worry as someone had left a disused Electricity Sub-Station open and available for shelter.

 

First on the scene were a group of screeching Parakeets

which I have been trying to convince myself is Sun (Conure) Parakeet,

a bird of myth I won't even believe exists until I see one!

More realistically, it's a BROWN-THROATED PARAKEET

until Mr Penney tells me differently - hope you're tuning in Matey.

The male BLUE-BLACK GRASSQUIT

wasn't quite as obliging as the female,

but with more RED-BREASTED BLACKBIRD

the opposite was the case. This is the effect I have on most females.

Although nice to see the 'tinted' breast of this adult

which the book tells me is the 'nominate race' Sturnella militaris.

Then followed another nervous moment, when from some distance

came the call of a Wader.

Always nice to see, but there was another Wader I would rather have seen than

SOLITARY SANDPIPER

 

ROADSIDE HAWK

 

and more, c3 in all, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER

I had wandered over most of the area

but there was a distinct lack of Insects such as these

GRASSHOPPERs.

There was a flock of SHEEP

 

plus a very smart and obliging

YELLOW-RUMPED CACIQUE

on the way back.

HERD of PSYCHEDELIC COWs?

Of course you've heard of Psychedelic Cows!

Bicycles seem to play a big part in the life of this village, and I had intended finding out what make they are as they have seemingly over large circumference wheels and very thin tyres. That's probably why they have this sculpture at the entrance to the village.

An extremely lucky last shot of a

STRIPED CUCKOO

with hackle raised.

UNFORTUNATELY, 'BUST' I'M AFRAID!