Margarita Island, Venezuela

Arriving at Puerto El Guamache 07:00, ever before the slack was taken up on the head-ropes BROWN PELICAN were making them a perch and the day was already warm.

No Birding Pal here and really little by way of direction, so a US$10 taxi ride to seen if some likely habitat could be found

 About 15Km from what is a Oil and Container Terminal (and not at all a likely berth for a Cruise Ship) there was this endless expanse of dense and very prickly terrain where the search would start.

A flash of brilliant red crossed my eyes as I watched a male VERMILION CARDINAL disappear, and never return, into the tangle of bushes.

Undeterred, I tried pishing which only brought the female out but only this far.

Plenty of CACTUS here, while just up the road the local rubbish tip was attracting a good number of both

TURKEY VULTURE

and BLACK VULTURE neither of which close to any decent range.

However, all was not lost as I turned to see just a slight movement in a nearby bush reviling this nifty

 
PEARL KITE

with a freshly caught LIZARD

The Raptor was also having an effect on the smaller birds and was being continuously being 'attacked' by this TROPICAL GNATCATCHER.

About the closes any BLACK VULTURE came today.

and a Black BUTTERFLY

With the recent elections in the country it was no surprise to find this CHAVES graffiti all over the place.

TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD were once again well represented, but it was now a case of the heat becoming oppressive. I sought some temporary sanctuary in a local garden under the shade of a huge tree, while the family brought me water which I poured over my head to cool down. The arrival of a family friend, in his 'beat up' pickup truck was fortuitous as I was more than ready to return to the ship for a short siesta. He drove me back!

While resting Peter Davies had slipped a note under my cabin door suggesting I should try the sand and mud flats between the container berth and the sea-shore which proved profitable.

First up were these NEOTROPIC CORMORANT

followed by c3

BURROWING OWL

Any Owl is a bonus to me so they were most welcome and obliging.

Also on the foreshore were good numbers of LEAST SANDPIPER

along with what looked like a SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER, right of picture.

A decent size group of about 50

GREATER FLAMINGO

were next but at long distance.

Local Fishermen

and SAND BEETLEs

Trinidad and Tobago (well at least Tobago)

After a quiet night cruising, we arrived off of

punctually at 06:00. Alongside by 07:00 and Immigration cleared just 30 minutes later.

 On the way in there were a crowd of ROYAL TERN on one of the dolphins

 and amongst then a COMMON TERN*

 It was the ship and Riggers spooking the birds.

From my lofty perch there was just a single CARIBBEAN MARTIN*, out of the dozen or so, that was brave enough to perch briefly, it may well have been a breeding site with all the movement.

 Once again one of the first ashore,

 and while there had been a chance of a Birding Pal nothing had been firmed up so decided to go solo.

TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD*

was most obliging before reaching the nearby Bus Dept where the people were in the same frame of mind. It was TT$8 (a couple of quid or so) to get to Roxborough on the north east of the Island and a fantastic birding area behind a neatly arranged estate of bungalows.

 First on show was CATTLE EGRET

 and in a nearby huge, orange flowered tree were an estimated 150+ Hummingbirds

 this one remaining unidentified

 with this thought to be WHITE-NECKED JACOBIN*?

 They were all over the place and spoiled for choice on which one to focus

 Good numbers of BLUE and WHITE TANAGER

but the surprise coming by way of CRESTED OROPENDOLA the first 'lifer' of the day.

 Cheeky SMOOTH-BILLED ANI were all over the place giving a chance of better images than before.

 A couple of colorful DRAGONFLIES made for a diversion,

 but it was soon back to not knowing precisely what had been photographed?
but possibly a RUBY TOPAZ, hope to get these sorted out en-route

 One of the dozen or so regional variations of (grey-chinned) BANANAQUIT

 BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER*

Butterfly 

and a strange looking 'grass'.

 c3 SOUTHERN LAPWING* were patroling the dried out river bed close to the center of town,

while a PALM TANAGER* graced the power cables as I made an 'overlong' wait for the bus.Each person who arrived at the stop told me a different time, and finally a lady changed $US5 and we traveling a collectivo taxi back to the capita'. Out of the change there was enough for 2 beers, much needed after 6 hours in 85F.

An update on the score so far.

Trip Total = 121    'Lifers' = 14