Backyard and local birding is a good way to get your weekly fix of bird watching and sighting. When you are ready to get serious, however, it is time to head off to an exotic land where unique species exists in such numbers that you will need extra pages for your life list. Trinidad offers just such an opportunity.
Located in the West Indies, Trinidad is a birding paradise. The Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge is the place you want to hunker down at. Renowned for its birding tours, Asa Wright is a non-profit center that has been providing birding education and tours since 1967. It is located in the Northern Range Mountains on the island at an elevation of over 1,000 feet. The center sits on a former cocoa plantation that offers incredible views in and of itself.
Visitors can watch many species of birds at the veranda, but there is also a host of birding tours in the surrounding mountains. In fact, many tours are operated by local hotels and resorts to bird watching points at the southern most island of the Caribbean. Among the birds that you can appreciate at Trinidad, we can name the Oropendolas, Pepershrikes, Manakins, Woodcreepers and Antbirds as the most attractive. Other species to be sighted include Red-legged Honeycreepers, Turquoise Tanagers, Red-Breasted Blackbirds, White-necked Jacobins, Ruby Topaz, and the Scarlet Ibis.
Trinidad trips are often referred to as visits to the land of the Hummingbird. Frankly, it is the specialty of the island. These small birds with long slender bills, brilliant iridescent plumage, and wings specialized for vibrating flight, are abundant on all the islands. Close to Port of Spain, the Caroni Bird Sanctuary and Mount Saint Benedict is ideal for sighting Hummingbirds to your heart's content.
If waterfowl is more your taste, the Pierre Wild Fowl Trust runs a conservatory on the southern end of the island. The Trust is dedicated to the breeding, protection, and reintroduction of various water fowl species to the area. Specialties include swans, geese and ducks to mention only a few.
Trinidad offers an opportunity to take a few weeks in the West Indies while also sighting some new entries to your life list. It is an opportunity you should take advantage of.
