Keen readers of this blog will realize by now that I have recorded several days spent in Guyana last year – I felt that a post or two would always set aside so many visible notes. We started our journey at the famous Botanical Gardens in Georgetown, tasted our first land of plenty of water, toured a friend’s farm, and finally, our journey began in the wild green heart of the country.
After what seemed like a living dream, we woke up for the first time inside the Guyanese. Unbroken forest stretches as far as the eye can see. As light began to fill the clearing on the banks of the Essequibo River, the Band-rumped Swifts which funneled into a giant opening in a massive mora tree that now exploded, like bubbles of hot steam escaping through a crack in the water. A look at the exit point itself ensured that the swifts themselves were dim; a rushing stream of bodies still in the shadows in the middle of the floor. I wondered how birds could achieve such acceleration after sleeping all night without an ounce of caffeine. Once the swifts climbed above the canopy, they began to look like birds again.
Meanwhile, the edge of the forest was filled with birds. Mealy Parrots made their presence known, and we were treated to beautiful sights Parrot with a blue head that flew into a tree we were already examining.
Familiar, but beautiful regardless: Parrot with a blue head
Another small species of parrot perched on a tree in the distance. that is Black-headed Parrot, a species which I have scarcely attempted to see in Trinidad once without success. There are a few psittacines around, but no sign of anything spectacular yet Painted Parakeet from the previous day.
Black-headed Parrot
The reason we’re checking out this tree is a trio of small toucans – which will be our first aracaris, ever. These are Black-necked Aracari, and they were everything I hoped they would be. A few movements for a moment made us think there were more than three of them, but closer examination revealed that the new aracaris were actually Green Aracari, a less commonly seen one. Go to us, but both are exciting.
Green Aracari
Also hidden in plain sight is this Black Nunbird. Yes, that is one Silver-billed tanager photobombing.
Leon was eager to take us down one of the many trails in the forest, and we weren’t complaining. We left the shelter at the edge of the forest and were immediately engulfed by the beautiful forest. A couple hunkered down along the trail and we seemed to have no human contact for a thousand miles. A Piha shouted reinforced the environment as one of the real forest. The birds are for the most part playing hard to get, though. Until a small bird like a falcon passed through the understory. Another familiar face when we spotted it – thankfully it landed and didn’t continue its journey at that moment.
Kite with two teeth
The overlap in avifauna between Trinidad and Guyana is significant at one end and inevitable at the other. Still fueled by the euphoria of getting a good look at Kite with two teetha rare encounter resident of the forests of Trinidad – we saw a Chestnut Woodpecker making a mess in the distant canopy. I’m not sure how far it was, but we didn’t have to lower our voices for fear of spooking the bird.
Chestnut Woodpeckeranother familiar one.
When I got tired of making the most of the distant birds in the thickest forest (from a photographic point of view) we ran into a very cold wind. Manakin with the white crown. I took the opportunity.
Manakin with the white crown
There is certainly a lot of activity in the canopy, the problem is that the trees themselves are giants and their crowns are beyond the reach of our eyes. Spider monkeys swing from the high branches, occasionally letting themselves fall to just a few branches below, to get curious about these bipeds. Far, Capuchinbirds cry Closer to us, we caught a glimpse of a Tropical Royal Flycatcher. Sadly, I didn’t have the heart to ruffle his feathers enough to make them sparkle in his famous crown.
Tropical Royal Flycatcher
After some time, the Capuchinbirds is closer. Their metallic, yet somewhat melancholic nature drives the observer’s creativity when trying to describe both, as evidenced by this very sentence. Other notable expressions include the bellowing of a cow or a distant chainsaw, along with various iterations of kaks and warks compared to the most realistic “graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” – without a doubt the strangest sound I have ever heard a living creature make while still alive. While the strange cotinga called each other, a small group of Spix’s Guan rummaged through the high branches of the canopy, running easily on swinging legs. A more terrifying but no less primal scream heralded the arrival of a pair of Red-throated Caracaras. Suddenly, I felt as if I had been transported to a hundred million years ago.
This sensory immersion is transformative, but stumbles on a couple of quests Rufous-bellied Antbirds I was shaken from that trance. Both males and females are expert and well targeted at any movement on or just above the forest floor.
Rufous-bellied Antbirdfemale (top), male (bottom)
Eventually the trail spit us out on the river bank, and although we searched the banks for any herons or kingfishers, we were unsuccessful. A small group of White-winged Swallows I occupied a small corner, and watched the adults talk to the demanding children for a bit before moving on.
Juvenile White-winged swallow waiting to yell at any passing old man. Another familiar sight!
After returning to the lodge, we had a few minutes before we were scheduled to eat lunch and were off. I know my chances for getting a view – even a picture – of Painted Parakeets I saw the previous night fading fast. Conversations with lodge staff assured me that parakeets are common and “always around”, but we know how these things go. Fortunately, the parrot family is a noisy one, and I soon heard the raspy vocalizations of my intended targets.
Painted Parakeet
As predicted, we got off to a solid start.
