Icacos

Take off for Trinidad's South-Western Peninsula. Here the landscape becomes rolling hills spotted with farms, fishing villages, wetlands and forests. This offers a different view of Trinidad as rural communities dot the landscape side by side with the oil industry. These areas offer rich birding opportunities in wetlands for Spotted Toddy-Flycatchers, Pygmy Kingfishers and Rails, scrub and farms areas for Yellow-Headed Caracaras, Flycatchers, and Yellow-rumped Caciques or forest areas for Honeycreepers, Manakins, or Trogons. Due to this area's proximity to Venezuela, many birders are convinced that this area should produce rarities from Venezuela, but this has yet to be proven as it is birded only once or twice a year.

At Fullarton Swamp we stop and bird from the roadside, here we may see among those mentioned, several waders and even Scarlet Ibis. At the South Western tip of Trinidad we will visit the wonderfully scenic Columbus Bay and Icacos Point to look for Plovers, Sandpipers and sea birds like Royal or Large-billed Terns. On the return we pass in at Los Blanquizales Lagoon to look for more wetland and forest birds.

This tour, as with many other birding tours, is best at dawn and dusk. However due to the distances involved to arrive there at dawn means a 3:30 a.m. departure. For dusk birding we would finish the day at Oropuche Swamp, which is much closer. If you are not that hardy of a birder the trip is still worth it for the birding and scenery.