Guyana Tour 2009

March 12th to 25th, 2009

Itinerary

Figure 1: Blue and Yellow Macaw

Click here to see more photos from our 2007 trip to Guyana.

Day 1. 12th.    Arrive in Guyana. Transfer to Georgetown. Overnight at Cara Lodge.

Day 2. 13th.    At 0600 we will bird the extensive and beautiful Botanic Garden, where an ornithological highlight is the Blood-colored Woodpecker, an astonishingly colorful Veniliornis found only in the Guianas and even there, almost wholly limited to the narrow coastal plain.  The gardens also host Pinnated Bittern, Brown-throated Parakeet, Great Horned Owl, Golden-spangled Piculet, White-bellied Piculet. Black-crested Antshrike, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher and Wing-barred Seedeater. A number of macaw and parrot species are also present, including the Festive Parrot

After breakfast we will transfer to Ogle Airstrip for a flight to Fair View Village and we will travel a short distance by boat to the Iwokrama Field Station in time for lunch.  This afternoon we will bird along the trails near the Field Station.  Iwokrama is home to many bird species including Black Nunbird, Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, Amazonian Antshrike, Brown-bellied Antwren, Spot-tailed Antwren, Todd’s Antwren, Spotted Puffbird, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, Green Aracari, Guianan Toucanet, Guianan Red Cotinga, Pompadour Cotinga, Rufous-crowned Elaenia, Bronzy Jacamar, Chestnut & Waved Woodpecker, Gray Antbird, and Strong-billed Woodcreeper.  Three other Neotropical species in the Iwokrama forest of high interest are White-winged Potoo, Rufous Potoo, and Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo.  Finally, after dark, we’ll set out on the river once more, in hopes of finding one or another of its four species of caiman, and listen for nightbirds such as Spectacled Owl, Long-tailed Potoo, Zigzag Heron and Blackish Nightjar.  Overnight at the Iwokrama Field Station.  BLD

Figure 2: Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock

Day 3. 14th.    At 0600 we set out by boat for half an hour or less to the foot of Turtle Mountain.  Here we explore the trails for a few hours first visiting Turtle Ponds where anis, herons and Green and Rufous Kingfisher hunt and then climbing to an elevation of 900 feet for a view of the forest canopy below and chances of Green Aracari, White Bellbird or a fly-by of one of five types of Eagles.  This trail often provides good views of Black Spider and Red Howler Monkeys.  We will take a packed lunch so we can spend the whole morning and early afternoon on this trail.  Transfer back to the Field Station.  We then visit Kurupukari Falls to see the Amerindian petroglyphs (dependent on the water level). Followed by a visit the small Amerindian village of Fair View where you may experience the process and use of cassava, the staple of the Amerindian diet.  Then visit the Butterfly Farm where butterflies are breed for export.  Then continue on for a late afternoon drive to a place known as 27 Mile.  This location offers good views down the road and Jaguar are often sighted in the area.  We will spend and hour or two here birding and watching for Jaguar.  On the return trip we will spotlight for birds and wildlife.  Overnight at the Iwokrama Field Station.  BLD

Day 4. 15th.    This morning we will bird along the Greenheart and Woodcreeper Trails close to the Iwokrama Field Station.  Quill rattling by Spix’s Guan or Crestless Curassow may start us off and then we will look for Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Eastern Slaty-Antshrike, Sooty-headed Tyrannulet and Tiny Tyrant Manakin.  This afternoon we will take a boat trip to Stanley Lake for birdwatching along the banks a locale for Sunbittern, Green Ibis, and Capped Heron. During our three night stay at Iwokrama we will also be looking for Black Nunbird, Blue Dacnis, Spangled and Pompadour Cotingas, Red-eyed Vireo, White-shouldered, Blue-backed and Turquoise Tanagers, Buff-cheeked, Lemon-chested and Tawny-crowned Greenlets, Brown-throated Parakeet, White-crowned and Golden-headed Manakins, Violaceous, White-vented, and Golden-sided Euphonias, Fasciated, Mouse-colored, Dusky-throated, and Cinereous Antshrikes and Guianan Red-Cotinga, Black-necked Aracari, Rufous-capped and Black-faced Antthrush, Gray-crowned and Yellow-margined (Zimmer’s) Flycatcher, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Spotted Puffbird and Musician Wren.  Overnight at the Iwokrama Field Station.  BLD

Figure 3: Green Ibis

Day 5. 16th.    Breakfast at 0530 followed by departure at 0600 for birding along the road through the heart of the Iwokrama Forest, where there is a good chance to see the elusive Jaguar. The Iwokrama forest is rapidly gaining an international reputation for its healthy jaguar populations that seem not to be troubled by the appearance of curious humans. No promises, but many have been lucky!  The road also offers excellent birding, including a locality known as Mori Scrub, characterized by an unusual low, sandy forest. This supports an interesting assemblage of bird species, among them Rufous-crowned Elaenia, Black Manakin and Red-shouldered Tanager.  We will stop along the road at numerous locations and look for species such as Guianan Red-Cotinga, Pompadour Cotinga, Blue-backed Tanagers, White-winged Potoo, Olive-green Tyrannulet, Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo and Marail Guan.  The journey continues onto the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway.  Here we can bird watch from the vantage of 35 Metres up in the canopy.  Caica Parrots, Painted Parakeets, Guianan Toucanet, Pompadour Cotinga, Plumbeous Pigeon, Red-and-green Macaw, Screaming Piha and a host of crown specialists come within our view.  Overnight at Atta Rainforest Lodge.  BLD

Day 6. 17th.    Welcome the dawn chorus from the canopy walkway.  Short-tailed Nighthawks settle in for the day, Swifts take to the sky, White throated and Channel-billed Toucans yodel, and Barred Forest Falcons call. You can spend the day birdwatching from the mid and upper canopy on the walkway as flocks travel past and look for Paradise Jacamar, White-necked Puffbird, Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Todd’s Antwren, Black-tailed and Black-crowned Tityras and Dusky Purpletuft.  Or you can bird along the jungle trails where antbird flocks include White-plumed Antbird, Spot-winged Antbird, Ferruginous-backed Antbird, Ash-winged Antwen, Long-billed Antwren, McConnell’s Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Flycatcher, Plain Xenops and Wedge-billed Woodcreeper.  The trails and camp often have sighting of Red-rumped Agouti.  . As dark falls on the Canopy Walkway, we will hope to see the White-winged Potoo.  The unusually timid Black Curassow can also be seen as at least one family party has become habituated and regularly feeds in the clearing of Atta Rainforest Lodge.  Overnight at Atta Rainforest Lodge.  BLD

Day 7.  18th.   Again the opportunity for early morning birding on the walkway or jungle trails in the hope of seeing Mealy, Orange-winged and Blue-cheeked parrot, Flame-crested Tanager; Slate-colored and Yellow-green grosbeak, Slender-footed Tyrannulet, Black-capped Becard, Gray-fronted Dove, Ruddy Pigeon, Buff-checked Greenlet, Purple-breasted Cotinga, Golden-winged Parakeet, Black-throated Antshrike, Red-and-black Grosbeak, Rufous-throated Sapphire, the recently split Guianan Puffbird or even the rare Crimson Fruitcrow. 
After breakfast we depart for the Cock-of-the-rock Trail, an easy 20-minute walk, to hopefully have our first view of the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock.  Most trips see at least one male and often the female or even a juvenile on the nest.  Eventually we reach the Rupununi and Annai, its northernmost community. The Rupununi Savannah is to Guyana what the Gran Sabana is to Venezuela, an extensive area of grassland with termite mounds and scattered or riparian woodland.  It differs in that much of it is devoted to cattle raising, though the large ranches are not very productive.  Indeed, one can travel for hours without seeing a domestic animal of any sort. Needless to say, the birdlife here is markedly different from that of the rainforest.  Fork-tailed Flycatchers, Savannah and Black Collared Hawks patrol the grassland.  This afternoon we will have an orientation tour of Rock View Lodge before birding on the savannah looking for Cinereous Mourner, Finsch’s Euphonia, Reddish Hermit, Rufous-bellied Antwren, Green-tailed and Yellow-billed Jacamar.  At dusk as nightjars and nighthawks tumble over the grasslands we will look for the Nacunda Nighthawk and White-tailed Nightjar.  Overnight at Rock View Lodge.  BLD 
http://www.wilderness-explorers.com/rock_view_lodge.htm

Figure 4:  Double Striped Thick Knee

Day 8. 19th.    Today we travel by road to the Amerindian community of Surama.  The village is set in five square miles of savannah and surrounded by the densely forested Pakaraima Mountains. Surama’s inhabitants are mainly from the Macushi tribe and still observe many of the traditional practices of their forebears.  There is great birding leading to the village and the surrounding savannah and you may see White Throated Toucans, Pearl Kites, Great Potoo and White-tailed and Savannah Hawks.  Overnight at Rock View Lodge.  BLD

Day 9. 20th.    After breakfast we travel along the road through the savannah and at the foothills of the Pakaraima Mountains for some excellent savannah birding.  Jabiru Storks are often seen along this stretch of road.  We continue by road to Ginep Landing and then travel slowly by boat on the Rupununi River to Karanambu Ranch. We will look for the many bird species, including Jabiru nesting along the river to Wood Stork, Bat Falcon, King Vulture, Channel-billed and Toco Toucan, Brown-throated Parakeet, White-necked Jacobin, Drab Water Tyrant and Ringed, Green, Amazon and Green-and-rufous Kingfisher.

Figure 5: Jabiru Stork on nest.

There is a good chance of spotting primates too. Karanambu is the home of Diane McTurk, widely known for her work rehabilitating orphaned Giant River Otters to the wild.  Diane and her otters have appeared on National Geographic, Jeff Corwin Experience, Really Wild Show (BBC) and the Calgary’s “Zoo World”.  Karanambu has a long history of visiting naturalists and Diane’s father, Tiny McTurk, has welcomed David Attenborough and Gerald Durrell (Three Singles to Adventure).  Our birdwatching here will be largely in woodland patches or gallery forest along the river where we’ll hope to find such species as Spotted Puffbird, Striped Woodcreeper, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, Golden-spangled Piculet and Capuchinbird.  Dinner with Diane will include stories on the history of the family and the Rupununi Savannahs.  Overnight at Karanambu Ranch. BLD http://www.wilderness-explorers.com/ka ranambu.htm

Day 10. 21st. This morning we will travel out into the savannah to look for Giant Anteater.  Vaqueros will search the savannah on horseback, looking in locations where they are known to sleep during the day. There is a very good chance to see this amazing animal.  Whilst out in the boat you may see Capped and Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, Purple Gallinule and Pied Lapwing.  When water levels are appropriate a wooded swamp near the ranch is the site of a surprisingly large colony of Boat-billed Herons.  River trips also offer opportunities to see Black Caiman, which are plentiful along the Rupununi River, in fact this area is consider to have the second largest population in South America.  There is also the chance to see species such as Capybara along the riverbank, and by spotlight it is normal to find Tree Boas and Iguana’s.  At any season the river and airstrip provide habitat for up to eight species of nightjars.  Overnight at Karanambu Ranch.  BLD

Figure 6: Giant Anteater

Day 11. 22nd. Diane sometimes has resident orphaned otters (currently she has a Giant River Otter and a Neotropical Otter in residence) and you can help her as she tends to them.  You can visit Simoni Pond for some of the best inland fishing (add US$25.00) in Guyana including Peacock Bass or explore the flooded forest or savannah.  Visits can be made to nearby ponds for birdwatching and to view the Victoria Amazonica, the world’s largest water lily and Guyana’s national flower.  Explore the Rupununi River in search of wild Giant River Otters, Black Caiman and Arapaima. Birdwatch in varied habitats, traveling by boat to certain localities up and downstream, and by Land Rover to one or another forest patch. Grasslands host Double Striped Thick-knees, Bi-colored Wren, and Bearded Tachuri while forest patches host Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Violaceous Trogon, Blue Ground-Dove, Plain-crowned Spinetail and Great Antshrike. The river is home to Wood Stork, White faced and Black-bellied Whistling Doves, Stripe-backed Bittern and Pied Lapwing.  As we move around we may see Least Grebe, South American Snipe, Rufous-throated Sapphire, Yellow Tyrannulet, Cliff Flycatcher and Ruddy-breasted Seedeater.  Overnight at Karanambu Ranch.  BLD

Day 12. 23rd. Early morning birding around Karanambu Ranch. For those interested there is also another opportunity to travel out onto the savannah to look for a Giant Anteater. 

Figure 7: Kaieteur Falls

After lunch we will take a flight to Kaieteur, the world’s highest free-falling waterfall.  Though Venezuela’s Angel Falls are greater in total height, their filamentous drop occurs by stages whereas Kaieteur is a single, massive, thundering cataract 100 meters wide created as the Potaro River makes a sheer drop of 228 meters, (741 Ft.) nearly five times the height of Niagara. The spectacle is the more impressive for its remoteness and it is altogether possible that we’ll be the only persons viewing it.

Here we will hope to find White-chinned and White-tipped Swifts swirling over the gorge, and perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to see the astonishingly colorful Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Orange-breasted Falcon, White-tailed Goldenthroat or Musician Wren.  We will spend 3 hours on the ground at the falls.  Our flight then continues onto Georgetown.  Overnight at Cara Lodge.  BL

Day 13. 24th. This morning travel along the coast to the Mahica River.  We will take a boat on the river to see Guyana’s national bird the Hoatzin, which is found in abundance along this river system.  On the way back we will stop and bird as opportunities arise for Black-capped Donacobius, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Moriche Oriole and Rufous Crab Hawk.  Enjoy an afternoon Georgetown city tour. We will finish the tour at the Botanical Gardens to do some final birding and also to see the Caribbean Manatees that live in the ponds.   Overnight at Cara Lodge.  BL

Click here to see more photos from our 2007 trip to Guyana.