We were up at first light again to view the birds on the
veranda. Much as I hate the artificial feeding stations they do encourage the birds.
Asa Wright has the most accessible colony of oilbirds in the world. These birds are unique in that they are the only nocturnal fruit eating birds (presumably relying on sonar as bats do). Much play is made of being able to visit Dunston Cave and only guests staying 3 or more nights are invited to do so, thereby limiting the number of visitors and consequent disturbance/stress to the birds.
So after breakfast we made the 45 min hike with Hal and
Kirsten, two birders from Florida who carried massive lenses (500 and 600mm
respectively) on very sturdy tripods wherever they went. Although there hadn’t been any rain to speak
of the day before the path was still quite slippery in places and very up and
down through the jungle with deep steps in places. Barry our guide was careful to make sure no
one touch the spike ridden tree or stopped in the path of soldier ants and
after crossing a small stream and just managing not to get wet feet we reached
Dunston Cave (actually really a gorge).
Sadly on the jungle floor outside was a dead oilbird, Naturalist Barry was unsure
what had killed it but whatever, probably an owl, it was recent. Consequently the oilbirds were much further
back and rather nervous. It was very
dark, obviously, and with no clear shot available I declined to go further into
the gorge as it involved more water and although Barry built up piles of stones
for us to walk across and announced it would be fine, I really didn’t fancy
spending the next few days in wet walking shoes. And to be honest even if the light conditions
had made a clear shot possible it would still have been a dark brown bird on a
brown nest – hardly pictorial. A picture courtesy of Google to show what I saw.
One thing interesting was how oilbirds got their name –
centuries ago the indigenous people used to put juvenile birds on wooden poles
and set fire to them. Due to the high
fat concentration in their bodies they would burn for about 4/5 hours and
provide light and heat. Nice!
The rest of the day we had at leisure so more time on the
veranda trying to get different/better shots than yesterday. We had quite a heavy rain shower about 4pm
but it soon passed through and hot sunshine returned.
This odd looking thing is a juvenile male Purple Honeycreeper - they start off green and gradually go purple.
Yet another hummingbird - looking particularly mean I thought!
This odd looking thing is a juvenile male Purple Honeycreeper - they start off green and gradually go purple.
Yet another hummingbird - looking particularly mean I thought!
Palm Tanager with watermelon in beak
Female Purple Honeycreeper
A highlight at 6pm cocktail time was when Yosana (a lovely female guide) decided to fill the hummingbird feeders and see if she could attract some bats – she did – loads and loads. Then we moved the feeders near to us and eventually I sat holding one of the feeders whilst bats dashed all around me getting their sugared water. An amazing experience and I'm delighted to have just unearthed this piece of video footage from the depths of Ian's tablet (not sure why I'm wearing a fat suit though!).
Female Purple Honeycreeper
A highlight at 6pm cocktail time was when Yosana (a lovely female guide) decided to fill the hummingbird feeders and see if she could attract some bats – she did – loads and loads. Then we moved the feeders near to us and eventually I sat holding one of the feeders whilst bats dashed all around me getting their sugared water. An amazing experience and I'm delighted to have just unearthed this piece of video footage from the depths of Ian's tablet (not sure why I'm wearing a fat suit though!).
