Cruise to southern Lesser Antilles and Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad Motmot, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Scarlet Ibis, Caroni Bird Sanctuary, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Red footed Boobies, At sea off Grenada, Mar 23, 2023

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Gray Trembler, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Back from a roundtrip cruise out of Barbados that hit a wide variety of islands over the course of a week.  We flew down to Florida on the 18th and then took an early flight out of Miami on the 19th and then set sail late on that day (more on Florida before and after the trip at the following link).  We have not been on a cruise in several years but we decided on this one as it had no days at sea and it made stops at multiple islands I have been looking forward to visiting for years with the main goal being a few new species of warblers.  The islands that we visited included Tobago, Trinidad, St. Vincent, Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia.  I will cover each individual island below.  A more in depth look at the warblers for the cruise can be found at the following link: southern Caribbean cruise warblers.

We made the flight over to Barbados from Miami on Sunday morning and arrived a bit after midday. Customs and immigration was a breeze and even with a 25 minute taxi ride from the airport we arrived at the port by 1:30 and then got checked in. The rest of the day was spent on the ship in port and we made a late night departure to our first port of call. Birds were rather limited on the first day with nothing noteworthy.

Tobago from the sea, Mar 20, 2023

Magnificent Frigatebirds and Red footed Booby, At sea off Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Magnificent Frigatebird and Red footed Booby, At sea off Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

The first stop was to the island of Tobago on Monday. The trip from Barbados to Tobago was a bit rough and sleep was less than great. After a lot of tossing and turning I decided to get up with the sun a little before six and do some pelagic birding. Almost immediately I started getting groups of Audubon’s Shearwaters and Red footed Boobies as we were still quite a bit off the north end of Tobago. I stayed out watching for well over an hour and turned up more of the same plus Brown Booby, Red billed Tropicbirds and eventually Magnificent Frigatebirds. The numbers of frigatebirds and Red footed Boobies was impressive as we got closer to the port with some interaction between the species. We arrived a little after eight and got off the ship at nine at which point we met up with our guide for the day, Jason Radix (www.naturetobago.com).  Jason was fantastic (as were all the guides I had) and I will link contact info for all the guides at the very end of the report.  I had a total of 16 target species for the island (all of which would be life birds) and the list included the following: Rufous vented Chachalaca, Short tailed Swift, Ruby topaz Hummingbird, White tailed Sabrewing, Copper rumped Hummingbird, Trinidad Motmot, Orange winged Parrot, White fringed Antwren, Stripe breasted Spinetail, Blue backed Manakin, Ochre lored Flycatcher, Fuscous Flycatcher, Venezuelan Flycatcher, Scrub Greenlet, White winged Swallow. Several of these I could also get on Trinidad but some are only found on Tobago (at least in this country). 

Black throated Mango, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Barred Antshrike, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

White fringed Antwren, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Green rumped Parrotlet, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

White tailed Sabrewing, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Venezuelan Flycatcher, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Trinidad Motmot, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Rufous tailed Jacamar, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Stripe breasted Spinetail, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Blue backed Manakin, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

Hercules beetle, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

White winged Swallow, Scarborough port, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023

We immediately started driving out of the city and up in elevation to get to the Main Ridge Forest Reserve (the reserve was created way back in 1776 to protect the water supply…an effort way ahead of its time). We picked up a few species on the way as we drove including the first target species with a few Orange winged Parrots. Our first real stop was a trail just outside the reserve which started producing birds right away including White tailed Sabrewing, Copper rumped Hummingbird, Trinidad Motmot. A walk a bit further down the trail turned up Blue backed Manakin, White fringed Antwren, Ochre lored Flycatcher and Scrub Greenlet. After a walk of about .35 miles we turned back and retraced our steps and added a couple more target birds including Venezuelan Flycatcher and Violaceous Euphonia. We also had some better looks at several species seen earlier on the walk. After over an hour on the trail we entered the nearby reserve and took a brief bathroom break. Although not many birds during the brief stop we did get close looks at an impressive beetle, a Hercules Beetle. We then walked the main trail in the reserve for almost an hour and added one more target with a few Stripe breasted Spinetails plus more and/or better looks at a number of species seen earlier. We also had a White tailed Sabrewing building a nest, a displaying Blue backed Manakin and a day flying bat. Once we finished our walk along the trail we started the drive back down to the cruise port. As we drove back for a two o’clock drop off we had still not seen the chachalaca (which actually should have been one of the easier species to get!). We hoped to have one just fly across in front of us or find a group in among the towns and villages but no luck. We had one final place to try and the location turned up at least four plus other birds...the trip would not have been complete without the chachalacas! Jason dropped us off mid afternoon and we then went back on board the ship.  After a late lunch and a shower I sat on the balcony of our room and managed to turn up another target with multiple White winged Swallows in the port area.  A total of 64 species for the entire day with 14 lifers.  All the photos from the day in Tobago (as well as the following day in Trinidad) at the following link.

Paria Peninsula, Venezuela (left) and Trinidad (right), At sea off Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Ruddy Ground Dove, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Common Waxbill, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Pearl Kites, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Pearl Kites, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Field with Masked Yellowthroat, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Striated Heron, Caroni Rice fields, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Yellow Oriole, Sewage Ponds, Tunapuna-Piarco, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Pied Water Tyrant, Sewage Ponds, Tunapuna-Piarco, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Wattled Jacanas, Sewage Ponds, Tunapuna-Piarco, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Yellow hooded Blackbird, Caroni Rice Fields, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Scarlet Ibis, Caroni Bird Sanctuary, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Olive gray Saltator, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

The next port was Port of Spain in Trinidad. I was up before dawn again as the ship sailed through the straight between Trinidad and the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela. The pelagic birding was not quite as productive as the day before but it was fun to see the sunrise and see Venezuela (even if only from a distance). We arrived in the port a little after seven and I managed to two new species from the ship before disembarking with three distant Scarlet Ibis and a few Fork tailed Palm Swifts. I was off the ship around 8:15 and walked outside the gates to the port where I met up with my guide for the day, Faraaz Abdool. The main target for the day was Masked Yellowthroat (due to a recent split I no longer had this warbler on my list). There were lots of secondary targets as this island is quite biodiverse. Given the size of the island and the limited time available we decided to concentrate on just a few spots somewhat close to the port. We headed east and after a couple of wrong turns in the city we made it to the most likely spot for the species in proximity of the port in an area known as Aranguez. The day was already quite hot, sunny and windy and those conditions persisted the remainder of the day. We spent over a hour and a half at this first stop and eventually had fleeting glimpses of a male Masked Yellowthroat that popped up briefly. I managed to get stung by a wasp not long before the yellowthroat showed up so I guess I had to suffer some pain to get the bird. Other life birds at the location included Pearl Kite (great views of a pair that were quite vocal), White headed Marsh Tyrant, Pied Water Tyrant, Common Waxbill (an established exotic), Trinidad Euphonia and Olive gray Saltator. At this point we were going to try to go into the forest to maximize new species but traffic issues had the guide worried we might run into trouble with getting back to the ship on time so we decided to stay closer. Our next stop was to some sewage lagoons (always a fun birding destination!). As typically is the case the lagoons attract birds as insects are plentiful. We picked up a few new species for the day including another lifer with a group of Yellow hooded Blackbirds. The next few hours were spent exploring the rice fields and farm fields where we turned up several new species for the trip including two lifers with Gray lined Hawk and Long winged Harrier. After a few hours baking in the sun in the dusty farm fields we made our way to the edge of the Caroni Swamp in the hopes of finding a Masked Cardinal plus some reported Tropical Screech Owl and we missed on both! All was not lost as we picked up a calling Northern Scrub Flycatcher (lifer) and got decent looks at some Scarlet Ibis (much better looks then I got from the ship in the morning). We made one last stop to the spot where the yellowthroat was seen briefly but the weather was even hotter and windier so we didn’t stay long and not surprisingly had no sightings of the yellowthroat again. Overall the guide said it was one of his slower days out birding but I was nonetheless happy to get the Masked Yellowthroat as well as 14 other lifers for the day including a couple American Flamingos flying distantly before we left the port.  Full album from the day on Trinidad (plus Tobago) at the following link.

Dawn heading into St Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Brown Booby, At sea off St Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Common Black Hawk, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Bananaquit, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawk, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Grenada Flycatcher, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

The third day brought us to the island of Saint Vincent. Saint Vincent has long been on my list to visit but getting there is not easy and then Covid hit and the island suffered a major volcanic eruption. This stop was one of the major selling points for taking a cruise again. The big draw for me to the island was the endemic Whistling Warbler and that was my primary target, with a close second being the endemic Saint Vincent Parrot followed by Cocoa Thrush (not an endemic but a species that is possible on the island and one I have never seen before). The seas were a bit rough on the sail from Trinidad to Saint Vincent with sleep being less than ideal. I once again got up before dawn to do a little pelagic birding and had some Sooty/Bridled Terns, Audubon’s Shearwaters and three species of boobies. Once we arrived in port the gangway was a little late going down and I didn’t get off the ship until 8:20. I immediately met up with my guide (Lystra ) and we started the drive up into the mountains to try to track down the warbler. The island is volcanic and is a constant series of steep hills and the roads follow the contours so lots of turns and steep grades. We arrived near the Montreal trails in the St. Vincent Parrot Preserve a little after 9AM and started walking up the trails into the rain forest (exact location kept vague on request of the guide). The trail reminded me of many other steep trails in the tropics I have been on. The first spot we checked for the warbler initially didn’t produce it and sorting through the hordes of Bananaquits (the subspecies there is all black) without finding it was a bit frustrating. Nonetheless we persevered and I got quick views of a male that then dropped out of sight never to be seen again after a few seconds of viewing. We had a discussion at this point regarding how to spend the remainder of the limited time we had before I had to go back to the cruise ship. We could either go further in trying to get better looks at the warbler or head out to look for the parrot and thrush. I decided I wanted to try to get better looks and some photos of the warbler so we hiked further. Eventually we got fantastic views of a male that allowed for some photo opportunities and I was totally stoked to finally see the species well and get photos. We tried a little for the thrush on the way out with no luck. 

Broad winged Hawk (Caribbean), East side of island, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

St. Vincent Parrot, East side of island, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

St. Vincent Parrot, East side of island, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

St. Vincent Parrot, East side of island, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

St. Vincent Parrots, East side of island, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

After our success with the warbler we started the drive further north to try to find the parrot and perhaps the thrush. We ran into a detour due to a closed road and this set us back about twenty minutes but we eventually made it to the area to look for the parrot. Midday is not the optimal time to find them but the guide knew of a few possible locations where they occasionally feed. We arrived around one and started looking and listening. The first stop didn’t turn up any parrots, however we did get to hear and see a pair of resident Broad winged Hawks…they sound a bit different from the Broad winged Hawks at home. As we worked our way higher and higher up I elevation we eventually heard a few parrots and by the end of road got to see a couple flying distantly. With time limited and a long drive ahead with the usually traffic for late afternoon we headed back down the hill with a few stops along the way. We once again heard some parrots and then once I packed up the camera the parrots showed. I got the best looks of the day as several moved around feeding. I got the camera back out and got some shots before we finally had to tear ourselves away to make the trip back to the ship. I was happy to get great looks of another endemic. We missed out on Cocoa Thrush but we didn’t spend as much time looking for that species as we spent with the warbler and parrot. A total of 33 species for the entire day.  All the photos for the day on St Vincent at the following link.

Dawn, At sea off Grenada, Mar 23, 2023

Audubon's Shearwater, At sea off Grenada, Mar 23, 2023

Red footed Boobies, At sea off Grenada, Mar 23, 2023

Midday beach during kayaking, Grenada, Mar 23, 2023

The fourth stop of the cruise was to Grenada and the first stop that birding was not the main focus (I had visited Grenada before in December 2017 and got the endemic Grenada Dove as well as a few other near endemics). Pelagic birding before and after dawn on the way into the port turned up some eBird flagged species with Audubon’s Shearwater and Red footed Boobies plus a lifer Bridled Tern (a species I have somehow missed until that sighting). The activity for the day was some kayaking along the coast. We spent a few hours out in the sun and got roasted a bit and did see a few birds. 

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Blue headed Hummingbird, Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Red necked Parrot, Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Lesser Antillean Bullfinch with leucism, Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Smooth billed Ani, Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Rainforest, Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Sunset, At sea off Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Next up was the island nation of Dominica. This is another island I have been looking to get to for years as it host a near endemic warbler, the Plumbeous Warbler (found only on Dominica and Guadeloupe) and a couple of endemic parrots (Red necked Parrot and Imperial Parrot). A cruise we had several years ago was originally scheduled to visit the island but a hurricane damaged the island to the point that the cruise had to change the port of call to a new location. Covid then led to a few years where getting to the island was impossible or involved too many hoops to jump through. Thankfully I finally was able to make it to the island to try to track down the warbler, the parrots, plus the near endemic Blue headed Hummingbird (found only on Dominica and Martinique) as well as the Forest Thrush (found on four islands in the Lesser Antilles). As we neared the island scattered showers were evident and the mountains were in the clouds so I knew I would most likely be dealing with some rain. I got off the ship just after eight and met up with my guide for the day, Dr Birdy.  We headed north along the coast from Roseau up toward Morne Diablotin NP to try for four of the five targets (Forest Thrush would be tough to find there so we knew it would be unlikely find for the day). Along the road we added a few species for the day including a small flock of introduced (and established) Scaly breasted Munia’s. We arrived at our first stop just after nine and quickly picked up Plumbeous Warbler. I got great looks and a number of photos and at that point already considered the day a success. We continued to work our way up higher into the mountains and with the gain in elevation we started running into rain. Unfortunately when we arrived at a spot where Blue headed Hummingbird is commonly seen it was really starting to rain hard. We got out of the car and with some protection from the rain with umbrellas we waited and eventually a Blue headed Hummingbird showed up. It was a beautiful hummingbird and worth the wait in the rain. The rain continued on and off as we entered the forest via the Syndicate Trail. At the trailhead we had a pair of very obliging Lesser Antillean Bullfinches including a female that was partially leucistic. Further up the trail we ran across a few of the Dominica subspecies of the House Wren. Once we arrived at a valley overlook that can produce both species of parrots we started what would turn out to be over a three hour vigil in on and off rain. We had several Red necked Parrots and a few other species but no luck with the Imperial Parrot. One might have been calling very distantly but even the guide was unsure and it was not enough to count it for me. We were both a little disappointed to have missed the second parrot but sometimes the birds just don’t cooperate. If we had more time perhaps the parrot would have shown but working under the time constraints on the cruise, we looked as long as we could. Perhaps I will make another stop in Dominica in the future and I will get the parrot then. Overall a successful day with four life birds with the highlight being the Plumbeous Warbler among 40 species overall.  All the photos for the day on Dominica can be found at the following link

Dawn, At sea off St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Caribbean Martin, Castries port, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Bananaquit, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Gray Trembler, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Zenaida Dove, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Scaly breasted Thrasher, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Green throated Carib, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Signing a fans field guide (with my photo featured), Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Ruddy Turnstone, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

Looking north toward Martinique, Pigeon Island NP, St. Lucia, Mar 24, 202

The final day of the cruise found us stopping at the island of Saint Lucia. This would be the second time I have visited the island with the last time being March 2019 during which I got all the endemic species including the Saint Lucia Warbler. The waters off the island before we docked were less productive then other stops. Once in port we took a trip north from the port to Pigeon Island, where there is a small beach, a few trails and ruins of old fortifications. Although not a true birding day I nonetheless got some birding in and even managed a life bird with a Bridled Quail Dove. We were lucky to get into the park a few minutes before it opened and made a walk up to the highest point before any other people arrived. I then spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon walking the various trails and seeing a number of species. As we getting near the end of our time there we were walking by a couple of birders and I noticed they using the new field guide by Ryan Chenery to birds of the Lesser Antilles and we started talking to them and when they heard one of my photos was in the book they wanted me to sign to page with my photo and I could just not say no!  By the end of the day I tallied 27 species…not too bad considering I hit just one location that was somewhat built up.  Full album for the day can be found at the following link.

On Sunday we arrived early into Barbados and began the long process of leaving the ship, getting to the airport, having a delayed flight and finally arriving into Miami after dark.  We then picked up our rental and headed down to our Airbnb for a couple nights in south Florida before returning home (more on the Florida part of the trip at the following link. 

Now for the overall numbers. I had a total of 151 species during the cruise with 37 being life birds which brings my total to 1751 species.  The cruise eBird trip report can be found at the following link: cruise trip report.

As promised here is a link to each guide I used on the various islands.  All were found by using the Caribbean Birding Trail link and I would highly recommend one and all if taking a trip to any of the islands.  

-Tobago I used Jason Radix (www.naturetobago.com) 

-Trinidad I used Faraaz Abdool (www.faraazabdool.com)

-St. Vincent I used Lystra Culzac (lystraculzac_wilson@hotmail.com)

-Dominica I used Bertrand Jno Baptiste AKA Dr Birdy (drbirdy2@cwdom.dm)