Web page A_1x : Page 1 of Our Trinidad Story
Our Trinidad Story
Anne Kiehl and Dave Krieg
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Always behind in reading our magazines, it was a cool December day when we read the
August issue of Audubon and found a story about tropical Trinidad. It's the southernmost
island in the Eastern Caribbean chain, 10 miles off the coast of Venezuela. The enchanting
story and the terrific photos of birds got us so excited that we started making reservations.
Early January 9th we left Texas. After a nonstop five-hour flight from Houston, we landed in
Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad. A pre-arranged taxi drove us to a nearby B&B. Wow! we
were traveling on the "wrong" side of the road! Trinidad had been a British colony and, of
course, everyone speaks English.
About 10 next morning a driver arrived to take us to the Asa Wright Nature Center, a special bird-watching retreat. The road took us up 1,200 feet; it was hilly, curvy, narrow, rough, and in
places almost washed away, due to the extra heavy
rainy season. Anne could not completely stifle
screams as we passed big trucks. It took about an
hour to arrive at the center, which was originally a
coffee, citrus, and cocoa plantation. Its last owner, a
widow, chose to have it become a nature sanctuary
and in 1967 it was converted to a non-profit trust with 24 twin-bedded rooms and a restaurant. Our roomy cottage had a big screened porch with a jungle view.
Across the back of the main building there is a huge,
screened open veranda, with stools and comfy furniture.
On a walkway three floors below the veranda and
backed by the forest, are 6 large (6 foot long) trays which
are spread 3 times a day with fresh fruit and bread.
The beautiful colorful birds come flocking so many we
didn't know where to look first. In the picture to the right,
you see the Blue-Crowned Mot-Mot.
There are many humming bird baths and feeders, so close you don't need binocs to see these sparkling, jeweled tiny wonders. For four days we birded from the veranda where there was always an expert guide to point out and identify birds and adjust the telescopes for close-up viewing. Since nearly all the birds were new to us this was especially helpful.
We had a guided walk on
the Discovery Trail to learn
about the plants, trees, and
the many spices that grow
there. There were many
beautiful flowers, blooming
in January! There were
even Iguanas.
As we trekked down the path a repeated bird call got louder
and louder. It sounded like a hammer striking an anvil! Finally the guide located a 12 inch long Bearded Bell-Bird about 50 feet up in a very tall tree (right, below).
His black beak opened and he
dropped his huge jaw and the
loud sound came forth repeatedly.
We hoped his favorite female
finally showed up.
To see an Asa Wright specialty we hiked deep into the dense
rain forest down into a gorge. We waded through a fast flowing
spring into a slot canyon with a kind of ceiling of ferns and vines
climbing the walls. A colony of about 115 to 150 Oilbirds nest
inside, but we are able to see only about 3 nesting and a few
hovering above their nests making turns while backlit against the
tan-gray walls. With a flashlight we can just barely make out that they look like raptors, with hooked bills, rich brown bodies 18" long. They are the only nocturnal fruit-eating birds in the world; actually more like bats. They are named , Oilbirds, for their plump young which weigh 50% more than their parents at 70 days old. In the old days they were boiled and rendered into cooking and lamp oil. They are now rare and to avoid unduly disturbing them they are visited only twice a week and spotlights are forbidden.
We made a late afternoon auto trip to an abandoned WWII air field to see the many species of parrots returning to their nests in the palm groves. A light rain drove us into a thatch-roofed shelter where we ate a delicious hot dinner that the center the had provided. By now it was dark enough to look for nocturnal Nightjars and Pauraques, birds we have tried unsuccessfully to see for years in the US. A lucky spotlight found us a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.
