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dry forest and dry wit of the heartily amused vireos

2006-10-24 - 3:10 p.m.

all photos � 2006 by elaine radford

yeah, the water is really that color, don't believe, you'll just have to go and see for yourself

Monday, October 23

Note: I have rudely double-posted twice in a day, so if you want to read my adventures on Sunday, including my jump into the bio-bay, click right here.

OK. Short Version:

Today we got up early and devoted the day to the Guanica dry forest. Guanica is the classic palm-tree turquoise blue bay where the American forces landed to seize the island in 1898, thus leading Guanica to proclaim itself El Pueblo del Amistad, which I think means Town of Freedom, which is more tactful than Town of Damned Yankee Invader, you've got to admit.

Around 10 A.M. we headed to Yauco, a colorful town of multi-colored houses on a hill in the background (and every fast food franchise known to man in the foreground) for a visit to what appears to be Puerto Rico's favorite restaurant, Subway. I mean there's one on every corner. I learned that they serve lunch at any time of the day, which was a great relief, since I hate fast food breakfast "biscuits" which appear to be horrible little hockey pucks made of artificial lard created from discarded vegetable oils since real lard is a) too tasty, and b) too expensive. And I don't know if I have unfairly characterized the Subway breakfast biscuit, because I instead got the wrap, which was terrific. Then back to the forest. Then we ended the day at the parador's restaurant, where I enjoyed a wicked rum punch of their own invention and a shrimp asapao. There was no sunset to speak of, since it was a cloudless, rainless day on the dry side of the mountain, but the re-born new moon (no more than the tiniest sliver) could be seen setting over the trees, with Venus some distance behind it. Very nice. And here I should mention what I forgot to mention in yesterday's posting -- the spectacular if brief pink and orange sunset we got because of yesterday's cloud and rain. It was bee-yoo-ti-ful.

Long version: All that jazz plus we birded by car or by foot along the Path of the Whales almost all the daylight hours. The boardwalk at Guanica is closed at lunch on Mondays, and the strip at La Parguera is closed in the evening on Mondays, at least during low season, but you won't lack for food and drink. We hiked down the Whale (Ballenas) Trail to the 400 year old tree, where we discovered the unbelievable rare lizards that were almost snakelike in their teeny tiny leg to way long tail ratio and like nothing else we've experienced with their garish radio-active blue/green fluorescent tail flashing in the sun.

And the birds! Notable birds already seen:

  • American Kestrels -- my God, I've never seen so many of these birds, some paired, in one place at one time, there were places where it seemed every telephone pole or bare branch had its tutelary kestrel -- this is the true winter playground of the AMKE
  • At a little outdoor bar and boat rental overlooking the Gilligan's Island area, we had a beer and watched two mighty Pearly-Eyed Thrashers try (and fail) to catch the resident lizards

Nonbird notables:

  • Iguana -- a nice green one, not too huge and browned-out but of good size
  • Amelva wetmorei -- I don't know the common name, if there is one, but this is the very impressive rare lizard with the day-glow green-blue tail

And here are the new birds added to the Puerto Rico trip list:

  • Eurasian Collared Dove -- they seem to have taken over the entire town of La Parguera
  • Puerto-Rican Lizard-Cuckoo -- alas, my first look was my best, I actually found it perched with its bizarre red-rouged eye, when I tried to get D. to show him, it flew, showing its fine tail, but I couldn't get D's attention in time to show him
  • Orange-Cheeked Waxbill -- a single but fine specimen calmly eating seeds from a tall grass growing in the sun
  • Green Mango -- sitting on a wire and for ages, turning this way and that so we could catch its lime and emerald flashes in the sun, is this normal behavior?
  • Osprey -- it ain't a real birding tour until you've seen the Osprey and this one put on a fine show over the lovely turquoise bay
  • Adelaide's Warbler -- Wow is the only word
  • Northern Harrier, male
  • Troupial -- and singing too, the orange/black/orange pattern of the retreating bird confirmed our ID, but the two birds we saw managed to show themselves from every side and angle -- another WOW
  • Lesser Yellowlegs -- this and the stilt were easily seen from a small artificial retention or sewerage pond behind Mary's by the Sea, peeps also, but I wasn't in a mood to try to ID any peeps in the heat of the afternoon, as we found these shortly before the beer stop where we watched the Pearly-Eyed Thrasher lizard chase referenced above
  • Black-Necked Stilts -- several

Of course we had our mystery bird, and I'm still kicking myself. Two teeny tiny birds on the Vereda Del Bellenas, fairly close to each other and affectionate, so no way to make hummingbirds out of them no matter how small they were, yet the one I got the glass on had a deeply forked tail. The back was olive, and there were two wing-bars. Never got a clear view of the face or underparts because they held so deeply to the undergrowth.

Of course they were the White-Eyed Vireo, but I never saw such a deeply forked tail before or at least never noticed it, and I didn't figure it out until I woke up the next morning, so I'm not counting it.

Quick note: I'll do a full report on Tuesday soon, but I'll just note right now that the new birds we added were the Helmeted GuineaFowl and the Pintail Whydah -- and, yes, by the way, the male whydah was in full dress doing the display for the rather unimpressed tease of a female.

parts of guanica had a whiff of the lush deserts of southern arizona, tall cactus and blue-tailed lizards and all

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