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This was more of a family holiday than a birding trip. Only two days were spent birding, one of
them on St.
Vincent. Apart from that, an hour or so on a couple of morning were spent on a trail
around
the hotel, and an hour was spent on a nature
trail with the family.
Despite this, all the important birds were seen, with the exception of the St. Lucia race of
House Wren which would not respond to any of the
calls I had from other islands.
Car hire on the island was extremely expensive. We therefore used taxis to get around. On our
trip to the forest we hired Donald Anthony -
who works for the Forestry Department - to drive and guide us. At two hundred US dollars, he
cost
little more than it would have cost to hire
a car and get permits.
Weather
Extremely hot most of the time. It rained most days for a short while, and on a couple of evenings
the rain was heavy. When it did come, and
when there was cloud cover it was quite a relief.
Places Visited
Union Nature Trail
A pleasant and easy forest trail about five minutes drive from the hotel. There is also a small
zoo
which gave everyone a chance to see St.
Lucia Parrot!
Quilesse Forest Reserve
Although apparently not as easy to see the Parrots perched here, it less steep than the
adjoining
Edmund Forest Reserve, and as the whole family
were accompanying me, we decided upon that. On the way we stopped of in the Micoud area for the
White-breasted Thrasher.
Desberra Area
This was visited late afternoon for the Wren, Duck, and Nightjar. It is also apparently riddled
with Fer-de-Lance snakes.
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