May I first point out that this was more of a holiday with a bit of birding squeezed in rather than an out and out birding trip. Apart from 2 days spent in Havana I stayed at Varadero which is a long strip of land (about 30miles by a 1/4 of a mile wide) sticking out into the Atlantic. Apart from one trip to the "Reserve Ecologica Varahicalos" nearly all my birding was done in the Hotel grounds and surrounding area.
The first birds you will see when landing at the Varadero airport are the Turkey Vultures! these birds were everywhere - even perched on the Jose Marti Monument in Revolution Square (Havana). If you want to see large numbers of these birds visit the road bridge at Matanzas there were 200-300 in the air when we were there.
Sunbathing on the beach is very productive with Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over, so close you can see the males red throat pouch. These magnificent birds were seen dayly, on one occasion there were 5 together. Brown Pelicans, Royal & Fosters Terns were also dayly sightings from the beach.
In and around the Hotel grounds were Killdeer, American Kestrel, Palm warbler, Yellow Throated Warbler, Cuban Emerald (hummingbird) Belted Kingfisher, Smooth Billed Ani, Greater Antillean Grackle, Green Herons, Anhinga, Great Egrets and Cattle Egrets seemed to be everywhere.
I won't bore you with a full list of all the birds seen but it's certainly whet my appetite to go back and do some proper birding!! In fact I've already booked to go back in April!
If you are thinking of visiting Cuba I would advise anyone to go as soon as possible before it all changes. It is like stepping back in time once you leave the Hotel complexes, I found the people to be very friendly and helpfull. The only complaint I had was with the Hotel security who insisted on following me around whenever I was digiscoping in the Hotel grounds even though I explained to them I was only photographing the birds!!
UPDATE
Some 3 months after my first visit to Cuba I returned and by coincidence ended up in the Hotel next door to the one I had stayed at in December, this time we travelled from Manchester airpot to Charles De Gaulle (Paris) then on to Havana and finally on by coach to Varadero. 24 hours of travelling, not recomended unless you're into sitting on planes for hours on end.
As you would expect the bird line up was different than when I had been there in December, I noticed fewer Terns they were probably off breeding somewhere, There were plenty of Raptors around..Ospreys, Northern Harriers, Broad Winged etc. and what I believe was a Gundlachs Hawk.
Mocking birds and Grackles seemed to be everywhere, I had good sightings of Great Lizzard Cuckoo, West Indian Woodpeckers feeding young at their nest hole, Fernandinas Flicker and one endemic which I hadn't seen before - Cuban Vireo. As before I wont type out a full list of all the birds I saw, suffice to say I had an excellent time and look forward to the next time I can return to Cuba.
Hi Johnny
Very interesting to read about the birds in Cuba. In fact I feel cross with myself because I visited Cuba on holiday about 10 years ago before I had become interested in birding! I remember seeing Pelicans flying over the beach (Varadero) and delighted in seeing a Hummingbird feeding on nectar in a flowering shrub. In those days I was more interested in getting a tan - nowadays I'm happier birdhunting! Oh what I missed!
Nerine