Sites visited

1. Rupununi Savanna, near Lethem 10th-15th October, 2006

   This excellent birding location is located in the south of Guyana near the border with Brazil. From Boa Vista, the capital of Rotaima state, there are several buses to Bonfim, a town on the border with Guyana. These cost about 13R and take about 2 hours. Don't get off the bus at the terminal but instead stay on until the last stop which is the Brazilian immigration where you need to get an exit stamp. From there, it is a short walk to the river where you can get a boat accross for 3R. On the other side you can change Reais for Guyanese dollars (G$90 for R1) and take a taxi into town (G$500) or walk. The police station is not far from the river and here you get your entry stamp. I had a problem here as I told them I was probably staying 4 days and they stamped a 4 day voisa into my passport. Make sure you give yourself enough time. Getting an extension later is difficult and the police supremely unhelpful and on a power trip. Get the taxi (which should have been waiting for you) to drop you off at the airport where there is a food shop and internet cafe.
   I stayed at Dadanawa Ranch, about 3 hours drive along very poor roads. Contact Justin Defreitas [email protected] about staying here. His father also runs river tours in the south of the country which look excellent if expensive. Contact Duane Defreitas [email protected] for more information. Some form of transport leaves for Dadanawa and the communities beyond most days. Any vehicle leaving town must pass the airport shop, so the best thing to do is sit of the wall outside and ask any vehicle heading out of town if they are going your way. Also ask Jeremy for more info. He runs the internet cafe. I paid about G$2000 for a ride to Dadanawa Ranch. Hiring your own vehicle would be much, much more expensive.
   Accomodation at Dadanawa is very comfortable and food filling but there is no electricity. There is a small lake towards the river where I saw Sunbitteren, Sungrebe, Greater Ani and 3 species of Kingfisher. The dry forest beyond had Flavescent Warbler, Fincsh's Euponia, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher and Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant. The river beyond this, which is also good for a dip, Green-tailed Jacamar, Great Black-Hawk, Lesser and Least Nighthawks in the evening. Yellow-crown Parrot, Red-bellied and Red-shouldered Macaws often fly over the houses and sometiomes perch in the mango trees. Some small ponds on the opther side of the house had a few waders and White-headed Marsh Tyrant. I drove into the savanna with Justin and we saw King Vulture, Little Chachalaca and White-tailed Hawk. We also saw fox and Tayra. Sightings of Jaguar in the area are not uncommon.
I saw 104 species including 12 lifers

Undulated Tinamou	Crypturellus undulatus
Capped Heron	Pilherodius pileatus
Cocoi Heron	Ardea cocoi
Great Egret	Ardea alba
Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis
Striated Heron	Butorides striata
Jabiru	Jabiru mycteria	Photographed
Buff-necked Ibis	Theristicus caudatus
Black Vulture	Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture	Cathartes aura
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture	Cathartes burrovianus
King Vulture	Sarcoramphus papa	Photographed
Crane Hawk	Geranospiza caerulescens
Great Black-Hawk	Buteogallus urubitinga
Savanna Hawk	Buteogallus meridionalis	Photographed
Roadside Hawk	Buteo magnirostris	Photographed
White-tailed Hawk	Buteo albicaudatus	Photographed
Crested Caracara	Caracara cheriway
Yellow-headed Caracara	Milvago chimachima
American Kestrel	Falco sparverius
Little Chachalaca	Ortalis motmot	Recorded
Crested Bobwhite	Colinus cristatus
Sungrebe	Heliornis fulica
Sunbittern	Eurypyga helias
Wattled Jacana	Jacana jacana	Photographed
American Golden-Plover	Pluvialis dominica	Photographed
South American Snipe	Gallinago paraguaiae
Solitary Sandpiper	Tringa solitaria
Spotted Sandpiper	Actitis macularia
Least Sandpiper	Calidris minutilla	Photographed
Pale-vented Pigeon	Patagioenas cayennensis
Eared Dove	Zenaida auriculata
Common Ground-Dove	Columbina passerina
White-tipped Dove	Leptotila verreauxi
Red-bellied Macaw	Orthopsittaca manilata	Recorded
Red-shouldered Macaw	Diopsittaca nobilis	Photographed Recorded
Brown-throated Parakeet	Aratinga pertinax	Recorded
Yellow-crowned Parrot	Amazona ochrocephala	Photographed Recorded
Squirrel Cuckoo	Piaya cayana
Greater Ani	Crotophaga major
Smooth-billed Ani	Crotophaga ani	Recorded
Least Nighthawk	Chordeiles pusillus
Lesser Nighthawk	Chordeiles acutipennis
Gray-rumped Swift	Chaetura cinereiventris
Fork-tailed Palm-Swift	Tachornis squamata
Blue-tailed Emerald	Chlorostilbon mellisugus
White-tailed Goldenthroat	Polytmus guainumbi
Glittering-throated Emerald	Polyerata fimbriata	Recorded
Ringed Kingfisher	Ceryle torquatus	Recorded
Amazon Kingfisher	Chloroceryle amazona
Green Kingfisher	Chloroceryle americana	Photographed Recorded
Green-tailed Jacamar	Galbula galbula	Recorded
Red-billed Toucan	Ramphastos tucanus
Lineated Woodpecker	Dryocopus lineatus
Pale-legged Hornero	Furnarius leucopus	Recorded
Black-crested Antshrike	Sakesphorus canadensis	Recorded
Barred Antshrike	Thamnophilus doliatus	Photographed Recorded
White-fringed Antwren	Formicivora grisea	Recorded
Mouse-colored Tyrannulet	Phaeomyias murina
Yellow-bellied Elaenia	Elaenia flavogaster
Northern Scrub-Flycatcher	Sublegatus arenarum
Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant	Poecilotriccus sylvia	Recorded
Fuscous Flycatcher	Cnemotriccus fuscatus	Recorded
Vermilion Flycatcher	Pyrocephalus rubinus
Yellow-breasted Flycatcher	Tolmomyias flaviventris	Photographed Recorded
White-headed Marsh-Tyrant	Arundinicola leucocephala	Photographed
Brown-crested Flycatcher	Myiarchus tyrannulus	Photographed Recorded
Lesser Kiskadee	Philohydor lictor
Great Kiskadee	Pitangus sulphuratus	Recorded
Boat-billed Flycatcher	Megarynchus pitangua	Recorded
Rusty-margined Flycatcher	Myiozetetes cayanensis
White-throated Kingbird	Tyrannus albogularis	Photographed Recorded
Tropical Kingbird	Tyrannus melancholicus
Fork-tailed Flycatcher	Tyrannus savana	Photographed
Gray-breasted Martin	Progne chalybea
White-winged Swallow	Tachycineta albiventer	Photographed
Barn Swallow	Hirundo rustica
Yellowish Pipit	Anthus lutescens
Black-capped Donacobius	Donacobius atricapilla	Possibly seen
Bicolored Wren	Campylorhynchus griseus
Buff-breasted Wren	Thryothorus leucotis	Recorded
House Wren	Troglodytes aedon
Tropical Mockingbird	Mimus gilvus
Pale-breasted Thrush	Turdus leucomelas
Bare-eyed Thrush	Turdus nudigenis
Tropical Gnatcatcher	Polioptila plumbea
Red-eyed Vireo	Vireo olivaceus
Lemon-chested Greenlet	Hylophilus thoracicus
Flavescent Warbler	Basileuterus flaveolus
Bananaquit	Coereba flaveola	Recorded
Hepatic Tanager	Piranga flava
Silver-beaked Tanager	Ramphocelus carbo
Blue-gray Tanager	Thraupis episcopus
Palm Tanager	Thraupis palmarum
Finsch's Euphonia	Euphonia finschi	Recorded
Burnished-buff Tanager	Tangara cayana
Plumbeous Seedeater	Sporophila plumbea
Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch	Emberizoides herbicola	Possibly seen
Grassland Sparrow	Ammodramus humeralis
Grayish Saltator	Saltator coerulescens	Recorded
Red-breasted Blackbird	Sturnella militaris	Photographed
Eastern Meadowlark	Sturnella magna	Recorded
Shiny Cowbird	Molothrus bonariensis
Yellow Oriole	Icterus nigrogularis

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws