Guyana - Where Rainforest Meets Savanna

[Treepol]

Wonderful report Michael and well done on the Agami Heron sighting. Many of your photos remind me of the Pantanal, the waterlilies, many birds and the Giant Anteater. Thanks for sharing.

[Atravelynn]

Exciting times with the Giant Anteater!  Excellent birds in flight.  The Little Blue Heron has quite an expression on his face.  You've shown teenagers are the same the world over.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Atravelynn

[AKR1]

Another superb report, Michael with superb photography from both of you. The Giant Anteater pictures were something else!

[inyathi]

I have much enjoyed reading your report, you certainly got nice photos of the Cock of the Rock and that you got to see a Harpy and had a better view than I had of what I believe was a Harpy. Shame that you didn’t have a proper guide at Rock View, because it is a nice place to stay and Colin is as you say certainly a character, but it’s certainly not as geared towards wildlife as other lodges, so you do need a guide. I did wonder when I heard the sad news that Diane McTurk had died what this might mean for Karanambu, for tourists seeing her and her Giant Otters was as big a draw as the Giant Anteaters, it’s a little sad that they don’t have anyone there carrying on the work, I guess none of her family wanted to take on the job and maybe they didn’t want to bring someone in, to do it. I’d imagined after all the work Diane had done returning otters to the wild, that finding Giant Otters at Karanambu wouldn’t be too difficult, but I never saw a wild otter, when I was there. I did see Giant Otters elsewhere, but not like in the Pantanal, don’t know why Guyana isn’t such a great place to see them as I would hope, that they are reasonable well protected there these days. Nice to see photos of the Bearded Saki that’s a monkey that I sadly missed, and very glad that you had your anteater encounter, even if it isn’t how one would really choose to see wildlife, it is still a memorable experience, with one of the world’s most remarkable looking animals.    

[michael-ibk]

On 6/24/2023 at 4:17 PM, TonyQ said:

Great additions to your report with beautiful photos.

Wonderful views of the Anteater, a magnificent animal

 

Thanks Tony! They are wonderfully odd creatures.

 

On 6/24/2023 at 6:09 PM, Galana said:

My only problem with your excellent reports is that my Bucket list is needing a bigger page.

 

 

Well, we can all blame each other for that never-ending and always-expanding lists in that way.

 

 

On 6/24/2023 at 10:30 PM, Treepol said:

Wonderful report Michael and well done on the Agami Heron sighting. Many of your photos remind me of the Pantanal, the waterlilies, many birds and the Giant Anteater. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks Denise, it is indeed a bit similar - although sans the thrills of Jaguars et al.

 

On 6/25/2023 at 5:57 AM, Atravelynn said:

Exciting times with the Giant Anteater!  Excellent birds in flight.  The Little Blue Heron has quite an expression on his face.  You've shown teenagers are the same the world over.

 

Thanks Lynn, well I hope not quite the same.

 

On 6/25/2023 at 11:02 PM, AKR1 said:

Another superb report, Michael with superb photography from both of you. The Giant Anteater pictures were something else!

 

Thanks so much, always appreciate your kind feedback.

 

On 6/26/2023 at 1:23 AM, inyathi said:

I have much enjoyed reading your report, you certainly got nice photos of the Cock of the Rock and that you got to see a Harpy and had a better view than I had of what I believe was a Harpy. Shame that you didn’t have a proper guide at Rock View, because it is a nice place to stay and Colin is as you say certainly a character, but it’s certainly not as geared towards wildlife as other lodges, so you do need a guide. I did wonder when I heard the sad news that Diane McTurk had died what this might mean for Karanambu, for tourists seeing her and her Giant Otters was as big a draw as the Giant Anteaters, it’s a little sad that they don’t have anyone there carrying on the work, I guess none of her family wanted to take on the job and maybe they didn’t want to bring someone in, to do it. I’d imagined after all the work Diane had done returning otters to the wild, that finding Giant Otters at Karanambu wouldn’t be too difficult, but I never saw a wild otter, when I was there. I did see Giant Otters elsewhere, but not like in the Pantanal, don’t know why Guyana isn’t such a great place to see them as I would hope, that they are reasonable well protected there these days. Nice to see photos of the Bearded Saki that’s a monkey that I sadly missed, and very glad that you had your anteater encounter, even if it isn’t how one would really choose to see wildlife, it is still a memorable experience, with one of the world’s most remarkable looking animals.    

 

It certainly is Rob, thank you. Well, I guess we just lucked out on the Otters, many others saw them. It made sense to me what the guide said, that the high water levels would push them out of the river and into the many shallower ponds where hunting would be much easier. And I´d say Karanambu still is a top wildlife destination for Guyana - they are very dedicated to showing you as much as possible. Our guide, while definitely not chatty, was excellent, a great spotter especially.

[michael-ibk]

 

Not only the Anteater to see on the plains. While big mammals are all but absent here (the grass has very little nutrious value) birdlife especially is pretty interesting.

 

 

Great Egret

 

 

Burrowing Owl - always nice to see.

 

 

 

Collared Plover with a kill!

 

 

 

The weather was really nice this morning.

 

 

Eastern Meadowlark

 

 

Muscovy Duck  not uncommon, but unlike the domesticated form actually quite wary and not easy to get a photo of.

 

Karanambu even has game-drive cars - well, in a way:

 

 

 

 

Brown Vine Snake - an interesting snake, doing its best to look like a twig. Quite successfully, they are not easy to see before you know they are there. Other Vine Snake species (like the African one) are also called Twig Snake because of their ability to mimic their surroundings that convincingly. It is a mildly venomous rear-fanged species, but it is not considered dangerous to humans.

 

 

 

Bearded Tachuri - one of the specialties of the area.

 

 

Fork-Tailed Flycatcher - very common in the grasslands. During migration, fork-tailed flycatchers are quite gregarious, nesting in flocks of up to 10,000 individuals. That must be quite a sight!

 

 

Swallow-Tailed Kite - a widespread bird, always fun to watch.

 

 

Bat Falcon

 

 

White-Chested Emerald

 

 

Savanna Hawk

Edited June 30, 2023 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

We returned to the lodge a bit after 9 o´clock because there´s really not much going on on the plains once it gets hot. We were offered to take a longer walk in the forest and gladly took that offer.

 

 

Squirrel Cuckoo

 

 

 

Chivi Vireo

 

 

Zone-Tailed Hawk - not a raptor seen perching very often.

 

 

 

Capuchinbird - unfortunately did not really want to pose. This bird produces an incredibly weird sound, when it vocalizes you´d believe you hear a chainsaw or something like that. 

 

 

Blue-Backed Manakin - high on my target list, so I was happy when our guide found it. Tiny bird sitting high up in the canopy mostly, so quite a toughie.

 

 

A relatively obliging Green-Backed Trogon

[michael-ibk]

After Karanambu, our last two days in the Rupununi left a lot to be desired unfortunately. Our itinerary said:

 

"Early this morning we will depart for the village of Karasabai, in search of the highly endangered Sun Parakeet, a Guianan Shield Endemic. Along the way we will keep an eye out for Pinnated Bittern and Double-striped Thick-knee as well as Jabiru, Maguari Stork, Great Black-hawk, Aplomado Falcon, Plain-breasted Ground-dove and Black-crested Antshrike.  We may also have another very good chance of seeing the Giant Anteater. After a packed lunch at Karasabai we will continue on to explore a reliable site for the Sun Parakeets."

 

For whatever reason we were picked up and had to leave at 04 in the morning! It was pitch dark of course until after 06, so no chance of seeing anything on the Grasslands. We arrived in Karasabai already at 07 in the morning. I can only assume our guide wanted to be back in Lethem (his home) as early as possible. He was quite a nice guy but even though I repeatedly pointed out we were interested in all kinds of birds (and that I was eager to add new species to my list) he made hardly any effort at all to show me anything. His sole focus was on finding the Sun Parakeet. I expect had we found them quickly we would probably have left right away and arrived in Lethem for lunch.

 

 

The weather was not great. No Sun Parakeet anywhere, and I did not find all that much wandering around while the guide was standing somewhere trying to hear (or pretending to hear) the Parakeet.

 

 

Green Aracari

 

 

 

Laughing Falcon

 

 

Red-and-Green Macaw

 

 

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl - one the guide did point out to us. Probably the morning´s top sighting.

 

 

Blue-Tailed Emerald

 

 

That´s the only photo of the Sun Parakeet I can offer. We tried for a few hours but no luck. Then, all of a sudden, four of them arrived at a tree next to the road. The sun was behind them, and of course I wanted to walk around to shoot them in somewhat better light. Which is of course the most stupid thing you can do when you see a key species. Always, always get a banker first! Naturally, all four of them flew off as quickly as they had arrived, in the classic Parrot-style straight line, and off they were. A highly frustrating end to a frustrating morning.

 

At about 15:00 we arrived at Manari Ranch, our last accommodation in the Rupununi, very close to Lethem. An odd place!

 

 

 

The main area was quite nice, and the food was the very best we were served anywhere in the Rupununi. I also enjoyed walking around the ranch (although did not find anything new).

 

 

They also have an absolutely gorgeous natural pool, and we really, really enjoyed this after this pretty lacklustre day.

 

 

The rooms, however, were borderline unacceptable. I´m really not picky and have slept in extremely basic rooms (on the floor if need be) but this one was very, very dirty - especially the bathroom. And there´s really no excuse for that.

Edited June 30, 2023 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

 

Next morning we were scheduled to fly back to Georgetown early afternoon. According to our itinerary we were actually supposed to drive far South early morning (several hours trip) to look for Red Siskin, a highly endangered bird. But we ultimately decided it really would not be worth it spending at least five hours in the car to have (at most) two hours on the ground, so had asked for an alternative while driving from Karasabai to Manari. And agreed to spend some time in the Moco Moco area just half an hour from Lethem.

 

 

Which was a good idea. It´s a lovely area, the weather was nice, and birdlife was plenty.

 

 

Limpkin

 

 

Northern Mouse-Coloured Tyranulet

 

The problem was our "guide" for this day. When we left the car and I saw he had no binos I knew this could not work. And it did not. While it would be unfair to say he knew nothing he was certainly no birding guide. And I have to emphasise again that we had booked a private specialised birding trip. He had no idea about songs, and if you don´t know anything about that you´re just useless as  a guide in the Neotropics. And again, a guide without binos is just ridiculous. The only thing he did was constantly playing the sound of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Obviously because he had learnt that passerines hate this Owl and come closer to investigate. I soon asked him to stop, this was just ridiculous.

 

But I decided not to get too irritated about this situation, and just birded on my own basically. Which works nicely for the more common species but obviously it´s impossible to find the more secretive (and therefore more interesting) ones.

 

 

Streaked Flycatcher

 

 

Guira Tanager

 

I picked up eight different species of Hummingbirds which was pretty cool. They were all attracted to a single flowering tree. Unfortunately it was a huge tree, and the flowers were all pretty high up. So nice to see, but really not a situation to get decent Hummer photos.

 

 

White-Chinned Sapphire, the only one taking mercy on me and perching lower down for a while.

 

 

 

At the end of the trail we reached another nice natural pool, and of course I could not resist going in.

 

 

A very cool experience - in every sense of the word!

 

Then it was already time to return to Lethem and fly back to Georgetown.

 

 

 

At the airport I saw a pretty cool map of the Rupununi:

 

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by michael-ibk

[TonyQ]

The plains area is surprisingly beautiful, and you had some great sightings.

Shame about your guide at the end (and the dirty room)

Good that you were philosophical!

[michael-ibk]

Thanks Tony!

 

Not completely done yet - on our last day in Georgetown we still had one very important target bird to go after - the Hoatzin! My main fascination with this bird mainly stems from the fact that it looks so much like the illustrations of Archaeopteryx, long described as the first known bird species on Earth. We rejoined with Carlos, our excellent guide from day 1, and were picked up early for the about 90 minutes drive to the Mahaica River East of Georgetown. The day did not start very promising.

 

 

It was raining heavily, and visibility was really lousy. Since the boat had no canopy we waited in the hope of the weather improving a bit. Carlos did his best to entertain us meanwhile, and we picked up some nice stuff around the house of our boatsman.

 

 

The only Spectacled Caiman of the trip.

 

 

Long-Winged Harrier, a new raptor for me.

 

 

We had to be patient to get a glimpse of this Grey-Breasted Crake, an extremely skulky and secretive bird.

 

 

And had another nice sighting of a Blood-Coloured Woodpecker.

 

It did not really look like we would luck out with the weather but miraculously this ...

 

 

... changed to this:

 

 

 

And hooray, it did  not take long to find the Hoatzins! Actually the weather was perfect: Because of the rain they all came out and dried their feathers in the sun. They are always quite easy to see apparently but on a sunny day they tend to stay inside the foliage and don´t pose as nicely.

 

 

Wonderfully odd birds. Their taxonomic position has been greatly debated by specialists, and is still far from clear. It is notable for having chicks that have claws on two of their wing digits. In 2015, genetic research indicated that the hoatzin is the last surviving member of a bird line that branched off in its own direction 64 million years ago, shortly after the extinction event that killed the nonavian dinosaurs.

 

 

The Hoatzin is the national bird of Guyana.  A less dignified fact about it is it´s also called the "stinkbird" - because of aromatic compounds in the leaves they consume and the bacterial fermentation, the birds have a disagreeable, manure-like odor and are only hunted by humans for food in times of dire need.

 

Plenty of other nice birds on the river:

 

 

Little Cuckoo

 

 

White-Bellied Piculet, female ...

 

 

... and male.

 

 

Spotted Tody-Flycatcher

 

 

 

Black-Crested Antshrike

 

 

Black-Capped Donacobius

 

 

Also here there´s a good chance for Giant Otters. But this just was not our trip for them - again, no luck with them.

 

 

This "Look, I´m an Orange Easter Egg" Howler was the only mammal we saw.

 

 

But this one was a super consolation prize - an American Pygmy Kingfisher. I love Kingfishers, and am always delighted when I get a new one. Not the most cooperative one but I was happy enough.

 

 

 

After the boat we enjoyed a sumptuous authentic Indian breakfast with our boatman´s family. This had been a very enjoyable morning so far, and it was not over.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

On our way back we stopped basically every five minutes and did a lot of birding on foot. The area is great, I picked up 78 species (including the ones on the boat). And very pleasant "easy" birding, many quite confiding birds in a fairly easy habitat. A welcome respite from Guyana´s pretty tricky forest birding.

 

 

Jacana with chicks.

 

 

Yellow-Chinned Spinetail

 

 

Yellow-Bellied Elaenia. Elaenias are headache birds - there are more than 20 of them, and they all look the same really.

 

 

Cinereous Becard. Why Cinereous?

 

 

Because the female is.

 

 

Smooth-Billed Ani

 

 

 

Wing-Barred Seedeater

 

 

Carlos and me hard at work.

 

 

 

Maguari Stork

 

 

(Mainly) Cattle Egrets taking off.

 

 

Green-Rumped Parrotlet - really not easy to spot.

 

 

Brown-Throated Parakeet

 

[michael-ibk]

 

It was Mashramanai/Republic Day - commonly shortened to 'Mash', this day is one of the most important festivals in Guyana. Guyana has a lot of ethnic communities, and for Mashramani/Republic Day, all the communities come together to celebrate. The word Mashramani means ‘celebrations after cooperative work’ and is derived from Amerindian and Guyanese English.

 

We only caught some glimpses for the parade preparations from the car. Unfortuantely for the people of Georgetown it would really rain on their parade today.

 

 

 

And not only on their parade, also on our afternoon (and last) activity. We had another boat trip, going on the Demerara River and into the Mangroves. Which could have been awesome, but it was really raining cats and dogs. It was a good thing the boat could close down but there was little chance to see (let alone take photos of) much.

 

 

Our mooring point at the main market.

 

 

Demerara River

 

 

At least this Magnificent Frigatebird decided it could not be bothered to go anyway in this weather so let the boat approach closely.

 

 

A snap I had taken from the car when we had been returning from Mahaica along the Coast.

 

 

The Mangrove Channel would certainly be a great birding spot under better conditions.

 

 

Bicoloured Conebill

 

 

Spotted Sandpiper - one of them even starting to look spotted.

 

 

Rufous Crab-Hawk

 

 

We had seen this juvenile in the morning - took me a while to figure out what it was back home.

 

 

The main bridge connecting Georgetown to Western Guyana.

 

 

A lot of Egrets and similar birds like to roost here for the night. Quite a spectacle, and this would have been a wonderful end to the trip with some sun. Even with the heavy rain and just the occassional glimpse out of the thick plastic boat cover it was cool to see.

 

 

Especially because hundreds of Scarlet Ibis are gathering here too.

 

 

 

 

And that´s it - early next morning we left Guyana and headed back home. We had a pretty long stopover  in Barbados and immigrated there, having a quite nice (if overprized) lunch at one of the beach resorts. We looked ridiculously out of place with our jeans and hiking boots in the middle of bikinis and shorts.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

Final thoughts:

 

We had a good time - Guyana is a very interesting country, and we enjoyed the very different sceneries of Coast, Rainforest and Savanna. Kaietuer Falls are awesome - I just wish there was a way to spend more time there. As a birding trip it was very satisfactory, a lot of iconic species. Loved the Hoatzin, Cock-of-the-Rock, Macaws, Toucans and Antbirds especially. My total list was lower than I had expected, mainly because of a few rainy days and the quality (or absence) of guides at Rock View and the end of the Rupununi part. The other guides (in Georgetown, Iwokrama, Atta and Karanambu) were absolutely excellent though.

 

I confess I was a bit disappointed mammal-wise. Sure, there was the Anteater, and we had good monkey sightings, but there was very little else. No Squirrels, Coatis, Capybara, Deer, Sloth, Armadillo, Otter, not to even mention Cats or Tapir. And I don´t have the impression that we were particulary unlucky with them - with the exception of Otters. Whenever I asked guides I was always told other mammal sightings do happen but very, very rarely. Deer are so shy that even the staff at Karanambu see them once a year or so for example. Capybara are gone from the river. So I think it´s safe to say that if you plan to see Mammals in South America for the first time Guyana it really not a top contender. In that regard it really does not hold a candle to the Pantanal for example.

 

Wilderness Explorers, our operator, are really the only major company organising trips like that. And they know that. Most of the stuff they did right, but basically they are just throwing their pre-prepared modules at you, and have little interest in catering to individual wishes. I´m not terribly unhappy with them, but some parts (absence/quality of guides in parts, not pointing out the possibility to do a Rupununi boat trip at Rock View) were really lacking. I wrote a very long feedback mail to them after the trip and (despite promising to do so) they never bothered to even respond.

 

So if I went again I would try a private guide (like Leon Moore), like I had initially planned. OTOH, these trips are not uncomplicated, and if something goes wrong, it´s definitely not a disadvantage to have the means of the top dog tourism compnay available.

 

Thanks for reading, commenting and liking!

[janzin]

Thanks for this interesting report. I confess it's actually convinced me that I don't really want to go to Guyana.  It seems that at least 90% of the birds can be more easily (and pleasantly) found elsewhere in South America with better infrastructure (and guiding.) If I did go, however, I'd likely book with one of the big birding tour companies and either go with a small group or a private guide that they arrange, I think then at least you'd be more or less assured of excellent guiding and someone to expertly handle the logistics issues. 

 

Anyway you made the best of it and glad you had an enjoyable trip with some great bird sightings--and the Giant Anteater!

[TonyQ]

Nice to end with a very productive birding session near Georgetown.

The Hoatzin is an amazing bird, great you got such good views.

It looks like the trip worked well for you even if there were some annoyances 

Thank you for an enjoyable report!

[Galana]

Thanks from me too.

If that was the result of the rainy morning in no way could it be deemed a 'washout'. I would be more than pleased to have such a trip. Granted the absence of mammals, primates apart, is a bit of a down mark but I am not writing it off just yet. Neither am I looking up airline timetables although I guess it will be slightly easier from UK than elsewhere.

[pedro maia]

Thanks for the report Michael, lots of good stuff even with the absence of mammals, the Anteater sighting was exceptional and the Hoatzin is really cool, never heard of it.

[Zim Girl]

Enjoyed reading this report, Michael.  So, experiences were a bit mixed with some of the guiding and a bit unlucky with the weather, but overall you have come away with some lovely sightings.  I would have been very happy with the Giant Anteater and you have lovely pictures of Cock of the Rock, Hoatzin, Scarlet Ibis and a huge variety of other birds.

[Atravelynn]

Your realistic summary of the trip and what others may expect is helpful.  You really did well with the birds, snakes too.  The Long-winged Harrier was even showing you the long wings. Visitors to the Pantanal may be hoping for Giant Anteater, where they are more common, and never find one, which you did. Those scarlet ibis and egrets at the end are a true spectacle.  And I noted the road shot, very nice!  A most successful trip!

[Kitsafari]

Your orange Easter egg made me laugh! thank you for the awesome images but like @janzin - probably not a place I will go to, especially if it's my first time to South America, for mammals and birds. 

 

Hoatzins are incredible! I can see why you would make a special trip to see them - 'cos so would I! they're just out of this world incredible. 

 

Sorry to hear about the lack of quality of some of the guides in Guyana - it did make me wonder if birding tours are just  not as popular so you don't get expert and good guides outside the city and main tourist areas? 

 

Excellent sighting of the anteater. I think I would have been conflicted too if the horses and humans kept pushing the anteater towards us. But OTOH - giant anteaters are threatened with habitat loss, hunted for food and by products and by fears and ignorance. So, if the humans/horses are employed for tourists, there is a strong incentive not to hunt the mammal, or less incentive at least to take the land away from it? At least, i would comfort myself with that. 

 

  

[offshorebirder]

On 6/30/2023 at 10:29 AM, michael-ibk said:

A relatively obliging Green-Backed Trogon

 

Wow.

[offshorebirder]

On 6/30/2023 at 10:29 AM, michael-ibk said:

Blue-Backed Manakin - high on my target list, so I was happy when our guide found it. Tiny bird sitting high up in the canopy mostly, so quite a toughie.

 

Double Wow.

[Csaba]

Really nice trip report and some great photos.

 

I've been looking into Guyana as a possible destination for viewing harpy eagles but, get the feeling that there wouldn't be much else there to keep me amused as I'm mainly interested in mammals. Not sure what the probability of getting a high-quality sighting is in Guyana compared to some other locations?

[offshorebirder]

I am jealous of the Hoatzin (and many other birds in your TR) @michael-ibk - I have long wanted to see one.