The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Spent two weeks at the Sol Rio Mares y Luna Hotel 3.5 stars) near Guardalavaca in Cuba from the 12th of October to the 26th. Good food with a superb beach.

Initially the weather was bakingly hot then after a few days we started to get some torrential storms. The hotel had a lagoon surrounded by mangroves. The lagoon which was about the size of Brayford in Lincoln had a bridge across it which was ideal for birdwatching. The lagoon was separated from the sea by a twenty yard strip of beach. This strip got narrower and narrower as we got more and more rain and then in the late afternoon of the 23rd we had a downpour of likes which I had never seen before. The inevitable happened - my early morning walk of the twenty-fourth found the lagoon drained - the sheer force of the rain had washed the beach away - and a brackish lagoon which had been about four feet deep was empty - the tide did fill it up again twice a day

There was also a small sewage farm in the area which had been attractive to waders but they soon abandoned it once the found the lagoon very shallow for large parts of the days

The area had been hit by Hurricane Ike last year and the word from those that had been before was the birding wasn't as good today as it was prior to Ike but I found it good

88 species seen (81 for the first time this year) with 36 lifers. How many others we were robbed of by only a brief glimpse, winter/juvenile plumage or not enough homework we will never know - but I was happy with what was essentially a beach holiday with a couple of hours birding at first light and another couple before dusk - but having said that, it was a shame that I had to retire for breakfast or an evening meal or face the wrath of Ann

brown pelican - seen on 5 days
magnificent frigatebird - seen flying over the hotel twice
ring billed gull - noted flying easterly on the beach just once
caspian tern # - two sets of two on one day
royal tern - the odd ones seen on five days
roseate tern - a juvenile on the lagoon on the last two days of our holiday
little blue heron - seen on nine days in good numbers and probably at the lagoon constantly but not registered
tricoloured heron - virtually every day in reasonable numbers
snowy egret - significant numbers (c50) each day at the lagoon
reddish egret # - a single seen on two separate days
great blue heron - good numbers of this heron most days
great white egret - at least 50 every day especially at dawn and dusk
yellow crowned night heron - probably more common than the six days I recorded the bird indicates
black crowned night heron - most days there were at least a dozen at the lagoon
green heron - extremely common - seen every day
cattle egret - in the fields surrounding the hotel most days
white ibis # - a single recorded on a couple of days
killdeer - liked the sewage works until the fields were flooded by thunderstorms
solitary sandpiper - noted a single on four days at the sewage works
semipalmated sandpiper - one only at the sewage works
least sandpiper - numbers noted at the sewage works and then much larger at the lagoon after in had been breached
pectoral sandpiper - only one seen
spotted sandpiper - seen every day scattered around the lagoon in threes and fours
lesser yellowlegs - half a dozen or so around the sewage works and then a few more at the lagoon after the breaching
turnstone - one seen on four days at the lagoon by the beach before the draining
black necked stilt - seen every day with just two or three initially and then the biggest count being 55
caribbean coot # - seen occasionally skulking around the fringes of the lagoon
moorhen - seen most days in good numbers around the lagoon
least grebe # - this attractive little grebe was seen most days at the lagoon until it was breached
neotropic cormorant - most count was five and seen virtually everyday
anhinga # - seen twice only
mallard - one only - a suprise
gadwall - again just one seen once but a friend noted it on another occasion
blue winged teal - a flock of half a dozen or so noted flying over the sewage works - not seen again
west indian whistling duck # - seen on six days but not very confiding
wood duck # seen fairly regularly in small numbers- associated with the whistling ducks
merlin - seen twice by me and on another occasion by my pal
snail kite # - one seen flying over the lagoon
crested caracara # - one flew over my head in a field after a heavy downpour
turkey vulture - the sight of Cuba - everywhere - I once saw about 150 in the air together fronm the bridge and probably more over a field when we were on the way to the airport to come home - some very close views
osprey - seen on three days after the lagoon was breached - twice fishing - wonderful
helmeted guineafowl seen three times around the sewage farm - don't believe they were domesticated
plain pigeon - just a single once
white crowned pigeon - two seen together once only
white winged dove - seen twice
common ground dove - seen in good numbers on most days around the hotel
great lizard cuckoo # - saw one briefly but heard of two others
smooth billed ani # - fairly regular in the vicinity of the hotel
cuban emerald # - occasional ones seen around the resort - tiny
belted kingfisher - most days around the lagoon in two and threes
yellow bellied sapsucker # - one seen in the grass around the sewage farm
cuban green woodpecker # - seen on four days but more common that that
loggerhead kingbird # - took me a few days to catch up with this bird but then most days
crescent eyed pewee # - one noted on an unsuccessful to locate the cubal tody & trogan
purple martin # - seen twice over the headland on the beach
northern rough winged swallow - probable flock of about twenty waiting for our taxi after the tody expedition
palmchat - one noted on the first full morning in the hotel grounds
northern mockingbird - everywhere - if in doubt it was always a mockingbird
red legged thrush - not as common as in the Dominican Republic but common nevertheless
cuban vireo # - seen twice
northern parula # - seemed to be a fall when the weather turned wet and then fairly common
yellow warbler - seen on several days
magnolia warbler # - again there seemed to be a fall near end of holiday - small numbers noted
cape may warbler # - seen on three days - just the odd one
black throated blue warbler # - a very attractive little warbler seen most days with the male being unmistakable
yellow throated warbler # - seen on two days
prairie warbler - regular in hotel grounds
palm warbler fairly regular around the hotel grounds
blackpoll warbler - just seen once
black and white warbler # - an attractive and unmistakable warbler seen regularly
northern waterthrush - seen on on 5 consecutive days but not after the breach of the lagoon
american redstart # - seen everyone of the last 8 days of the holiday - very attractive and unmistakable
common yellowthroat - just seen once
oriente warbler # - seen on four days
yellow rumped warbler- an attractive warbler seen on six days
summer tanager # - one only seen late one afternoon at the sewage works
western stripe headed tanager # - an attractive bird in its summer plumage but most were going into winter plumage/juvenile - seen six times in the hotel gardens
greater antillean oriel # - seen 3 times at the lagoon
cuban blackbird # - very common
shiny cowbird - just one noted surprisingly
greater antillean grackle - common - seen in large numbers every day
tawny shouldered blackbird # - common around the lagoon and associated with the cuban blackbird
eastern meadowlark # - liked damp areas and more common than my sightings indicated - seen 4 times
yellow faced grassquit # - noted early in the holiday and not again
black faced grassquit - seen only once
house sparrow - common around the hotel every day
cuban bullfinch # - two on the fence after heavy rain at the sewage farm
grasshopper sparrow # - odd ones with house sparrows on five occasions

# lifers

Chris

Palmchats are endemic to the island of Hispaniola and as such are not found on Cuba. Therefore you have either seen a potential mega rarity for the island, or you may have made a misidentification!

Kind regards

Grahame

having seen and photographed palmchats i thought the same as you and they were island endemics unless a hurricane has dumped a few, you never can tell ??,
terry whalin

Yes I must admit I wondered as I only saw one on the first hour or so at the resort and without binoculars - and nothing that resembled one in the rest of the holiday - and they had been fairly common on the Dominican Republic when I went in 2006

Mind you the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike was still plain to see but yes I accept what you say - thanks guys