Today we were up at 5.45 although awake from 4.30ish listening to the sounds of the forest first the howler monkeys with their sound coming from several different directions - followed by the great potoo, the blue throated guan and a cacophony of other sounds as birds woke up.
Waiting for breakfast we watched the river bank and saw the ringe kingfisher both perched and flying up the river, silver beaked tangers, white striped swallows on the rock beneath. We also went with one of the Bush Master guests who had spotted a night jar sitting on a nest by one of the long drop toilets - luckily the bird was still there and very well camouflaged - I took some photos and we left her undisturbed. Junior proclaimed she was a ladder tailed night jar - the black and white on her long tail was the only thing that stood out from the leaf and vegetation backdrop that she was camouflaged against.
Breakfast was scrambled and fried plantain with Junior making some 'bakes'(a cross between doughnuts and bread) his style - both him and Derrick were vieing to cook the best ones - on this occasion as they were fresh Juniors won but Derricks of previous evenings were also welcome and good to eat! We tried to play the diplomats in a tense contest!
As we packed up and before we left we did a bit more bird watching....spotting two beautiful and not often seen laughing falcons.
The walk back to the lodge revealed a golden headed mannequin.
On arrival the only thing on our minds was a proper shower and a change of clothes! Refreshed I went off to their new office building to use the wifi which they had only moved into the lodge yesterday from its previous location in inthe village. I caught up with some emails and then went back to the dining room for lunch. After lunch a little more bird spotting revealed smooth billed anni's, black and yellow cassiques (and woven nests) , ground doves on the land in front of the lodge. I looked for the tanager nest seen two days ago but it had gone - apparently they had come into work yesterday to find the bird dead and the eggs gone - they reckon it was either a cat or a snake - but the culprit remains at large!
We then jumped into a 4x4 with Junior and Bertram our driver also an expert birder so we got to see another small list of birds as we drove to Rock View Lodge ie:-
Rufous throated sapphire humming bird
Scarlet macaw
Black banded hawk
Red billed toucan
Northern caracara
Red throated caracara
Fork tailed flycatcher
Savanna hawk
Eastern morning lark
Great egret
On arrival at Rock View we checked into a nice room - sorted out the washing, which thankfully as it is damp and smelly, we can leave and and pick up on 31/3/12 when we return for one night. Although Gabriel, our guide if we needed one, offered us a bird walk when we met up with him over tea and rock cakes we declined as we needed a break - I went for a swim and watched kiskadees fliting around the pool and John decide to do one of his crosswords.....a change is as good as a rest!
In the evening pre dinner we tried some of the local rum with lime juice - very good- alongside some home grown cashew nuts - I had not realised that each plant produces only one nut and they grow above ground .....I always thought they grew similar to peanuts!
We met Colin's brother John who was visiting from the US and working with the local school he sponsors - he specialises in teaching children who find learning difficult for whatever reason - we agreed that many teachers and systems discard and disregard children who don't follow the normal pattern.
Supper then 9pm bed - nearly a late night!