"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Missouri marshes are a great place to find a number of bird species in late summer and early fall. This Common Yellowthroat, a species of wood warbler, was photographed this August at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary. This guy was packing Mayfly in his beak two or three at a time to bring back to the hungry chicks in the nest.
Caspian Tern
A visitor to Missouri’s marshes during migration, the Caspian Tern will always take advantage of the easy fishing that can be found at Riverlands and surrounding wildlife refuges along our great rivers.
Great Blue Heron
Anyone who spent any amount of time in the marsh will know the Great Blue Heron. This giant, yet leery bird is a common site, hunting for fish or any other vertebrate it can catch.
Dickcissel
A very common nester in Missouri marshes and fields, the Dickcissel advertises its presence with its incessant song.
Marsh Wren
So attached to the Marsh, they named the bird after it. The Marsh Wren sings its musical song throughout the day and is quite territorial.
My third and final day to myself in southwestern Puerto Rico would be quite memorable. I placed myself within the center of the Elfin Woods of the Maricao State Forest. I arrived at ~ 06:30 and did not leave until ~19:30. The AM weather was spectacular, with cool temps and some steady breeze and partly cloudy skies. I stayed the entire day in a little recreation/biological station that was about 1/4 of a mile long. It contained nice bathrooms and covered picnic tables. This was a good thing because the rains came onto the mountain at about 13:00 and stayed mostly through the time that I left.
Kilometer 16
On mountain road 120, look for this sign. This is one of only a likely two spots on earth to have a good chance of seeing the Elfin Woods Warbler, one of the endemic bird species to the island and one I had little hope of finding.
CCC at Maricao
There were a couple of those old CCC signs here as well.
Elfin Woods – Tourist Style
I had read bits and pieces that there were trail heads here and others scattered throughout this small forest preserve, but I could find no signs of those anywhere. Ultimately, I doubt I missed much. The ~1/4 of a mile I had was split mostly between the birds and myself. All it took was some patience, or, lots of patience as the birds came and went into the thick vegetation that rose or dropped steeply on one respective side of the road or the other.
Antillean Mango
Many species of tropical hummingbirds are known to occur within a narrow range of altitude. The Antillean Mango can be found throughout the rainforest habitats of Puerto Rico, up to the highest peaks of the island.
Puerto Rican Bullfinch
The Puerto Rican Bullfinch is not a finch at all, but a Cardinal. It has a song that is quite reminiscent of our Northern Cardinal. I found these guys, like so many of the birds on the island, to be a bit shy and tricky to get a clear view of.
Puerto Rican Tanager
The Puerto Rican Tanager is another endemic bird of the island. The cloudy skies made photography quite challenging.
Pearly-eyed Thrasher
After this Pearly-eyed Thrasher had its fill of the water-apple, I made sure I got my two or three as well… 😉
Exotics
While this stretch of mountains is a dream for the botanist (more than 250 species of trees), several of these are imports from other tropical locations. Similar to the El Yunque forest on the eastern side of the island, several exotic tree species have been introduced here from Australia. While several of these species seem to have a small or even neutral effect on the native ecosystems, some have become quite problematic, like these invasive eucalyptus.
Puerto Rican Tody
The Todys were here as well! And I was in for quite a surprise.
Puerto Rican Tody
One of the several highlights of the day was finding a PR Tody nest cavity in the side of a mud bank. These guys are in the same family as the Kingfishers, and build a similar nest cavity. I happened to be walking by as a bird hopped to the entrance and darted within feet from my face while giving me a terrible scolding. I backed off a bit, hoping it would come back for a great photo opportunity. After 20-30 minutes no birds came, so I pushed on, not wanting to be the reason a youngster was not getting a meal. I would walk by the cavity a few times over the course of the day, but never had any luck. I don’t think they spend a lot of time within sight of the nest cavity, it being a quick in and out operation.
Puerto Rican Tody Nest Cavity
Although I was able to find a couple of the PR Woodpeckers the day prior at Cabo Rojo, I was not able to get any photographs. Thankfully a group came through the area and I managed a couple of mediocre shots. Spectacular birds, as are most Woodpeckers.
Puerto Rican Woodpecker
Finally, the quintessential bird for this most Tolkienesque of forests. The Elfin Wood Warbler. I was able to watch a small group of these quite mobile darts move in and out of the dense, roadside wall of the forest canopy. Only described by science in 1972, it has been estimated there may be as few as 1800 of these birds left on the island.
Elfin Woods Warbler
Human modification and destruction of these mountain forests are having major detrimental effects on these habitats throughout the tropics. In Puerto Rico this habitat is being lost to communication arrays and the roads to service them – one of the costs of global connectivity. I was appalled by some of the views I had of antennas being stacked as thick as trees on some of the mountain tops in this Forest.
Coffee is king here and some of the oldest and largest coffee farms are found within Maricao. I was able to speak with several folks on the island who worked as, or were part of families associated with farming coffee. Not one of them practiced or had any plans to practice shade-grown, bird-friendly coffee. Although it certainly is not the perfect answer in protecting these endemic mountain species, purchasing shade-grown coffee is an important practice in enabling conservation in these areas.
As the light waned and the rains began to lighten, I sat listening to the coqui frogs and other pieces of the night symphony begin their warm up. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better, I heard what I had hoped to hear – the Puerto Rican Screech Owl. This bird gave me a total of 17 of a possible 18 endemic bird forms for the enchanted isle. The only miss was the Puerto Rican Parrot, which is only found in small patches of El Yunque to the east. I can only hope that these birds can continue existing in their present forms long after I have not.
While at Quivira, Steve and I happened upon one of the most patient, cooperative wild birds I have ever come across, this male Belted Kingfisher. It stayed perched, except when taking off to grab a prey item, as we slowly crept closer in the car.
Belted Kingfisher
In the photo below, the bird winds up to bash a crayfish that it eventually swallowed.
The Goldfinch have really taken a liking to the Silphium in my garden this year. Every time I’m out there I observe at least a couple picking the seeds. The two images of this post show them with their more famous plant source, the thistle, taken this summer at RMBS.
Earlier this spring I watched with anticipation as a pair of Flickers inspected a potential nest cavity in a wood lot where I work. I watched over several mornings as they came and went and made a ruckus. Here, the male admires the view from the front door.
Northern Flicker – Female
The female is pictured above, inspecting the potential nest sight.
No Thanks!
But alas, for whatever reason, the pair decided this wasn’t the spot for them this year. Ah well.
Most of the waterfowl had long since migrated north by the time Steve and I visited Quivira in May, but we were able to find a few. We encountered a few Eared Grebe and with the winds as high as they were, the waves were impressive in such shallow bodies of water.
Eared Grebe – Winter
Blue-winged Teal were the most abundant of the waterfowl.
Blue-Winged TealBlue-winged Teal
Finally, we watched this gorgeous pair of Canada Geese in golden hour light. They seemed more appropriate here than in any other setting I had ever seen them before.
I found myself on the second day a little further from Ponce, where I visited what has been described as the most important habitat in the Caribbean for migratory and resident shorebirds – the Salt Flats of Cabo Rojo NWR.
Cabo Rojo Trails
The refuge was first established in 1974, when it was comprised of a patch of subtropical dry forest near the coast in the southwestern tip of the island. This patch of nearly 600 acres was gifted to the US Fish and Wildlife Services by the CIA, of course. Unfortunately, this initial plot of land and the nice looking visitor’s center that is run by the USFWS is closed on Sundays, the day of my visit. Within the tall wire fence, the forest and savanna habitat looked very inviting. Immediately upon exiting the car to deposit some used coffee I watched as a pair of striking Puerto Rican Woodpeckers flew directly over me to land in a tree, bathed in the light of the golden hour, just on the other side of the fence. Of course they would not stay put while I put the camera together.
Subtropical Dry Forest
Subtropical Dry Forest is characterized by low annual rainfall (~30-35″ annually), high temperatures of over 100 F and plants adapted to such climatic conditions. Within such habitat plants normally achieve heights of 15″ on average. Plants are further adapted to these hot, xeric conditions by having small, waxy leaves – often shaped into thorns to dissuade herbivores.
Cactus
Several cactus where found throughout the refuge. The photo above captures not only cactus, but a dry-adapted lichen, known as tropical mistletoe, that was quite common as well.
The Salt Flats
In 1999, approximately 1300 acres of salt flats were added to the refuge. These salt flats are very important for overwintering shorebirds, but I was a bit late for this as the majority of these birds were already headed north to the arctic tundra. However, I was able to find a few straggling migrants as well as nesting species – including several endemics of Puerto Rico.
WhimbrelWhimbrel
The Salt Flats are considered Important Bird Areas by Birdlife International and the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. This area serves as important nesting grounds for the Black-necked Stilt, Antillean Nighthawk, Least Tern and both Wilson’s and Snowy Plovers, among others.
Snowy Plover
This refuge is also important habitat for the federally endangered Yellow-shouldered Blackbird. This author considers himself fortunate to find one bird, but was crushed by not being able to get a photograph. 😦
Least TernLeast Tern
One plant that I encountered over most of my travels on this corner of the island was very common within Cabo Rojo – Wild Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). This wild relative of cultivated cotton is perennial in nature and adapted for salty, sandy soils.
Wild Cotton
There is quite a length of trails throughout the salt flats and the native islanders used these for recreation activities like running and bike riding as well as means to get to different beaches around this section of coast. Near the area where I parked was some very attractive mangrove groves that attracted the Yellow Warbler.
Mangrove Pier
Four species of mangrove are commonly found on the island: Red, Black, White and Button. Tide lines and preference/tolerance of submerged roots is the primary reason behind how the different species are composed along Puerto Rico’s coastlines.
White-cheeked Pintail
With only approximately 500 pairs known on the island, I was quite fortunate to find and photograph these White-cheeked Pintail.
Smooth-billed AniCaribbean ElaeniaYellow-crowned Night Heron
Towards one end of the salt flats were some of the workings that produced the salt for non-food purposes. I could not determine if the works were still in production, or if it was left mainly for show.
Salt Production
I observed only the Black-necked Stilt utilizing this area, as the next two images suggest, they are quite tolerant of the saline conditions.
Black-necked StiltBlack-necked Stilt
I never found a nest or chicks, but the way these guys were harassing me during this part of my hike, I would be surprised if there was not some sort of nesting activity going on nearby.
Black-necked Stilt
So, that was Cabo Rojo. I would love to visit during a weekday when the dry forest/savanna section is open and when the few narrow roads that wind through this narrow bottleneck are not clogged with vacationing islanders.
Next time, I will recap the last day of my visit where I ventured a bit north in latitude to visit the Tolkienesque mountain rainforest known as the Elfin Woods of Maricao State Forest.
A medium sized, markedly-colored Calidris sandpiper, the Sanderling is one of the most highly traveled migrant birds on the planet. Breeding only in the far north arctic, some Sanderlings will winter as far south as Cape Horn of South America. Individuals in breeding plumage are easily identified with close enough inspection by looking for the rusty-gravel coloration. Winter and juvenile forms are contrasty black and white. All birds lack a back toe, which are typically found on shorebirds.
Much like the Meadowlarks, Steve and I observed an abundance of both Eastern and Western Kingbirds. We were surprised by the close proximity of the assumed territories. The typical super-aggression shown by the Eastern Kingbirds did not seem to be delivered to either the Westerns or conspecifics.
