Puerto Rico 8-Day | January 2011 (Day 1, 2, 3)

Flight to Vieques

The day after our Endemic Dash ended our next group arrived. Their plane landed after dark so we had dinner and an orientation and hit the sack to get a good rest for the coming adventures.

The next morning we left early to enjoy some birding in the university’s botanical garden, then headed off to Ceiba for our flight to Vieques. The flight is all of 12 minutes, but we had to split the group in two as we had just one 8-passenger plane for 10 participants and two leaders.

Once in Vieques we made a stop at the old fort for some history, then headed off to our hotel to relax before nightfall. After dark we jumped aboard the old school bus from Island Adventures to be bounce out to Mosquito Bay to enjoy the best bioluminescent bay in the world! The moon was a bit bright so we had to swim under the large pontoon boat to get the best effect of the eerie glow, but it was well worth the time!

Caribbean Elaenia

In the morning we drove out the the Kiani NWR for a wonderful morning of birding. Vieques offers some excellent birding opportunities and is one of the best places to find some of the species, like the Caribbean Elaenia (above).

Adelaide’s Warbler

Adelaide’s Warblers are quite common in the mangrove forests in Kiani, and we saw other warblers as well. Prairie Warbler, Northern Parula, Black-and-White Warbler, Northern Waterthrush and American Redstart were all found.

Mangrove Cuckoo was seen briefly while Gray Kingbirds were quite common. A few Loggerhead Kingbirds joined the mix as well.

300 year old Ceiba Tree

A visit to Vieques is incomplete without a group photo under the 300 year old Ceiba Tree! Known as a rainforest emergent in Central and South America where they rise to over 150 feet, this one had no need to rise above the rest and grew out instead.

After one night in Vieques we returned to the main island of Puerto Rico to embark on the Endemic Dash portion of our trip. From Ceiba we headed west toward Haltillo where our birding adventures would begin.

Masked Ducks (females & juveniles)

On our way we made a couple quick stops before (and after) dark. The river mouth at Manati offered Black-necked Stilts, Kestrels, Little Blue and Great Blue Herons, Osprey and a few shorebirds. At one small, secluded pond we found eight Masked Ducks in the waning light. Six can be seen in the above image… all females and juveniles.

After dark we made one final stop… to see the Caribbean Flamingo in the Camuy Pond west of Hatillo… we had to use a spotlight but it was easily seen by all!