The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Bird-watching in the Dominican Republic November 4-18

I have recently returned from two weeks holiday spent at the RIU hotel complex, Bahia Maimon on the Atlantic Coast of the Dominican Republic to the west of Puerto Plata and very good value we found it. We travelled to the Dominican Republic in November 2006. The holiday booked in mid October was not intended to be a bird watching holiday but nevertheless there are times when you can get away and do your own thing!

My bird-watching was usually done first thing in the morning and I often managed to get an hour in when I got tired of reading my book on the beach.

The bird-watching was done in the complex’s gardens and a mile or so off to either side of the complex where there was a great contrast in habitat.

Walking back along the spectacular path in the direction of Puerto Plata saw hilly open grass-land and was somewhat English in appearance if you ignored the scattered palm trees. Birds were never numerous in this direction

Taking the path that ran behind the complex away from Puerto Plata you walked through a heavily wooded area – almost jungle like in effect. By the hotel complex there was an area of swampland and a small area that was good for waders. About a mile down this track was a river mouth which I didn’t find particularly productive

The sea itself which was great to swim in was virtually bird-less and a real disappointment

Now to specifics

Saturday the 4th: From the airport bus to the hotel it was not long before I spotted my first lifer - a vulture but was it a Turkey Vulture or Black Vulture? Almost certainly the former! Also evident from the bus were plenty of cattle egrets in the fields. Common in the hotel grounds were Red Legged Thrush, Antillean Palm Swifts and the ubiquitous Bananaquit

Sunday the 5th. saw me waiting for it to get light so I could have my wander. Looking at Google Earth before I left home I had spotted a river going inland from the bay and other various paths – so this was my first port of call. At the river I saw nothing other than a Spotted Sandpiper but on the way saw Grey Kingbird and in the swamp, Pied Billed Grebe, Moorhen, Great Egret, Green Heron and Nutmeg Mannakin. Back in the hotel grounds along with the Red Legged Thrush (which sounded like a Blackbird) we noticed a Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo. This was the only one that we saw which was surprising as there were lizards everywhere

Also of note in the gardens was Prairie Warbler. These turned out to be common. Later that day on the walk towards Puerto Plata I saw American Kestrel, Palmchat and Hispaniolan Woodpecker. All three birds were easy to see throughout the holiday. Eight lifers on the first full day out of sixteen identified

Monday the 6th was dull for most of the day but of note were 3 Hispaniolan Woodpeckers on one tree

Tuesday the 7th saw me spot Shiny Cowbird and Scaly Naped Pigeon my only lifer of the day, three vultures again – probably Turkey Vulture . Of real note was a roost of Cattle Egret that totalled at least 176. This roost reminded me of how thrilled I had been when I saw my first in a muddy field somewhere near Thorne about ten or so years ago

Wednesday the 8th. produced another six lifers - Northern Mockingbird, Hispaniolan Emerald, Greater Antillean Grackle, Helmeted Guineafowl, Antillean Mango Killdeer & Black Legged Stilt

The waders along with Greater Yellowlegs and Spotted Sandpiper were seen through a small gap in the trees of the swamp close by a large generating unit belonging to the three hotels which made up the RIU complex. I also noted just one Royal Tern in the bay

Thursday the 9th saw me looking without much success for another way of observing the pool where I had seen the waders. It could be viewed distantly from the main highway but was obscured by trees and reeds

Friday the 10th saw me succeed in finding a way to get close to this pool which was no further than half a mile from my bedroom. A hole in the fence was good enough to get you to within 50 yards. This area turned in some excellent birds throughout the next week

Three Blue Winged Teal and Great Blue Heron were new for me. Also there eight Short Billed Dowitcher, one Killdeer, five Black Necked Stilt and several Semi-Palmated Sandpipers

Saturday the 11th. was an excellent day but sadly already halfway through the holiday. This produced Black Crowned Night Heron, Wilson’s Snipe, Common Yellowthroat, White Crowned Pigeon, Black Crowned Palm Tanager all lifers,

Notable also were six Great Blue Heron and two Turkey Vulture which were positively identified roosting in an old tree. Later in the day I saw another 16 vultures circling the eastern area of my wanderings

Sunday the 12th. produced nothing new but was among the most amazing experiences of my life. Along the eastern coastal walk I soon spotted Turkey Vultures. Eleven soon became fifteen, then nineteen, then eventually twenty-four in the air together. Reaching the top of a hill about a mile from the complex I became aware of fifteen vultures either in a tree close by or circling me within 50 yards. I had never seen a vulture until this week and now I was surrounded by them. As the holiday was all inclusive it wasn’t as though I looked as though I was at deaths door. Talk about a scene from a western movie

Monday the 13th. Plenty of Hispaniolan Woodpeckers were seen but only one vulture!

Tuesday the 14th. A Yellow Crowned Night Heron appeared in my little pool, 5 Killdeer, several Greater Antillean Grackle, 4 Black Necked Stilt and sixteen Semi-Palmated Sandpipers

Wednesday the 15th saw the alcohol take effect and I didn’t get out of bed. Later in the day I did manage to catch up with about twenty Village Weavers just a few hundred yards from where we went on the beach

Thursday the 16th saw the holiday rapidly coming to end and me back in the field near the pool. The usual waders were in the pool and there were also two Turkey Vultures in the same tree that I had seen them earlier in the week. The real highlight was my first Tricoloured Heron which I didn’t notice arrive – it just was there - obviously arriving when I was looking in another direction

Friday the 17th was another day when I didn’t go out looking for birds but all eleven species noted that day would have drawn large crowds if the were seen here in the UK

Saturday the 18th the final day with just two hours to get some birding in before breakfast and to allow Ann to do the final packing

The hole in the fence had been sealed up so it was off on my original walk down the coast to the river. This turned out to be an enjoyable stroll with the bay producing four Royal Tern just when I was beginning to question whether I had actually seen one at the start of the holiday. Also evident was a Belted Kingfisher at the river mouth. My final lifer was a Northern Waterthrush in the swamp on the way back to the hotel

Never prolific in this area, bird-watching was still enjoyable. Of the twenty birds I saw on my final day I had only seen three before I left the UK. Of the forty-five species I identified during the holiday only five had been seen previously in the UK. Other birds were familiar from a previous visit to the Caribbean

Twenty-nine lifers were recorded. All in all an excellent holiday with a small amount of quality birding thrown in for good measure

Species List
Royal Tern 8,18
Tricoloured Heron # 16
Great Blue Heron # 10,11,12,14,18
Great Egret # 5,12,14,16
Yellow Crowned Night Heron 14
Black Crowned Night Heron # 11,12
Green Heron 5,7,8,11,12,14,16 sounding jackdaw like
Cattle Egret every day
Killdeer # 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,16
Wilson’s Snipe # 11,12,14,16
Short Billed Dowitcher # 10,11,12,14
Semi-Palmated Sandpiper 9,10,11,12,14,16,18
Spotted Sandpiper 5,7,8,11,14,15,16
Greater Yellowlegs 8,9,10,11,12,14,16,18
Black Necked Stilt # 8,9,10,11,12,14,16,18
Moorhen 5,7,9,10,11,12,14,16,18
Pied Billed Grebe # 5
Blue Winged Teal # 9,10,11,12,14,16
American Kestrel # 5,7,8,10,12,14,16,17,18
Turkey Vulture # 4,7,8,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,
Helmeted Guineafowl # 8
Scaly Naped Pigeon # 7
White Crowned Pigeon # 11,12,14,16
Common Ground-Dove 16
Zenaida Dove 8,11,16,18
Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo # 5
Antillean Palm Swift # every day
Antillean Mango # 8,9
Hispaniolan Emerald # 8,9,10,17
Belted Kingfisher 18
Hispaniolan Woodpecker # 5,6,7,8,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18
Grey Kingbird 5,6,8,10
Palmchat # 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18
Northern Mockingbird #7 ,8,12,13,14,15,16,17,18
Red Legged Thrush # every day
Northern Waterthrush # 18
Common Yellowthroat # 11,18
Prairie Warbler # 5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18
Bananaquit every day
Black Crowned Palm Tanager # 11
Shiny Cowbird 6,8,12,14
Greater Antillean Grackle # 7,8,9,11,14,16
House Sparrow 8,9,12,13,16,18 around hotel reception
Village Weaver # 15,16
Nutmeg Mannakin # 5,7,8,15,17
# lifers