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Posted by Tom Friedel on 12:23:30 04/12/11
I spent four days in Taino Beach, which luckily happened to be a great place to go birding. It is slightly outside of the city, and there are some clumps of primary 'forest' remaining, and a small park at the end of the road.
I believe I saw a Key West Quail-Dove! For half a second I saw a large pigeon hop off a low branch into the brush. My wife got a good luck at it and although she is not a bird expert, she described it as a Chachalaca. It was too low for a White-crowned Pigeon, and a Rock Dove would be the only other option, but I don't think so. The owner of Garden of the Groves told me she had not seen this species since the hurricanes a few years back, but thought it was possible.
I spent one day at the Rand Nature Center, where migration was in progress. Cape May Warblers were abundant (who winter here), and the highlight was the male Western Spindalis (photographed).
The next day I visited the Garden of the Grove, a beautiful garden with tropical plants and native birds including the White-cheeked (Bahama) Pintail and all of the regulars. Both parks are must-visit's for birders.
My favorite new bird was the Cuban Pewee, an inquisitive bird who always came when 'pished'. La Sagra's Flycatcher and the Bahama (Yellow-throated) Warbler were the other new birds, and I saw many of the subspecies including the white-breasted American Kestrel and larger, louder Blue-grey Gnatcatcher. But there are still many birds in the original list left for me to find, and refer to the original list for the birds I did see (same as last time, except Loggerhead Kingbird not seen).
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