Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trinidad

It has been a dream of mine for many years now to visit Asa Wright and sit on their veranda and watch Hummingbirds. In late October after years of waiting (dithering) it finally came true. Asa Wright had closed down as a goimg concern and subsequently reopened under new ownership in the time it took me; I remember reading with anguish that had it closed before I could get there, but thankfully it is back. It is perhaps a bit corporate and glossy now, something we discussed at length with our taxi driver who had known it before and felt it had lost its charm, but ultimately it is open, it is providing employment and enjoyment, and the birds are still there.

Mrs L and I took an early flight from Grenada to Trinidad on a Friday morning. When booking this half-term trip to Grenada it hadn't crossed my mind that this would be a possibility, but when I had been trying to sort out flights that got us back to London on the day we needed it had become apparent there were no flights from Grenada to London, and that we would have to go via somewhere else. One of those somewhere elses was Port of Spain to connect with the evening flight back to Gatwick. In theory that could give us the best part of the day on Trinidad if we so wished it. How far was Asa Wright from Piarco exactly? 40 minutes......

It is now even more ruiniously expensive to stay there than previously, but the concept of a day ticket still exists. And being corporate and glossy has its advantages as I was able to book via email, pay via a link, and they even organised a car to pick us up from the airport and deliver us back. There is a lot to be said for hassle free even if it goes against my natural instincts. 

The flight was running late, but the guy with our name on a board knew that and was there waiting for us. We enjoyed a very pleasant drive up the Arima Vallet to Asa Wright, eBirding the whole way of course, and having a bit of running commentary from the driver on how much he enjoyed coming up this way rather than just sitting in traffic in Port of Spain. We gradually left agriculture and all the rest of it behind, and started a long winding ascent into the northern range. Ruddy Ground Dove, Tropical Kingbird, Grey Kingbird and Tropical Mockingbird found their way onto my nascent Trinidad list along with the ubiquitous Cattle Egrets and Black Vultures.

Once at the main house - a mere 90 minutes late, frustrating when time is so limited - we were greeted with a cooling flannel and a rum punch, and led out onto the world-famous veranda which at that moment we had pretty much to ourselves. The only other person there was Mukesh, the head guide, on hand to tell us what we were seeing. It did not disappoint. I had spent a fair amount of time on the beach reading up about the likely species and had a check-list of targets printed out, and so with a rum in one hand, bins in the other, a camera, field guide, Mukesh and said list to one side, Mrs L and I sat on tall stools and marvelled at the scene playing out below us. Mrs L can cope with birdwatching like this. Small doses, no mad intensity, rush or burning panic, no crowds, no half-glimpses of little brown things, no rubbish dumps or swamps. Comfortable verandas, rum punch, afternoon tea, hummingbirds - all of these things work for her and ensure continued matriomonial harmony even when birds are involved. There were over a dozen hummingbird feeders set in a line (and usefully numbered) along with trays of fruit, and all around flowering plants, perches, and off to one side, a fruiting tree. There were birds everywhere, a blur of colour and movement, it was virtually impossible to stay on a single bird, and for a guy with a list of targets somewhat of a sensory overload. 

Long-billed Starthroat

White-chested Emerald

Gradually I started sorting things out. Bananaquits ruled supreme, followed closely by glorious Purple and Green Honeycreepers - they were simply everywhere and the vibrancy of the male Green Honeycreeper is extraordinary. White-chested Emeralds and Copper-rumped Hummingbirds were very common, and so were Brown Violetears. Long-billed Starthroat and White-necked Jacobin were the next most numerous, but there were only singles of Green Hermit and Blue-chinned Sapphire. I got lucky with a Little Hermit that visited just once about five minutes after we sat down. Mukesh was great, really helpful, you could tell he really liked birds and was in the perfect role. He got us onto a Grey-lined Hawk that flew over, helped us with which number feeder to focus on, and confirmed my various sightings as I gradually got a bit more confident with all of these new birds. The fruiting tree off to the right of the balcony was filled with Tanagers - Bay-headed, Silver-beaked and White-lined, and later on a Turquoise Tanager.

Brown Violetear

Copper-rumped Hummingbird

White-necked Jacobin

Long-billed Starthroat

What I would say is that it was pretty average for photography, or at least ad-hoc photography of the sort I now most often partake in. In my head the Asa Wright feeders were at eye level, I mean why would they not be? The reality is quite different and the feeders are well below the veranda. I think if you were staying and were really focussed on getting images you would likely find a spot down below and adjacent to the feeders where birds waited their turn (although hummingbirds are not very patient!) and do well. But for looking at the birds and getting great views it is wonderful.

Green Honeycreeper

Purple Honeycreeper

White-chested Emerald

We had a buffet lunch in the dining room, all part of the day rate, and then went on a short walk with Mukesh down the main trail. Even though only an hour this was excellent, the more so as it felt like a private tour with just Mrs L and I.  The main draw was of course the White-bearded Manakin lek, with well over a dozen males of these cute little birds jumping around, wing-clicking and squeaky trumpet calls. I think we saw one unimpressed female but that didn't stop this squadron of little guys giving it their all from various dancing arenas that they had cleared. Further on down the trail we finally saw the Bearded Bellbird that we had been hearing since we arrived, incredibly loud once close up - what a peculiar looking bird, one of those weird species that taxonomists basically gave up trying to classify and chucked into that catch-all bucket called Cotingidae. We also saw Rufous-browed Peppershrike, White-flanked Antwren, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Cocoa Thrush, White-necked Thrush and Green-backed Trogon; it was like being back in South America. One of my abiding memories from a holiday to Tobago over ten years ago when I hadn't really done any neotropical birding was leafing through the field guide seeing pages and pages of fantastic birds only to read the text and see "Trinidad only" - it really is an extension of the mainland when it comes to birds, and you don't have to go very far up in the Lesser Antilles at all before you lose the vast majority of these species.

White-bearded Manakin

Bearded Bellbird

Back on the veranda the corporate nature of Asa Wright was laid bare. A local business team-building day. Of all the places to come, and of all the days. Whilst I applaud the focus on nature that some bright spark in HR had come up with, and indeed a few of the group were actively looking at birds and had taken over my field guide, quite a number of the group simply had no interest, and sat on the veranda on their phones watching snapchat and tik-tok and so on. Just totally inappropriate in the setting but what can you do? The birds didn't mind, the feeders are set down a bit as previously mentioned, but I found it very distracting. In the time we had left I went for a walk by myself around the property buildings, finding nothing new particularly but at least I was away from the crowds. All the Green Hermits were hanging around the ginger plantation so I tried a few photos - here is where I miss my Canon gear... Other birds included Squirrel Cuckoo, Yellow Oriole, Golden-headed Manakin, Barred Antshrike, Orange-winged Amazon pairs on the afternoon commute, Violaceous Euphonia, Crested Oropendola and various Tanagers.

Barred Antshrike

Green Hermit

Green Hermit

We had afternoon tea on the veranda, another big plus in Mrs L's book, and pretty soon after that it was time to go. Another taxi arrived right on time and we were off down the valley back to the airport. 52 species in total, not a huge amount but of these a quarter were new, including amazing views of five Hummingbirds. It was a very quick visit, quite an expensive visit considering the taxi both ways, but it was supremely enjoyable and I am so glad we did it. I slept all the way to London, dreaming of hummingbirds and the colour green.