Bird Watching Adventure in Cuba

Observación de aves en Cuba

                                       

                                                                         

                             (Hermanos Martínez Birding Guide (40 years experience’s)        Cuban Trougon (National Bird)                                   Birdwatchers Group

                               Itinerary 10 day: Bird Watching Adventure in Cuba

Day 1 – Arrive to Havana.

(Soroa Mirador)                                                  Cuban Vireo                                               Cuban Tody                                 Gray-headed Quail-Dove 

Day 2– Soroa Accommodation In the morning we will driver Soroa with stop few stops). Accommodation. Soroa with the major attraction: The Orquideario, an orchid garden which has been declared a national monument. It has one of the largest collections of orchids in the world. Here you can find a wealth of endemic birds that share the trees with orchids, such as: Fernandina’s Flicker, Antillean Palm-Swift, Gundlach’s Hawk, Bare-legged Owl, Stygian Owl, Etc. Today we will visit the Maravillas de Soroa, a wonderful trail with lot of interesting birds. There we will also take advantage to see the Cork Palm in nature, considered a living fossil. Among the many birds is the Cuban Trogon, the national bird. It is a good opportunity to see the Cuban Grassquit, with a marvellous coloration. The Cuban Pygmy Owl is one of the most interesting birds during the journey. We will found many Cuban Toddies calling everywhere in the forest, tiny jewels that combines wonderful colours. The Black Throated Warbler is a colourful migrant, usually easy to find on trees. The Red Legged Honey Creeper is a noisy bird that moves in flocks looking for food in flowers and ripe fruits; males have a beautiful combination of blue, black, white and red. The Indigo Bunting is rare, but possible to see in the trail. The nice coloured Stripe Header Tanager is quite common. The White Eye Vireo is usually found after hearing it is melodious call. The Key West Quail Dove is another rare bird that will require an acute search. Zenaida Doves are very easy to observe, even in flocks along the culture fields. Also we can find Cuban Vireo the endemic species.                                                            

Day 3 – La Güira National Park       

                                                                                                                                                   (Hacienda Cortinas)

7:00am in the morning transfer to La Güira National Park. Accommodation Viñales. Here, Great Lizard Cuckoos scuttle along the branches, looking for lizards and free frogs, in the beautiful park-like setting. This former estate has some standing colonial buildings, and its woodland trails echo with the cooing song of the beautiful Cuban Trogon, Cuba’s National bird, so chosen because it has all the colours of the Cuban flag in its plumage, also we can find West Indian Woodpecker, Giant Kingbird, Olive-Capped Warbler, Cape May Warbler and many others. We will also visit Cueva de los Portales. This limestone cave was headquarter of Che Guevara during the Cuban missile crisis of the early 1960s and became a national monument being interesting from both a geological and an historical point of view. Around the cave it is possible to delight the beautiful voice of the Cuban Solitaire.           

Day 4 –Ciénaga de Zapata    Bay pig

                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                     (Zapata Sparrow)                                           (Bay Pig)                                                        (Cuban Boa )                                      ( Ova )

In the morning we will take the highway from Viñales to Playa Larga (3hrs from Viñales). Accommodation The trip will take several hours driving but we will break up the journey with a number of stops. Our destination is the fabled Zapata Swamp. This area was declared to be a biosphere preserve in 2000 and Ramsar site in 2001. It covers an area of 628,171 hectares and is the largest and best-conserved wetland in Cuba and in the Caribbean insular. In the afternoon bird watching in Zapata (Bermejas and Soplillar areas) where we can find the Zapata Sparrow, Zapata Wren, Cuban Emerald, Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Trogon, Cuban Tody and many others.

Day 5 – Ciénaga de Zapata

                        Today we will explore, part of the Zapata Peninsula, in the Palpite zone.

Day 6 – Visit áreas de Zapata La Turba                                                                            

                                                                                                  

                           Zapata Wren )                                                             ( Cuban screch owl)                                               ( Environmental education  ) Zapata

Day 7– Cayo Coco                                                                                                                                      

                                      

 (Iguana)                                                                                                      Cayo Coco

Early in the morning we will drive to Cayo Coco (6hrs from Zapata with some stops). Accommodation Moron

In the late afternoon we will visit several localities to looks for the Zapata Sparrow (even easier to observe here than in Zapata Swamp), large numbers of great Flamingos, the Oriente Warbler, the Cuban Gnatcatcher, the Piping Plover, the Black-Bellier Plover, West Indian Whistling-Duck and the Sanderling.

In the morning we will drive to Cayo Guillermo (40min from the hotel in Cayo Coco).

With some stop in the way we will find the Bahamas Mockingbird, Cuban Black-Hawk and many others Shorebirds.

Day 8 – Cayo Paredon Grande (with accommodation in Moron)

  In the morning we drive to Cayo Paredon Grande We will stay 2hrs of bird watching in Cayo Paredon with species such as: Capper Rail, Osprey, Egrets and some interesting Shorebirds? Afterwards we continue for accommodation and optional city tour.

Day 9 – Trinidad

                                                                 Trinidad

Early in the morning we will drive to Trinidad (4hrs from Moron). Accommodation

Today we will visit the Cubano National Park: Situated in the limits of the Guaurabo River, and at the entrance of the UNESCO World Heritage Trinidad, El Cubano Park gives you the lifetime opportunity of getting in touch with the life of slaves at the “Ingenious” sugar refinery, considered one of the first built in this particular zone. You can observe the life of Cuban farmers, his costumes, habits and appreciate the great diversity of Flora and Fauna of the Javira River. Some of the most well-known species include: Cuban Trogon, Red-legged Trush, Cuban Bullfinch, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Cuban Pygmy Owl and Cuban Green Woodpecker. We continue with the visit to Trinidad Historical Centre. In the evening we will visit the Casilda Swamp at the coast where we can find Cuban Gnatcatcher, Sanderling and different species of Sandpipers.

Day 10 – – Havana

Early in the morning we drive to Havana. (3hrs from Trinidad) We can see some species of birds on the way.

It includes: Transport - gasoline, lodging, excellent room, with conditioned air and fan, wather cold and hot, dinner and breakfast, services of Guide - Driver

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