Here are some of my favourite images from this years annual camping trip to Killbear Provincial Park with family every spring.
I'm up by 5:30 every morning and take off on my bike birding but you never know what you will run into, or get run over by. It was a close call when the Killbear welcome committee suddenly crossed the road in front of me out near the main gate.
Red Fox, not as common as in past years, are occasionally seen early morning. Other mammals around Killbear include Fisher, Black Bear, Porcupine, Mink and White Tail Deer.
Rattlesnake and Eastern Foxsnake are also fairly common and can be easily found with a little effort. This particular Rattler was heard before I seen him only a few feet away.
Always cool to observe and hear calling are the numerous Barred Owls that call Killbear home. The most we have ever observed on an evening owl prowl was fourteen.
I've got some really cool campfire videos featuring Barred Owls that I will have to upload sometime.
Some of the many birds observed early morning around Killbear. It is fairly easy in the spring to reach a morning eBird list around 60-70 species.
Hard to believe but I almost forgot to post about this. Upon arriving at Cayo Coco this year I seen eBird posts of multiple Barn Owls. I have been lucky enough to observe Barn Owls almost every year we have visited Cuba but usually in flight early morning. So I reached out to my favourite Cuban guide and indeed, he himself had discovered a nesting barn owl location and was more than willing to share the info with me. It was in a known birding location that I had birded many times before and I was ecstatic to go and observe these new hatchlings. The only problem I had was that my shortest lens on this particular vacation was the 500mm so hence the iphone 15 was gonna have to do. I was very fortunate as two days after I visited the nesting site the owls fledged and disappeared. All in all a very, very cool experience.
Finally some of my favourite Cuban bird images the last couple of years.
The Cuban Green Woodpecker are a common sight out on the cay. Once you find a nesting site you are frequently offered great views of this very colourful woodpecker.
The West Indian Woodpecker can also be observed out on the cay.
The Giant Kingbird is one of the many species of kingbird found out on the cay.
Some more of the more interesting birds found out on Cayo Coco.
The Key West Quail-Dove certainly qualifies. In the right light they offer an incredible array of colours.
The White Crowned Pigeon is another bird offering up an interesting assortment of colour.
Smooth-billed Ani are also fairly common and usually found in small family groups. Sometimes you will find 4-6 birds while other times flocks number in the twenties.
The Cuban Bullfinch is also a common bird usually found in the forested areas around the resorts.
The Greater Antillean Grackle is also a very, very common and noisy resort bird.
Continuing with some more Cayo Coco Cuba birds April 2025.
Roseate Spoonbills can be observed out on Cayo Coco, usually hanging around other wading birds in the lagoons.
Tri-coloured Herons, although not in great numbers can also be found in local lagoons and along the ocean mangrove areas.
Immature Yellow-crowned Night Herons that are usually very relaxed while fishing in the local lagoons.
Green Herons are very numerous around the resorts out on the cay.
A favourite bird to observe and listen to are the numerous West Indian Whistling Ducks. An absolute beautiful sound if you start birding just around sunrise.
And of course most lagoons out on Cayo Coco have flocks of Flamingoes, sometimes numbering in the hundreds.
White Ibis are also a fairly common bird hanging around the local sewage lagoon with numerous shorebirds.
