HT&MB

We just spent 5 adventurous days birding in Puerto Rico with a Wildside Nature Tours group and then 3 days privately, all with the amazing birding guide, Gabriel Lugo, from December 3 to 11, 2024. Gabriel was a paragon of professionalism and proficiency: he could hear, see and find birds that were not even noticeable to many, certainly not us, and his skills as a tour organizer and cool-headed, even-tempered group leader made the trip memorable. Gabriel took us to his many “secret spots” around the island that were most likely off the beaten path of other tour groups yielding us close up views of “hard-to-find” birds without a having to do protracted searches - efficient? - Yes, indeed! By the numbers we added 31 birds to our “Life List” and encountered 85 birds previously seen elsewhere for a trip total of 116 different bird species. We saw all of the Puerto Rican endemic birds with ease and plenty of viewing time and most of the “soon-to-become-endemic” birds as well. We also got eyes on a variety of established “introduced” species from Africa and SE Asia. With Gabriel at the wheel, we circumscribed the entire Puerto Rican coastline and crossed through the central mountains twice. Doing so we had the pleasure of seeing the beauty and breadth of ecosystems in Puerto Rico, as well as enjoying learning about the history and culture of the people of the island first-hand. Breath-taking birding moments included seeing 100 critically endangered endemic PR Amazons (parrots) fly in all at once from nowhere to feast on date palm seeds, a pair of majestic White-tailed Tropicbirds flying together along the cliffs at Merendero de Guajataca, finding the Yellow-breasted Crake - not once, but twice - at Laguna Cartagena and finally getting a good look at the “difficult-to-find” PR Owl on our third try at Arecibo! Gabriel merits our wholehearted recommendation; if you’re planning on a complete tour of birding in Puerto Rico, contact Gabriel Lugo through Wildside Nature Tours. In our opinion you will be birding with the best.