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| CUBAN TROGON |
FLIGHTS OF FANCY ADVENTURES
BIRDING CUBA
MARCH 13-25, 2017
TRIP REPORT
After more than two years of planning, one tour cancellation and quite a few itinerary and personnel changes, we finally made it to Cuba for a fantastic birding and cultural tour of this once largely inaccessible island. I have never had a trip that didn’t have issues, but Cuba certainly presented a new set of challenges to ensure that the trip not only went the way I wanted it to, but also that everyone would have a great time chasing birds and enjoying the sights and culture of Cuba. With a wonderful group and excellent guides, we completely achieved our objectives.
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| CAMBIO |
All participants arrived in Miami by March 13 and comfortably settled in at the Comfort Inn and Suites Airport North Hotel. Early the next morning, we were pleasantly escorted to the Miami airport by Kim Borreson, an agent for Holbrook Travel, the company that had coordinated planning and executing the tour. After a quick flight on American Airlines to Havana, we were met by our lovely interpretive guide for the trip, Susana Rodriguez. Our first official act in Cuba was to visit the Cambio, to exchange our $US into Cuban Convertible Pesos, CUCs, or as they are commonly known, “kooks”. The Cuban government charges a 13% tax on all incoming $US, so we received $0.87 for each dollar converted. $US are not currently allowed to be used in Cuba.
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| HAVANA VIEJA |
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| 1956 FORD FAIRLANE |
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| HAVANA VIEJA |
We then met our driver for the trip, Alberto Infante, a/k/a the smiling bald eagle, and boarded our extremely comfortable 24-passenger new Chinese bus for a drive along the Malecon, the sea wall along Havana’s bay. Alberto purchased a small flag holder that stuck to the windshield and sported both the Cuban and American flags. No problem that the US flag had 15 stripes and 33 stars - it was a very nice gesture. We stopped for lunch in what was, unfortunately, a hideous tourist trap, filled with cigarette smoke and noise and fairly unpalatable food. Exiting as quickly as we could, there was some fun to be had sitting on the sea wall across the street and watching the vintage 1950s American cars roll by, most of them now taxis. Almost all of the newer cars, trucks, taxis and tourist buses were of Chinese manufacture. A peregrine shot by over the rooftops to add to the enjoyment.
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| HOTEL AMBOS MUNDOS |
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| WELCOME COCKTAILS |
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| BUS FLAGS |
Susana then took us on a walking tour of old Havana, or Havana Vieja. Like many other Spanish colonial capitals, Havana was once a magnificent city, with elegant and grandiose architecture dating from the earliest days of settlement in the 1500s. Since the success of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and the trade embargo by the United States, much of the city has fallen into near ruins. Due to the influx of Canadian and European tourists since the Russians departed in the early 1990s, tourism has become the primary basis of the weak Cuban economy, so funds are now being used to restore and maintain the historic buildings and broad plazas. We then returned to our bus to scoop up our luggage and rumble our bags 3 blocks across the cobblestones to the historic Hotel Ambos Mundos (“Two Worlds”), the favorite lodging place of Ernest Hemingway when he frequently visited Cuba. This old hotel was in the heart of Havana Vieja and had all the charm we hoped for. We were served welcome rum punch cocktails and whisked to our rooms in the 1920s Otis cage elevator, manufactured coincidentally in Yonkers, New York, just about a mile from where Joe Mikulsky and I grew up. We had dinner at La Mina, a small restaurant nestled among the old buildings, and were entertained by a local band, playing, of course, Guantanamera and songs from The Buena Vista Social Club. These became frequent refrains for tourists wherever we went. We had the evening to wander around the old city by ourselves. The streets are extremely safe, so I walked a bit, thoroughly enjoying the more authentic bands that were now on the streets, and watching some great salsa dancing.
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| SAM AND JOE WITH OLD OTIS ELEVATOR |
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| CUBAN PEWEE |
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| CUBAN GREEN WOODPECKER |
Wednesday, 3/15: This morning, our birding tour gets underway! Our Cuban birding guide is Alejandro Llanes-Sosa and he will be with us throughout the tour. Alejandro is 59 years old, a biologist by training, charming, soft-spoken and an exceptionally good guide. His English is quite good, although I occasionally had to translate his English into our English. Our first stop was walking through some farm fields that were loaded with birds, including the Cuban national bird - the colorful Cuban Trogon (endemic), or tocororo, as it is locally known. The trogon was extremely vocal and quite common throughout our trip. Our first Cuban green woodpecker (endemic) made an appearance, as well as Cuban pewee and loggerhead kingbird. Cuba has 26 endemic species and we hoped to see almost all of them. We visited Las Terrazas (the terraces), a former French coffee plantation built by slaves, now a UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve. The area was not only great for birding, but had a hilltop restaurant, appropriately named Buena Vista (good view), that was excellent, with great live music including a hip-wiggling, tight leather pants clad singer who had the ladies entranced. A La Sagra’s flycatcher almost sat on my head. After lunch, we stopped at a government farm where numerous yellow-faced grassquits and Cuban grassquits (endemic) were found. Tearing ourselves away from the grassquits, we found West Indian woodpecker, Cuban blackbird (endemic) and Cuban emerald hummingbird. We stayed in the town of San Diego de Los Baños at the Hotel Mirador, enjoying a lovely outdoor dinner of typical Cuban fare.
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| LAS TERRAZAS |
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| LA SAGRA'S FLYCATCHER |
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| CUBAN EMERALD |
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| CUBAN COMIDA TYPICAL |
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| CUBAN GRASSQUIT |
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| YELLOW-FACED GRASSQUIT |
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| POLITICAL SIGN |
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| CUEVA DE LOS PORTALES |
Thursday, 3/16: Onward to
La Guira National Park near
San Diego de los Baños, which has 54,000 acres of mountain wilderness, picturesque valleys, and hidden caves. Early breakfast followed by a serpentine drive through the mountains brought us to birding at
Cueva de Los Portales, a limestone cave snuggled in hills covered in lush vegetation. The cave is interesting both geologically and historically, famous for being Che Guevara's headquarters during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. We quickly found some of our target species here, including Cuban solitaire (endemic), since this was the only place during our trip where we could find this reclusive species. The song of this plain brown and white bird was exquisite, reminiscent of wind chimes gently tinkling in the breeze. Scaly-naped pigeon followed, our first Cuban tody (endemic) and many warblers on their way to North America for breeding. No visas required. After lunch at the hotel, we visited the section of
La Guira National Park that was formerly (pre-Revolution)
Hacienda Cortina, a massive private estate. Wandering through the beautifully landscaped grounds, we found another endemic species in the tall pines - olive-capped warbler. A giant kingbird, sporting a massive beak, was perched high in a leafless tree. We then departed for the
Zapata Peninsula, arriving in time for a late afternoon bird walk on the hotel's grounds.
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| CUBAN SOLITAIRE |
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| GIANT KINGBIRD |
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| LAWN MAINTENANCE CREW |
The Zapata area consists of scrub, mangrove swamp, and coastline. Over 200 species have been recorded here including the endemic Zapata wren, Zapata sparrow, and rarely encountered Zapata rail, so we were really looking forward to the next adventure. Our lodging was along the well-known Bay of Pigs, where in 1961 a CIA-organized force of Cubans who had fled the country after the Revolution attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow the Castro regime. They failed miserably in a very ill-prepared and poorly executed attack. The next three nights were at the Hotel Giron, a very strange all-inclusive massive resort that was built shortly after the repelled invasion to celebrate the Cuban victory. There were political signs and monuments everywhere along our route proclaiming the Cuban triumph. I could not determine why this giant resort was built on such a massive scale, consisting of a central area with pool and restaurant, surrounded for a half mile in all directions by hundreds of cabañas, many of which were gutted and abandoned. The grass was maintained by a wandering herd of goats. The rooms were nothing fancy, but completely adequate.
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| ZENAIDA DOVE |
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| BLUE-HEADED QUAIL-DOVE |
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| GRAY-HEADED QUAIL-DOVE |
Friday, 3/17: After breakfast, we left for the Bermejas site of La Cienaga de Zapata (Zapata Swamp). A mosaic of dry forest, swamp, mangrove and mudflats, the Zapata Peninsula is one of the best preserved ecosystems on the island. With our local guide (we used local guides frequently throughout the trip), before sunrise we visited a blind where quail-doves are known to frequent. As predicted, zenaida doves, blue-headed quail-doves (endemic) and gray-headed quail-doves (endemic) scratched around in the leaf litter looking for food (which I think had been thoughtfully and regularly provided by our local guide). We then went to an open area of the swamp and found three other endemics, red-shouldered blackbird, a spectacularly good view of a Cuban pygmy-owl and the opportunity to watch a pair of Fernandina’s flickers excavate a nest hole in a dead palm tree. The pygmy-owl made squeaky noises unlike any other pygmy-owl I have encountered. Our lunch was along the rough limestone shore at La Cueva de los Peces (The Cave of the Fish) a local restaurant. Frank Medina, Director of Zapata National Park, spoke to us about issues facing the park, including balancing the needs of people and nature and operating with a small staff on a limited budget. In most places in Cuba, outside of your own room, we had to be prepared to carry 25 or 50 centavos to pay a bathroom attendant for the privilege of peeing in a bathroom with occasional running water, no toilet paper and rarely a toilet seat. Apparently, the attendant maintains the bathroom and this is how they make a living. In one place, to wash one’s hands, the attendant had to go get a pail, dip it in a larger unknown water container and then dump it over your hands while you held them over a railing.
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| FERNANDINA'S FLICKER |
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| CUBAN PYGMY-OWL |
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| ALEJANDRO LLANES |
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| FERNANDINA'S FLICKER |
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| BARE-LEGGED OWL |
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| CUBAN PARAKEETS |
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| STYGIAN OWL |
In the late afternoon, with a different local guide, we went for a woodland walk through the Sopillar region of the park. Despite the time of day, the birding was no less exciting. At the entrance to the trail, a flock of Cuban parakeets (endemic) perched and fed in the low scrub vegetation, while three Cuban parrots flew by. In the forest, our guide rapidly walked from dead palm to dead palm, scratching each one along its trunk until, finally, a bare-legged owl (endemic) popped out of one, studied us for a moment and then retreated back to its dark daytime roost. A great surprise treat was a Stygian owl roosting in the very dark under-canopy. A little further on, a pair of Cuban nightjars (endemic) nestled firmly on a low hanging branch. Dinner was at a small paladar, a private restaurant of the sort that has been allowed since 2012 and was probably the best meal of the trip. Featured was shredded rabbit (cornejo), which was delicious. This small restaurant was also a hostel for tourists and there were many other small family owned places in this coastal village offering lodging and meals under the revised laws of 2012 that permit a limited amount and type of private businesses. As Susana explained, however, there is and always has been a certain amount of “black market” businesses throughout Cuba.
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| CUBAN NIGHTJAR |
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| AMERICAN KESTREL |
low lying area of salt flats on the other side of the Bay of that is frequented by many different species of waterbirds that live in the mangrove swamps, coastal lagoons, and woods. It was quite hot and the sun was almost blinding on the white of the flats, but we did find many species that we would not see as well throughout the trip. A clapper rail that had a bright white supercilium was unique, plus the white morph of the great blue heron, other waders and shorebirds, roseate spoonbill and many others that are also found in similar habitats along the Gulf Coast in the USA.
Saturday, 3/18: Once again, we departed our hotel in the dark, heading for the Santo Tomas area of the Zapata Swamp. At the terminal end of a lengthy narrow canal that led into the swamp we were met by three boatmen, carrying long wooden poles that they would use to propel our three rowboats about 1/2 mile down the shallow waterway. A Zapata sparrow (endemic) briefly popped out for our inspection. Turkey vultures perched nearby, waiting for the morning thermals to carry them aloft. White-crowned pigeons shot by overhead. After about 20 minutes of slowly poling our way along, we reached the small muddy spot where we could disembark and walk through the wet grasses to search for the extremely difficult to find Zapata wren (endemic). Fortunately, in about ten minutes, the wren flew in and sat still for us in a dense scrubby tree, singing loudly, as wrens will do. And then it was gone. After poling back to the beginning of the canal, a shiny cowbird sat obligingly for everyone to see, while the extremely white form of an American Kestrel perched in a nearby tree.
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| POLING CANAL IN ZAPATA SWAMP |
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| ZAPATA WREN © J. MIKULSKY |
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| BAY OF PIGS |
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| CUBAN BEE (F) |
Our local guide now rushed us along, as we had a date with the smallest bird in the world. Apparently, this tiny gem only feeds on certain flowers at certain times of day and we had to be there or we would miss it. Almost as soon as we arrived, a female bee hummingbird (endemic) zipped in and posed for us. The male was much more difficult to see, as we were on the wrong side of the flowers and the sunlight while a film crew was getting video of our target. After lunch at a crocodile farm, our afternoon was spent birding at
Salinas, a.
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| SALINAS SALT FLATS |
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| CLAPPER RAIL |
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| ROSEATE SPOONBILL (IMM) |
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| GREAT BLUE HERON (WHITE MORPH) |
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| GREATER ANTILLEAN GRACKLE |
Sunday, 3/19: Probably the most common bird in the towns or countryside is the greater Antillean grackle, locally known as a "hatchet bird" because of the shape of its vertically oriented tail. We saw them seemingly everywhere, squeaking away like their more northerly cousins.
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| TRINIDAD CHURCH TOWER |
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| TRINIDAD CHURCH BELL |
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| STREET MUSICIAN |
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| TRINIDAD PLAZA MEJOR |
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| TRINIDAD STREET |
Today was a driving day that took us on an eastward path along the south coast of Cuba to the historic colonial city of
Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nestled in the foothills of the Escambray Mountains, its quaint cobblestone streets have witnessed smugglers, the slave trade, and the arrival of French refugees from Haiti, who founded small sugar mills in the surrounding valleys. Originally founded in 1514, the old city was centered on its beautifully restored plaza, surrounded by neoclassical and baroque architecture. Most of the buildings had been painted bright colors, and with abundant flowers, we were all taken with the charm and beauty of the place, in stark contrast to Havana. Many of these ancient towns were originally founded on the coast, but moved inland to make them less susceptible to pirate attacks. We were also told that the streets were made narrow and winding, to be totally confusing to the invading hordes. Of course, tourism is the main reason for all the improvements and the town was crowded with them. We climbed a steep cobblestone paved street to have our lunch atop the Vista Gourmet restaurant, one of many dining establishments that cater to the tourist trade. True to its name, the food was fairly good (except the pink and white cake) and the
view of the city was even better. After lunch, we had the opportunity to wander the old city streets on our own, climb the bell tower of the church or indulge in some
heladio (ice cream).
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| TRINIDAD PLAZA MEJOR |
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| OLD CHEVY |
Old cars were very common here, most seeming to be privately owned. Most of these relics do not have their original engines, but have been carefully preserved and restored with hand-crafted replacement parts. Cubans are a very resourceful and clever people who have learned to survive 500 years of hardship under one dictator or another. One area of the square and a side street were packed with vendors’ tents, selling Cuban souvenirs and trinkets for tourists. It seemed that the stalls all carried 95% of the same stuff, so we wondered if there is “tourist trinket” factory somewhere in Cuba that manufactures all these mostly tacky wares. Saying
adios to Trinidad, we continued our journey to the Hotel
Los Laureles in the city of
Sancti Spiritus, where we would spend the night.
Monday, 3/20: More driving today, often on smaller, much slower roads that pass through rural villages. In the Cuban countryside, most of the vehicles are of the one horsepower type, powered by a large quadriped. We saw horses pulling carts perched on old truck tires and axles, covered carriages on large metal rimmed wheels and simply people riding horseback, almost always without a saddle, presumably because they couldn’t afford one. Horses pulled carts full of sugar cane, cactus, or whatever crop was being harvested. If you are old enough to recall when dairy farmers use to collect their raw milk for processing in three foot tall aluminum bottleneck cans, we saw farmers hauling in horse drawn carts their ancient battered cans out to the main road, going to market. Where even ancient rusted out tractors weren’t available, teams of oxen pulled simple plows through the earth to prepare fields for planting. The only places where we saw semi-modern farm equipment being utilized was on large government own farms. As an aside, Susana told us, during a discussion of the Cuban legal system, that farmers are required to buy their young cattle from the government, are allowed to keep them, breed them, milk them, etc., and then must sell them back to the government. Anyone who is caught killing a cow or bull is subject to imprisonment with about the same severity as for killing a person. Basically, only tourists get to eat beef. Cubans dine on pork, chicken and fish, generally with black beans and rice.
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| ONE HORSE POWER FAMILY VEHICLE |
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| OXEN-DRAWN SKID |
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| RUSSIAN DESIGNED APARTMENT BUILDING |
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| CAMAGUEY PLAZA |
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| CAMAGUEY CITY |
As we pass through various towns, we saw old and new sugar mills, small oil refineries (Cuba refines oil for several South American countries), and other small factories of various sorts. In stark contrast to traditional Cuban architecture in the cities and villages, clusters of hideous huge gray or dully painted block apartment buildings or schools periodically appeared on the outskirts of towns. These were built by the Soviet Union during its roughly 30-year presence in Cuba. To describe these eyesore structures as Russian architecture would be a complete oxymoron.
Tuesday, 3/21: Early breakfast, then depart for a hike in the semi deciduous forest in La Belén National Park in Najasa with visits to the nearby reservoirs. Distant northern jacanas were foraging along the shore but not much else of interest was present, perhaps due to the low water levels. A plain pigeon perched patiently on a wire while we took turns staring at it through the scope. After lunch, we began another long drive to Cayo Coco on the central northern coast of Cuba. These lengthy drives were a necessary part of our tour, since, just like birding anywhere else, if you want to see all the different species, you have to visit all the different habitats. Only in Disney World are they all right next to each other within walking distance! During the early 1980s, the government decided to make this largely untouched area of beautiful beaches, coastal mangroves and salt flats into the largest tourist attraction in the country. A 15-mile causeway was built across the very shallow bay and roads were constructed throughout the various cays along the coast. An international airport and many large hotels were built and more massive hotels, capable of handling many thousands of guests each, were under construction while we were there. There are still many areas that have been left untouched, but I would not bet on the long-term survival of this formerly pristine area as the government cashes in on the huge tourist trade that is the number one staple of Cuba’s economy. Just after starting across the causeway, we stopped at a pullover for some birding. The shallow waters held numerous terns and gulls and almost all the waders we would expect. At one point, there was a distant wall of orange on the other side of the bay, comprised of thousands of American flamingos. We continued onward to the all-inclusive Hotel Sol Cayo Coco, where a guest could eat and drink themselves into a stupor on a non-stop basis. We would stay here our last three nights in Cuba and it was by far the nicest place we stayed during the trip. There were several bars and restaurants, as well as snack bars where whatever you wanted was available at no extra cost. We spoke with several Canadians, who had been coming here for years, since the cost of a week trip from Toronto was about $700, including airfare. That’s cheaper than staying at home! If you’re sick, even better. Several members of our group had upper respiratory ailments and received free medical care during our stay. Joe Mikulsky took it one step further by contracting Montezuma’s Revenge and thought the medical care was excellent.
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| YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER |
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| CAYO PAREDON LIGHTHOUSE |
Wednesday, 3/22: This morning, we visited Cayo Romano and Cayo Paredon Grande’, at the far end of this chain of keys. There was a military installation at the old lighthouse at Cayo Paredon
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| ORIENTE WARBLER |
mangroves. At Cayo Romano, we scanned the beach for shorebirds without too much success. When we returned to the hotel, a great lizard-cuckoo was sliding across the lawn looking like an iguana doing an excellent imitation of Groucho Marx.
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| ERNIE AND THE BOYS |
After lunch at the hotel and an early afternoon break for napping, or swimming in the ocean or one of the hotel’s pools, we headed toward Cayo Guillermo. Across the street from two almost complete gigantic hotels, we finally lured out a Bahama mockingbird. On the bridge, there were several statues of Ernest Hemingway, bare-chested and hauling in giant marlin in a very manly way. Next to the road, a wonderful flock of bright orange flamingos fed by shuffling their feet in the muck to see what they could stir into their fully immersed upside-down heads. At one street corner, I swear I heard one group of Flamingos singing, “In the Still of the Night”.
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| FLAMINGO PARADE |
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| GENTLEMEN, SHAKE BEAKS AND COME OUT FIGHTING! |
What would a birding trip be without a visit to a mosquito-infested stinking sewage lagoon? Did it. Saw a couple of ducks and black-necked stilts. Outtathere. Finally, we stopped just across from the hotel to watch a flock of West Indian whistling-ducks holding court amidst the mangroves.
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| WEST INDIAN WHISTLING-DUCKS |
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| CLAPPER RAIL |
Thursday, 3/23: This morning, we visited some mangrove-lined channels at another hotel complex and found the Cuban subspecies of northern flicker and yellow-bellied sapsucker. A West Indian woodpecker was digging out a nest hole in a palm and a normal-looking clapper rail was extremely cooperative in swimming across one of the channels for our observing pleasure. Several Cuban yellow warblers flitted among the trees. A large blue-headed anole crossed our path in the parking area and Gale Donnelly could not resist holding it for everyone to see.
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| KEY WEST QUAIL-DOVE |
The next stop was the Jabali, or Wild Boar Cave, an underground cafe’ that seemed somewhat musty. Just above it, on dry land, was the main attraction - a group of feeding Key West quail-doves
and zenaida doves. Several male Cape May warblers flitted through the trees. Once more into the breach, we found another sewage lagoon, this one more hospitable to people but not very good for birds. I finally got a picture of a Cuban bullfinch (endemic) perched in a nearby tree. Our last stop for the trip was back to Cayo Romano to recheck the beach and flats. Martin Selzer patiently scanned the exposed sandbar and found a piping plover while I was transfixed by how a group of eleven ruddy turnstones could disappear right in front of me while they worked their way through the wrack line and were perfectly camouflaged. We returned to the hotel to have the last afternoon to ourselves, relaxing at the beach or just getting our gear ready for the trip home mañana. We had very nice farewell dinner at one of the smaller restaurants on the hotel grounds.
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| CUBAN BULLFINCH |
Friday, 3/24: Load ‘em up, move ‘em out! After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, we boarded our bus for the last time and headed for the Santa Clara airport, where we would catch our flight back to Miami. The highlight was a 1.5 hour stop at the small colonial town of Remedios, where we were free to walk around, get lunch on our own and meet again in the central square for a last group photo. The airport was small, but quite nice and had the obligatory gift shops for rum and cigars. All the shops and the cafe’ took $US and there was even a cambio to exchange any remaining CUCs. The flight home was on time and uneventful. Somehow, we all managed to get through the maze of the Miami airport, (to be avoided at all costs if possible - you can now fly to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale) and catch the shuttle back to the Comfort Inn.
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| RUDDY TURNSTONES X 11 |
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| MAIN PLAZA, REMEDIOS |
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| GUIDES ALEJANDRO LLANES, SUSANA RODRIGUEZ, ALBERTO INFANTE |
Saturday, 3/25: Goodbyes; flights and drives home.
Overall, I thought the trip was very successful. It was an excellent combination of birding a fascinating area for the first time for all of us and getting a peek into a culture that has been off limits to Americans for almost 60 years. To see the “real” Cuba, I’m sure a visitor has to make many trips and not with a tour group. Being fluent in Spanish would also help, but many people we met spoke passable English, since it is taught in all the schools.
One surprise for me was my original notion that Cuba is a tropical Caribbean island. It isn’t. Cuba reminded me more of south Florida than Central America and the bird life represents that fact. My great uncle Sidney Fried was a bookie and a race track tout (Webster: a person who solicits bets or gives tips on racehorses) and never worked a day in his life. He was my idol as a kid. Uncle Sidney worked the tracks in New York City during the summer and the tracks in Cuba in the winter. Same horses and jockeys, most of the same birds. Checklist available on request. Thanks for reading!
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FRONT ROW, L-R: SAM FRIED, TRACY DATLEN, LOIS RICHARDSON, SUSAN GREENBERG
BACK ROW: DEAN GREENBERG, LYNN JACKSON, GALE DONNELLY, MARTIN SELZER, ALAN WELLS, DELLA WELLS, BETSY BAUMBACH, ANNIE CHANDLER, JOE MIKULSKY, CARRIE CHARNEY,
ALAN RICHARDSON |
SAM FRIED
FLIGHTS OF FANCY ADVENTURES, LLC
3920 PINETOP BOULEVARD
TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA 32796
860-690-8599
view of the city was even better. After lunch, we had the opportunity to wander the old city streets on our own, climb the bell tower of the church or indulge in some heladio (ice cream). 
Our drive continued on to the city of Camaguey, second largest in Cuba, where we had lunch at La Campana de Toledo in San Juan de Dios Square and then checked into the Hotel Camaguey. We quickly went out for some late afternoon birding at a farm in Najasa that bordered on La Belen National Park in the Sierra del Chorillo area. One Cuban parrot sat still in a thicket long enough for a decent look, while West Indian woodpeckers worked a nearby palm tree. There was a horse round-up on the ranch while we walked its paths and both Cuban and palm crows (endemic) flew by, squawking their raucous calls. (For a good and very entertaining version of the Cuban crow call, see Tracy Datlen). A Cuban tarantula hawk wasp laid its eggs in a living Cuban tarantula after paralyzing it with a sting. Many birds were in the semi-open forest, including several trogons and many migratory warblers, but Lois Richardson found a gorgeous western spindalis male singing 
It was a very successful trip Sam and I was very happy to have joined you on this adventure. I couldn't agree with you more that a return trip is needed now that we have seen the birds so that we can really soak in the color and atmosphere of a delightful country. Martin
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