Here's Rick Greenpsun's report and his photography:
Conditions were tough for birding and photography. The vegetation was thick and dark most of the time, and the birds were reluctant to show themselves. We birded the southwestern part of the island were it was lush but drier and then put in two days in the northeast corner near and in El Yunke Rainforest, where it was lush and wet. El Yunke gets about 200 inches a year in rainfall, so most days you can expect to get wet!!
The Puerto Rican Owl was taken at 4 in the morning with a flash and a flashlight.
Puerto Rican Tody:
Bananaquit singing:
If you'd like to come with us on our next trip, be sure to visit our website for more information. We travel locally, from county to county and every now and then, outside of the U.S.
Puerto Rico was a blast. The trip leaders Jeanne Dubi and Karen Jensen did a great job researching the spots we needed to hit to see the endemics. The endemics were lifers for most people on the trip. I added 29 lifers, a great dollar per lifer value (A Twitchers Dream). My personal favorites were the Puerto Rican Tody, Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo, Antillean Euphonia, and Elfin-woods Warbler. My favorite moments were birding Cabo Rojos and seeing the Venezuelan Troupial and White-cheeked Pintail with Jeanne, Wade and Betty; hiking to the Elfin-woods in El Yunque with Lynn; look for the Puerto Rican Parrot by El Verde(and dipping); rooming with Rick and holding the flashlight on the Puerto Rican Screech-Owl in the middle of the night. The food was bad, the company was great, and the memories will last forever. Me encanta vistitar Puerto Rico!
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