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Trip Report – January 2020
Comments: Turks & Caicos was really intended as a relaxing couple of days on our way to Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to bird. Having said that there were 5 lifers there for us so we didn’t get a guide and didn’t waste any time. We used ebird to find the most recent sightings.
Day 1: Today was about Bahama Woodstar, Bahama Mockingbird and Thick-billed Vireo. We had noted some sightings on ebird and so headed west towards Wheeland settlement. Just at the intersection where the paved road ends and you could turn right to go to the Wheeland Ponds, a vireo flew across the road. We pulled over and within a couple of minutes we had 2 Thick-billed Vireos. About 500 metres further along on the unpaved section we had Bahama Mockingbird.
We then spent a bit of time around Wheeland Ponds (which were very quiet) and found the one spot where you can see Pidgeon Pond (which was very distant!) before heading back east to look for our final target – Bahama Woodstar. As we were driving down the main road and a hummingbird flew over the car. We noted that it had come from yellow flowers so the next patch of yellow we stopped. We searched for a while but quite quickly a female came into feed. Feeling pretty proud of ourselves we went back t our hotel for lunch and a lazy afternoon. Night at The Shore Club.
Day 2: Just about relaxing! Night at The Shore Club.
Day 3: We took the ferry over to North & Middle Caicos in search of Cuban Crow and American Flamingo. Picked up a car on the other side and drove through Whitby (checked out the pods but only Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilt) and onto the Flamingo Pond Overlook (marked on google maps). As we got out of the car a Cuban Crow hopped up on a posted, called for a while and then disappeared – that was our only sighting!!! Took the scope and went up to the look out and had great (but distant) views of a large flock of American Flamingo. We spent the rest of the morning driving down to check out ponds etc and try for a better view but no luck. We stopped for lunch at the Mudjin Bay resort where we enjoyed fantastic views of displaying Hump-backed Whales while eating! Ferry back to our lovely hotel. Night at The Shore Club.
Day 4: On to our next island to find more birds! (See Dominican Republic report)
Hotels
The Shore Club – excellent resort hotel although rather overpriced.
Guides & Resources
Guides: We didn’t use a guide – just ebird for recent sightings.
Birding sites: Used ebird for the latest sightings.
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