After our boat cruise it is time to return, via some intermittent rain, to the main coastal highway and then bird along the seawall for a few specialties. However even with the rain we find some interesting birds along the side road and some impressive abandoned buildings. And then after reaching the main road the car suddenly stops and the guides excitedly point to a hawk sitting in a tree, it is a rare and localized Rufous Crab Hawk. Unfortunately by the time we get to see it it is already flying away, not that surprising really.
As we are already parked on the side of the road we still file out to see if we can still catch where the hawk lands, and we do but it is quite far away and barely visible even with a scope.
While waiting for the hawk to come back, which it never does by the way, we take a look around and notice an interesting historical artifact nearby, an abandoned railroad bridge from the coastal railroad that has been abandoned for years. In fact Guyana had the first railroad in South America starting in 1848 before being closed in 1975 due to high costs. And nearby is also our first Savanna Hawk on a powerline, cool!
With the cars whizzing by we are happy when we leave and drive on another side road to the seawall and seashore. And what awaits us here? Another Rufous Crab Hawk, closer and much less skittish than the first one, really nice!!
Besides the hawk the major attraction here are the shorebirds. There are lots of Scarlet Ibises for example, a lifer, surprisingly, even for the 9K lister.
The place where we stopped is actually a picnic area and also a small harbor with the fishermen keeping a tight eye on us for some reason as we are looking for birds.
And there are lots of them, especially a surprising number of Scarlet Ibises. Turkey vultures and ospreys also make an appearance here, we are used to them from home.
Next we drive along the seawall for a while before another stop close if not already in Georgetown. This is another small harbor and fishing spot from where we start walking along the seawall looking for birds but finding only thrash in the beginning.
That changes after a bit as suddenly our local guide hears something and then starts calling after it. And the it is a Mangrove Rail, it takes quite a bit to coax it to exit but when it does we have some great views which is great!
We spend a bit more time just enjoying the birds passing by but then it is time to return to our lodging for lunch and a bit of rest before our afternoon birding trip to the Botanical Garden.
