Family Holiday to Cuba

I watched a TV programme a couple of years ago about Cuba presented by Trevor McDonald and it looked a really interesting place. It also is the home of the smallest bird in the world the Bee Hummingbird so I felt it was a place I would like to go at some point. Well has luck would have it my wife asked that silly question where do you fancy going holidays this year so I said Cuba looks good and she said ok. So we booked a two week holiday for the end of August and coming back in September. I know it’s the hurricane season but we have been away in the hurricane season before and never any problem and we thought we would be fine.  So we booked to stay on an island called Cayo Coco which had a causeway to the mainland. Little did I know when I booked the holiday I was in the wrong area for the hummer. The Cayos are a series of small islands, our hotel was called the Melia. It was adults only so no screaming kids made it even better. We flew from Gatwick Airport, it all went really smooth and before we knew it we were in customs and we went through very quickly with no problems. Once outside you could really feel the heat. The first bird of the trip was here Turkey Vulture and there were a couple of dozen flying over the airport. The bus trip to the hotel was fairly quiet , I only saw Northern Mockingbird and an America Kestrel and I was fairly surprised to see how little was around.

Once at the hotel I could see my birding patch for the next two weeks and it looked really good. Habitat wise I had a large lagoon and the hotel grounds were covered in vegetation with lots of mature woodland, a long beach and to the right it would lead down past another hotel the Pullman which had more scrub and mangroves. It was not so busy with people and great for birds and to the left of the hotel were more woods and a river coming out in to a bay with more hotels.

On my first afternoon I only saw a couple of birds, I think we were both feeling jetlagged and we could not stay awake. We made the age old mistake of not changing our phones to Cuban time so I got up about three am and I got ready for birding but I had about a three hour wait for daylight. I knew the Mozzies were going to be bad as our room was right next to the lagoon and every morning I had to deet myself up before I could step out of the door, it would take me twenty minutes to cover myself.

This is a list of what I saw day by day and I only put new birds seen each day. I did book a day and half with a bird guide from the mainland whose name was Paulino, he was a great birder and really nice guy and brilliant on bird sound. This is what I saw on my first afternoon before falling asleep. I saw my first new bird of the trip which was a West Indian Woodpecker. These were very common and I saw them in the ground of the hotel most days.

1. West Indian Woodpecker. [tick]

 

2. On the lagoon was a single Roseate Spoonbill and were not very common in the grounds but I saw really big numbers later in my trip at Cayo Guillermo.

3. Killdeer were very common on the lagoon. I saw them daily and on my last day at Cayo Coco I had two flocks which I think could have been moving with storm coming.

Day 2.

My first full day in the grounds of the hotel and local area. I learnt the hard way, in the heat of the day the mozzies were fine as long as you don’t go into the shade of the woods, it was like they are waiting for you to step of the path to get you. Also when you sweat you sweat the deet off and you learn very fast to keep topping it up. Not far from my room were bushes near the water’s edge and I found birds there straight away.

4. Yellow Warbler were very common and I had four together on my first morning.

5. House Sparrow and it does not matter where you go in the world there always seems to be sparrows. They were very common and the most counted was 12.

6. Grey Kingbird was fairly common in the grounds and area.

7. White Winged Dove were very common in the grounds and area.

8. Cuban Emerald was my only hummingbird of the trip and they were seen all around the hotel and were very common. [tick]

 

9. Collard Dove were very common in the grounds.

10. Yellow Crowned Night Heron were fairly common and I saw one most morning walking around the grounds of the hotel. The most I saw was 3 over the lagoon.

11. Reddish Egret was only seen once or twice on the lagoon and not that common on the site but I did see more elsewhere.

12. Green Heron were seen most days along the lagoon.

13. Black Cowled Oriole, I had a family party and these were seen most days. [tick]

14. Common Ground Dove were very common in the grounds of the hotel.

15. Northern Mockingbird was very common on the road into the hotel.

16. Zenaida Dove were very common in the grounds.

17. Spotted Sandpiper was seen most days on the beach and on the shores of the lagoon.

18. Greater Antillean Grackle was very common in the grounds and around the restaurants.

19. Turkey Vulture was very common and great to see on the beach to the left in the afternoon in the bins on the beach.

 

20. Cuban Gnatcatcher. I found these most days in the wood on the other side of the lagoon. They were fairly tame and as time went on I learned the call so I found them with ease. [tick]

21. Cuban Pewee. I found them fairly tame too, also found in the wood on the other side of the lagoon. [tick]

 

22. Prairie Warbler were fairly common and I saw two or three most days.

 

23. Cuban Bullfinch. I saw them most days in the grounds and in the wood on the other side of the lagoon. [tick]

 

24. Stripe Headed Tanager, I saw them mostly in the woods on the other side of the lagoon and in family groups. [tick]

  

25. Laughing Gull was the only gull seen and was very common on the beach.

 

26. Royal Tern was seen most days on the beach.

 

27. Cuban Black Hawk was fairly common, I found a juvenile on site so they must be breeding in the hotel grounds somewhere. [tick]

 

28. White Crowned Pigeon was fairly common and I saw them a lot over the woods on the opposite side of the lagoon.

29. America Kestrel were seen fairly regular but not every day.

30. Black Necked Stilt were seen on the lagoon everyday in small numbers.

 

Day 3.

After being eaten alive the day before I needed a break from the blood sucking mozzies so I choose a different route and went right down the beach past the hotel Pullman. I found this area really good for waders.

31. Red Legged Thrush were not has common as they have been on my past trips and I saw them every couple days.

 

32. Turnstone were seen all along the beach and were seen daily and the biggest count I had was 26.

33. Semipalmated Plover was seen fairly regular and I only saw them to the right passed the hotel Pullman on the beach.

34. Logger Head Kingbird I only saw them in the Scrub passed the Pullman and they seemed resident to that area. [tick]

35. Mourning Dove were fairly common in the grounds of the hotel.

36. Willet were only seen passed the Pullman on the beach and 2 birds were seen on two visits.

 

37. Grey Plover or Black bellied Plover were seen a couple times and only passed the Pullman and 3 being the highest count. 

38. Great Blue Heron and I only seen single birds a couple of times and I found a white morph bird down passed the Pullman and at first glance I thought it was a great Egret.

 

39. Yellow Faced Grassquit and I only saw them down past the Pullman and only seen a couple of times. [tick]

40. Least Sandpiper were only seen a couple times down past the Pullman.

41. Osprey of the Caribbean race P. Haliaetus were seen and they were a very smart looking bird and it had a all white head and I so both races over the Lagoon and down the beach passed the Pullman.

42. Barn Swallow I only saw single bird at the end of the beach passed the Pullman and Paulino seemed surprised and it was early one and I saw a lot more birds in other places towards the end of the holiday.

43. Double Crested Cormorant and I saw a couple of birds on the sea down passed the Pullman and Also on Cayo Guillermo and the causeway.

 

Day 4 was my first guided birding of the holiday and I had a half Day out birding with Paulino Lopez Delgado and he was on time and sadly his classic Cadillac Belair which he was famous for was in the garage and he was using a friend of his with a taxi to help out and he was teaching him the birds names in English and they give me a great welcome and it was like birding with the boys back home and no not home sick yet. We started birding not that far from Melia and we birded along the road and very fast we were in to new birds.

44 La Sagra's Flycatcher was the first bird Paulino found and I also found one near the hotel two days later and they were seen down passed the Pullman and I don’t know if they were just over looked. [tick]

45 Cuban Green Woodpecker this was one I wanted to see big time and I also found one in the wood the other side of the lagoon and I saw it a couple of times. [tick]

 

46 Cuban Vireo was first seen with Paulino and another bird I found myself later in the scrub behind the Pullman and I saw a pair couple of times in the same area. [tick]

47 Black Whiskered Vireo and Paulino heard it first and he called two birds in and apart from these two I had one more to the left near the river and they were only seen once more on the trip.

We moved on a bit and stopped again and Paulino heard Cuban Tody and as colourful as it is we could not see it in front of us and it just popped out and I got brilliant views and what a cracker bird and we saw one more later and they were the only ones seen on my holiday and it shows it does pay to have guide.

48 Cuban Tody. [tick]

 

49 Oriente Warbler we found these fairly easy and we got 4 in total and back at the Melia I saw them daily after that in the wood the other side of the lagoon. [tick]

50 Zapata Sparrow I was surprised to see them in woodland along the side of a main road and this was only a single and it was only bird seen. [tick]

51 Red Tailed Hawk A single bird was seen Cayo Guillermo and nowhere else.

Next stop was to a treatment works and the mozzies were real bad the mozzie spray I had did not work and Paulino give me some of his and I was biting everywhere but it was worth it and there was birds everywhere.

52 West Indian Whistling Duck were on the pools and there were 6 birds present and little did I know it that the lagoon at the Melia is one of the best place to see them on the Cayos and only a couple of day later there was over sixty there and they were all over the roofs of the lagoon rooms and they arrived just before the hurricane which was building up out to sea.

53 Blue Winged Teal me and Paulino birded well together and he found some birds and I found other and when I called this bird he was surprised and it was a bit earlier than normal and a first for autumn for him and a female and only one seen.

54 Solitary Sandpiper and we had four here and loads on the mainland.

55 Lesser Yellowlegs and we counted 6 here and more on the mainland.

56 Greater Yellowlegs and only a single bird present.

57 Moorhen and we only saw one here and a couple at Varadero later.

Next up we cross over to another Cayo and the small island of Cayo Guillermo and it’s right at the top of Cayo Coco and there were mangroves and lagoons everywhere and it looked a real brilliant place.

58 Crested Caracara and we saw a couple of birds here and nowhere else.

 

59 Neotropic Cormorant and we saw good numbers in the lagoons. [tick]

60 Tricoloured Egrets were seen in small numbers and I also saw one regular in the lagoon back at the hotel. 
61 Great Egret, we saw a couple of dozen of them.

62 Snowy Egret we saw big numbers of these.

63 White Ibis only a couple seen.

64 Little Blue Heron also seen in small numbers.

65 America Flamingo there was about 30 to 40 seen on Cayo Guillermo and on the day I left Cayo Coco for the mainland there were a couple of hundred birds feeding in the lagoons on the causeway road from the island.

 

66 Semipalmated Sandpiper and a single bird was seen on the causeway and when I got to the mainland I saw big numbers at the reservoir.

67 Bahama Mockingbird and we only saw a single bird and the site they are found at is being Developed and it’s a large hotel being built on this site and it might not be in Cayo Guillermo for much longer. [tick]

 

Back at the Hotel.

68. Magnificent Frigatebird was seen flying over the hotel and I saw it for two days in a row and it was a female and I only saw one more male on the mainland around the reservoir and later in Varadero I saw easy one hundred birds.

69 Sanderling Were seen all along the beach and I even had one with a ring and I took a photo quick before I flew of and it was never seen again and I had to wait and till I got home to read the ring and it was rung in the USA and new Jersey .

70 I found two very pale Plovers and they were fairly small to and I had a feel they were Piping Plover and they were down passed the Pullman and when I got back to the UK and I looked closer at the photo you could clearly see they were piping plover and I also posted photos on Facebook and everyone said piping and I look hard the following day and they had gone and I never saw them again. [tick]

 

Day 5 - I did the hotel and I went right passed the Pullman.

71 Brown Pelican and I thought after seen photos on the net they would be everywhere and it was great to see three birds flying over the sea and when I leave on my full day on the mainland there well into double figures on the sea by the causeway.

72 Cave Swallow and I had a brief view of a cave swallow on the lagoon and I had a pretty good view of and ID was spot on and when I had my big day on the mainland I had big numbers and Paulino took me into the city of moron and to a real fine old looking building and it looked like a hotel at some point and there was no windows left in the building and inside was a group of woman selling stuff and I thought why he taking me to a market and he said look up and there was a real high ceiling and coving on the ceiling and above the coving was loads of cave swallows nest and they were coming and going .[tick]

73 Cuban Northern Flicker and on my half day with Paulino we looked everywhere for this one and he say they are going to split the races and it will become its own species and I mangers to found one on the road in to the hotel.

74 Northern Waterthrush were seen along the shore of the lagoon most days.

75 America Redstart were seen a couple of times around the hotel and to the left towards the river in the mangrove and also on the mainland.

Day 6 – This was a very quiet day. The wind started to pick up and there was an on shore wind. I had more passage on the sea.

76 Cuban Martin was seen over the lagoon and it was the only bird seen on Cayo Coco and I saw big numbers in Varadero later. [tick]

77 Least Terns and I had five birds moving down channel and they were the only ones seen.

78 Sandwich Tern I had three birds moving down channel.

79 I had several brief views of a cuckoo in the wood the other side of the lagoon and at first I thought it was a lizard cuckoo and it wasn’t until I saw a Mangrove cuckoo on the mainland with Paulino that I knew it was a Mangrove Cuckoo and on the mainland I had two real close views of two different birds

Day 7 - This was a day trip to the mainland. I saw lots of birds. The only new bird on there was Cattle Egrets. Also there was cattle everywhere.

80 Cattle Egret and I did see them on Cayo Coco only the once and I thought maybe passage birds.

81 Yellow Throated Warbler and I had it near a cafe on the causeway on the way back and this was the start of them and I had a couple around the hotel and the river to the left.

82 Gundlach Hawk was seen twice in the wood on the other side of the lagoon and one day it had just caught a Black Necked Stilt and it flew off with it. [tick]

 

Day 8. I only had one new bird today and I staying around the grounds of the hotel and I went to the left and the river and mangrove wood.

83 Prothontary Warbler and I found this bird along the edge of the lagoon and it was a cracking male and in the evening I found maybe the same bird near the river in the mangrove and I will never know and in Varadero I had three and it looked like two males chasing a female.

 

Day 9 Was a big day and I went to the Mainland with Paulino and we did farm fields first just outside Morron and a reservoir which I think was called Laguna de la Leche and a fish farm which he had to get permission for us to go in and we birded along a river bank and there was woodland all around it.

84 Western Sandpiper was seen on the causeway in a lagoon near the mainland and we did see more later at the reservoir. [tick]

85 Anhinga We saw a couple along a the river and I did see any more here and till varadero and I saw one on the golf course on the lake.

 

86 Black Crowned Night Heron and Paulino spotted two when we were driving down a road and they where roosting in a tree along the side of the road ad these where the only two seen in two weeks.

 

87 Least Bittern and we were looking for a yellow breasted crake under a river bank and a female least bittern popped out and landed on a dead tree opposite and sadly the crake was not there. [tick].

88 Northern Jacana The only place where we saw them was the fish farm. [tick].

89 America Avocet was seen at the fish farm and only single bird present and Paulino was surprised how early it was back.

90 Long Billed Dowitcher and there was two present at the fish farm.

91 Gull Billed Tern was also at the fish farm and two present.

92 Stilt Sandpiper was also at the fish farm and only single bird present.

93 Smooth Billed Ani was seen at a couple of sites and also seen in Varadero.

94 Great Lizard Cuckoo was seen along a road near the river and there was two present.

95 Mangrove Cuckoo was heard at a couple of site and two birds seen real well at the reservoir.

96 Cuban Pigmy Owl and these birds showed real well and I saw three. [tick].

 

97 Cuban Trogon and I only saw the one and he had to work real hard to find one and he say has a rule he see them easy and we were talking to some local anglers and they had never seen one and it’s Cuba's national bird. [tick]

98 Black and white Warbler and only one seen.

99 Louisiana Waterthrush and was seen couple of times at the reservoir and once more in Varadero when a bird flew into a window and it was place under a bush and disappeared. [tick]

100 Grey Gnatcatcher and only single bird seen at the reservoir.

101 Northern Parula and only a single bird seen here at the reservoir and seen most days after at the hotel.

102 Antillean Palm Swift was seen and we had six in total and I also saw big numbers later at Varadero.

103 Eastern Meadow Lark was seen on the way in and about dozen birds seen and he told me another one on the cards for a spilt to Cuban Meadow Lark.

104 Cuban Blackbird was seen in a flock along the road near the river. [tick]

105 Tawny Shouldered Blackbird was in the same flock with the Cuban blackbirds and only when the light hit them straight on that you can see the tawny in them. [tick]

106 Clapper Rail was looked for on the way back and we managed to find one in the mangrove on the causeway on the way back to Cayo Coco.

107 Common Yellowthroat and I found a female at the hotel hopping around under the car at one  point and a great end to the day and I saw 71 species for the day.

108 Antillean Nighthawk was seen flying over the road up to the hotel and it was early evening and showed its wing patches real well and this was the only nighthawk seen in two weeks. [tick

 

Day 10 and I was not feeling to good and I was up and down though the night to the toilet and I was starting to feel burned out and almost did not get up to go birding and boy was I glad I did.

109 Worm Eating Warbler This one bird I always wanted to see and I was working my way along the lagoon and a bird jumped out for a second and I thought that’s got a head stripe and if back home it would be a sedge warbler and I thought they don’t get them here and out of the blues it popped out and I could not believe my eyes and I think it was the only point of the holiday I missed the lads and no one to high five or to rub knees with and I watched this one bird for a fair bit before I lost it out the back and I near saw other one, [tick]

Little did I know my stay on Cayo Coco was going to get cut short and I had a phone call from Paulino asking if I was leaving Cayo Coco and I said no and he said they are evacuating the mainland along the coast and he been told to go and I said why and he said because there a hurricane called Irma coming and going to hit tomorrow. He was confused and worried that we had not been told and we were not evacuating the island and when the storm hits we were going to be cut off from the mainland if it break the causeway. Me and wife thought that strange we had not heard from hotel staff or Thomas cook rep and when we went for breakfast they told everyone to pack and we would be leaving by 12 noon and it was crazy everyone rushing to pack and grabbing food for breakfast. They said it would be a six hour bus ride to our new hotel and it was called the Melia Las Americas and in Varadero and real it was nine hours and as we only had a couple of day left from our holiday we would not be returning . I did see birds from the coach but no new ones were added to the list. We were traveling in convoy of sixteen coaches and as we went through the villages people were coming out to see us going by and when we got there it was dark and all we wanted was food and bed.

Day 11 I knew at some point the storm was coming and from our room it looked over a golf course and a small lake and ponds and looked real good and in the distant was the sea. I had a quick walk around the grounds and I saw very little and no new birds today and with that they called all of us together and said the hurricanes coming in early and has already hit Cayo Coco and flattened the airport and breached the causeway in two places and we were happy we had left and we were told to go down in to the basement of the hotel until they say it’s safe to come out. In the basement we had seats and lots of food and drink and to keep active we would walk up and down to keep moving and at the end of the basement was a loading bay and you could see out and the wind was real bad and rain and the palm tree where blowing about and a couple of tree had come down on the road and a lamp post was bent right over. Has time went on it was very boring and a couple had come back from there walk and said the winds has change direction and I thought that’s strange and I went for a look and it had and sometime later we were told the reason why was we were right in the eye of the storm and we stayed there for seventeen hours and when we come out it was still blowing a gale and we just didn’t not care and went back to our room and apart from the patio doors were shaking and we were just to tried to care .

Day 12 after the Irma had gone through and the winds were still pretty high and you could see the outside road coming back to life and cars and lorry started moving and even a motor bike and it just shows the Cuban are hard working and they just get on with it and It’s funny that my daughter phoned from the UK and they more upset than we were and the first words out of my oldest daughter mouth was dad not aloud outside and if I would. Well I thought about it for a bit and people were going outside taking photos and I looked up and there was flocks of birds going over and I could make out warblers and orioles and I thought I got to go out and most birds went straight over and only a small amount landed and I logged 36 species in a short time and only a couple of new birds.

110 Cape May Warbler and I saw a pair and a couple the day after.

111 Black Throated Green Warbler and I had three birds going through.

112 Belted Kingfisher was on the golf course and only one seen in two weeks.

113 Northern Oriole I had fairly good views of some going over.

114 Helmeted Guineafowl and I had a small group on the golf course and only ones seen.

Day 13 was very quiet and I walked around the area and there was tree down everywhere and on the beach there was a couple of dead puffer fish and I also had a quick walk on the golf course and it was like all the birds had gone through there was a party of a about fifteen gray kingbirds and on the course the was a bit of a rock face and there was little caves dig out in it and I also found two real big bee nests in a hole in the rocks and you could see the honey combs and over the bay it was full of frigate birds and there was hundreds and it seemed they were going to roosting in a wood in the distance and I also had what looked like Arctic Skua chasing a flock of Terns and I could not ID them and the book say very rare and I am stumped to what else it could have been and by how it was behaving and also on the golf course I had comic type terns and I did not have my scope to get a better view .

Day 14 we left for airport and we passed through some great habitat on the way to Havana and only new bird seen was one I thought I would have seen sooner .By this point I was birded out and Havana was a very colourful city and we got to the airport to be told no room on the flight for us and we waited 4 hour for them to find us a hotel and it was very posh and we were told it was Richard Branson hotel and it five hundred pound a night and the door man were like the missing link and they were the biggest bouncer I have ever seen .

115 Feral Pigeon

Day 15 was not real time to birded and a quick walk around a town square and only two species seen and no new bird. We went back to the airport to be told we got you a flight and we thought yes and maybe we will be going home and the day after was my brother wedding and for the first time in my life someone had asked me to be his best man. The one thing we did not know straight away was it was not to London and home and it was to Germany and Dusseldorf and when we landed was told no flight and till the evening and not Gatwick airport but to Luton and than a bus ride to Gatwick and I think we got home on day 17 and both thought the same we glad to be home and Thomas Cook couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery and I missed my brother's wedding and it’s a brilliant place Cuba and I will love to go back one day and not in hurricane season and we learned Irma was the worst storm for 86 years and I will see Bee Humming bird one day. When I was home Paulino got in touch to see I was home safe and he said when it hit Cayo Coco it was categories 4 and hit the coast and damaged all the fishing villages all the way along and is village had it bad too and when it hit Varadero it was only category three and that was bad enough. I had hundred and fifteen on my list and it was a nice taste of Cuba.