CUBA MARCH 2005 TOUR NEWS Leader: Arturo Kirkconnel

Yet another highly-successful, new Birdfinders tour, this time to Cuba. After a superb Jamaican tour, most of the group made the short flight to Cuba where we met up with another group member. After an overnight stay in Havana, we moved on to stay in Playa Giron for the next five nights to enjoy the birding delights of the Zapata peninsula. With comfortable air-conditioned rooms in a nice beach resort to return to every night (semi-detached bungalows spread over extensive grounds), located right on the beach and with good food, this was a very relaxing but bird-filled stay. Every day we visited nice areas of forest and swamp and gradually accumulated an impressive list of the endemic and speciality birds of the area. Our first attempt to get into the Zapata swamp was somewhat thwarted by low water levels making boating difficult and finally a fire, which had burnt back the riverside vegetation. Being determined birders however, we overcame this and despite getting slightly muddy feet, managed outstanding and prolonged views of the often difficult trio of endemics; Zapata Sparrow, Zapata Wren and Red-shouldered Blackbird. Zapata Rail is of course, virtually impossible to see but we managed excellent views of Spotted Rail as compensation.

In the forest, many endemics gave themselves up quite easily thanks to our expert local guides, with Cuban Parakeet, Bare-legged Owl, Cuban Pygmy-owl, Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Trogon, Cuban Tody, Cuban Green Woodpecker, Fernandina's Flicker, Cuban Vireo and Cuban Blackbird all being seen well on multiple occasions. Some endemics needed a little more work however, but eventually everyone enjoyed excellent views of Grey-headed Quail-dove and most people also seeing Blue-headed Quail-dove. Other West Indian specialities seen included Scaly-naped Pigeon, Great Lizard-cuckoo, Cuban Parrot, Antillean Palm-swift, Cuban Emerald, West Indian Woodpecker, Cuban Pewee, La Sagra's Flycatcher, Loggerhead Kingbird, Red-legged Thrush, Western Spindalis, Cuban Bullfinch, Tawny-shouldered Blackbird and Greater Antillean Oriole. One evening we enjoyed amazing views of Greater Antillean Nightjar (soon to be split into an endemic) from just three feet by the side of the road and Stygian Owl at our resort.

Moving on, we spent a day in the middle of the island where we were successful with Cuban Crow, the endemic Cuban Palm Crow and Giant Kingbird before spending two nights in the north at Cayo Coca. The habitat here was totally different with a mixture of mudflats and mangroves and in a few places, dry, scrubby areas which held several speciality birds. In just over two hours in this habitat we enjoyed great views of the endemic Cuban Gnatcatcher and Yellow-headed Warbler whilst the virtual endemic Thick-billed Vireo teased us for a while before finally giving up! In a slightly different habitat we saw Bahama Mockingbird, whilst in the dry woodland, we enjoyed views of many of the endemics we had seen before.

So finally back to Havana for two nights and some birding in the mountains west of the capital, where we caught up with Cuban Solitaire and Oriente Warbler but the Cuban Grassquit proved troublesome. Eventually, with expert local knowledge and perseverance we were rewarded with prolonged views of a pair of these beautiful birds.

So what did we miss? Well, the Zapata Rail is virtually impossible and many past claims of hearing birds calling have been discredited as the calls were found to be alternative Spotted Rail calls. The Cuban Kite is found only in the far east of the island and requires several additional days and even then cannot be guaranteed as it is critically endangered. That leaves just Gundlach's Hawk and try as we did we just weren't rewarded for all the hours we put into the field looking for it. So the final tally was 21 out of a 22 possible endemics which added to the 28 out of 28 in Jamaica meant that those who had participated in both tours saw an amazing 49 out of 50 possible endemics.

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