Venezuela: Hato Piñero New Year Dec 27, 2007—Jan 04, 2008
Posted by Jeri Langham
Jeri Langham
Jeri M. Langham has a Ph.D. in plant ecology from Washington State University and has been a professor of biological sciences at California State University in Sacramento s...Related Trips
For over a decade I wanted to co-lead a tour with David Ascanio, a wonderful individual who is widely regarded as Venezuela's premier birder and tour leader. David has led many tours to this ranch over the years, so we had a wonderful opportunity to share our favorite destinations and our best locations for some of the tougher-to-see species. We were able to co-lead the 2006-2007 tour and, amazingly, added six new species to my cumulative list (Bran-colored Flycatcher, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant, Gray-breasted and Ash-throated crakes, Pectoral Sandpiper, and an out-of-range Broad-winged Hawk), the latter four being new records for Hato Piñero. Due to few participants, I was the single leader this past year, but David and I will co-lead the 2008-2009 tour and hope to add more new species to the ranch list.
A good example of what awaits visitors to this marvelous Venezuelan ranch can be found in excerpts from the journal I write during every tour and later mail to all the tour participants:
Our driver Simón Moreno has the routine down pat. We leave in the mid-afternoon heat and return in the cool of evening. Spectacular daytime species were King Vultures feeding on a dead cow, Short-tailed Hawk, Horned Screamers, Scarlet Ibises, and Scarlet Macaws, but we had a constant stream of new species as we headed out. My owl call imitations were especially fruitful today, as many small groups that came in to investigate gave us new birds ranging from tiny flycatchers and a brilliant male Blue-tailed Emerald to Venezuela's country bird, the Venezuelan Troupial. Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Mouse-colored and Pale-tipped tyrannulets, Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant, and Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant were some of the tough-to-see birds that cooperated. My biggest surprise was the black jaguarundi briefly seen walking down the road ahead of us.
As always, we reached Laguna Alta by Los Cerritos in late afternoon, but had fantastic views of Crested Bobwhites in the road just before arriving. Wonderful Scarlet Ibis groups flew by us on their way to the night roost, along with numerous other species and our first capybaras (the world's largest rodent). There were lots of Black-bellied and a few White-faced whistling-ducks. It was a slow mammal night, but before dark we all saw white-tailed deer and crab-eating zorros. (Note: While we capitalize the common names of birds by AOU rules, all other organisms do not have their common names capitalized, unless a person or place is part of that name, i.e., Brazilian tapir.) As darkness descended, we enjoyed refreshments and various kinds of chips. My favorites are always the plantain chips with garlic flavoring. Most of our group could not get over the many glowing, ember eyes of all the spectacled caimans in the smaller pond and the five-foot individual we had to flush from the road in front of the truck. We had great looks at a few Pauraques and White-tailed Nightjars, but only heard the Tropical Screech-Owl and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. A Great Horned Owl did cooperate beautifully just before dark.
After dinner, we did our first list next to the bar while sitting on the concrete chairs and benches that had soft pads for the first time last year. After counting birds seen this morning at the coast and later here, our total was 107 species seen, plus 5 that were only heard…a great way to start our trip!
By 5:00 a.m. most of us were eating empanadas with either cheese or meat filling. We were heading out in the truck as it began to get light, and were soon introduced to "Bamboo Alley" and the Research Station where scientists stay while performing their studies on the ranch. We had a tremendous amount of activity here, with the largest flock of Glaucous Tanagers that I have seen anywhere. I was especially pleased to get a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl in the scope for most everyone to see. At the first pond, we saw Sunbitterns and Black-collared Hawks. New birds just kept appearing as we drove along the road. Roadside Hawks showed off their rufous primaries, Whistling Herons had pastel colors, our first of two Laughing Falcons showed itself, and a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture was clearly identifiable. We stopped for an out-of-place Black-capped Donacobius and would later see them up close. A few of us photographed the series of fresh jaguar footprints along the road in the big tree forest. The big dirty-water puddle had a Jabirú nest with two youngsters and would soon be named "Hoatzin Pond."
A Zone-tailed Hawk was our next best bird before reaching the great marshy area where we saw our first Capped Heron, and a Crested Caracara that was eating a fer-de-lance. White-bearded Flycatchers, Yellow-chinned Spinetails, Green Ibis, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, and others caught our attention. Before we headed back to lunch, we walked the deciduous forest trail at Caño San Jerónimo. It was excellent, giving us over a dozen new species and better looks at some birds we had seen earlier.
After siesta time, we drove at a good clip toward Caño San Jerónimo. We made only a few stops on the way and then continued west. I was very pleased to see male, female, and young wedge-capped capuchins, but especially the Double-toothed Kite that was with them. This species of kite usually hangs out with the monkeys to feast on the arthropods that fly up when disturbed. This is only the third time I have seen this species at Hato. Linette spotted an in-daylight Great Potoo, and Simón showed us a juvenile bird a little further down the road.
In late afternoon we arrived at the open fields of Charco Azul where Gray Kingbirds and Fork-tailed Flycatchers hang out. As the sun was ready to go down, we arrived at the roosting area for Scarlet Ibis and other species. My biggest surprise here was seeing Snail Kites coming into a roost tree near the egrets and ibises. I have seen White-tailed Kites do this in California, but had never seen Snail Kites do it. While photographing the beautiful sunset, we broke out and enjoyed delicious pieces of mixed fruit, cookies, plantain chips, and cold drinks. Daphne spotted a Nacunda Nighthawk just after we started spotlighting. We also had wonderful views of many Lesser Nighthawks, Pauraques, and two Great Potoos. A pair of Double-striped Thick-Knees allowed photos and a cottontail was nearby. We arrived back after nine o'clock. Then it was a quick dinner and list before heading to bed.
For the last few years, the fate of this 200,000-acre ranch in the upper Llanos of Venezuela has been in limbo because Venezuela's President Chavez has been taking over large ranches. Hundreds of letters written by former visitors have at least temporarily helped to save it. As an ecologist, I consider Hato Piñero a superb world-class example of how well cattle ranching and conservation can work together. If you have considered a visit to this birding paradise, move it to the top of your list. David and I will co-lead our New Year's tour again this coming December. In addition, David will lead a Relaxed & Easy tour in February. Please come join us!