The Lodge Trails

Sunday March 8


The Lodge Trails




Breakfast at 6.30 and away at 7 for the day's activities was the norm. Buffet breakfast was your choice from bread, cereal, yoghurt, cheese, sweet roll, jam pawpaw, pineapple, melon and some choux pastry/cheese dobbles. We had the latter in Venezuela where they were round and deep fried. These were flat bottomed and baked.
Peter arrived on time for the planned exploration of the Lodge Trails.
After the initial dozen or so steps up to the gate which led to the rain-forested hillside, another 48 had to be climbed. My knees hate steps and these were steep and of variable depth. I don't get out of breath but the effort is painful. We then walked, mostly uphill with some side excursions, all of them returning to the original path diversions, for three hours. Very few birds seen but some very good ones such as, Thrush-like Woodcreeper, Spot-breasted Antvireo, Streak-capped Antwren, Scaled Antbird and Black-cheeked Gnateater. The glowing Blue Manakin and White-eared Piculet were a delight but not new for us. When Peter led the way up yet another steep path, Pam and I turned back - I needed a 'rest stop' anyway. Very near the Lodge, Pam noticed one of the most wanted trip birds, A male Spot-billed Toucanet perched on an open branch silhouetted against the sky. It stayed there for five minutes before it followed a female flying through. The group didn't catch up with this bird for several days.

Settled on the terrace with a cup of coffee, freely available at all hours, the other most wanted bird, a Blond-crested Woodpecker appeared on the distant feeding table, tucking into the bananas. What a bird. A sighting which most of the group did see later, Jeremy and Lindsay never did see one.

The group had seen several ticks for us by, at last, finding an elusive flock. The latter are just beginning to form again, ready for the winter. It's also noticeable that the birds are not as responsive to taping as they are when on breeding territory.
After lunch, we sat outside, talked and photographed.

We sheltered from the hot sun under the covered area near the swimming pool with views of different parts of the grounds. Masked Water-Tyrants in constant attendance. I left to photograph from the concrete 'Bird Hide' overlooking the feeding tables. Unfortunately, the back was uncurtained so, as soon as I poked my camera through the tattered canvas flaps, I was visible. No birds came near for the forty minutes I waited before giving up! I did take some shots of a Green-headed Tanager and a Maroon-bellied Parakeet which kept a wary eye on me from a more distant bunch of hanging bananas.



Judy had joined Pam at the pool area where there was some breeze, most of the group had gone for a further walk on the trails. I spent a happy couple of hours with my camera before returning to our room for a welcome shower. All the water is heated by solar power. I downloaded Pam's photos onto my Laptop, couldn't do mine as my new USB stick card reader doesn't take my EOS size card! Very careless not to have checked that before I came.
After the log and supper, we all sat talking until almost nine o'clock, the discovery of a large toad outside bringing an end to the gathering. Pam joined them in photographing it.