The next day after Kim & Daniel arrived from the US we decided to head back to see the birds and leatherback turtles before we got wrapped up in boat preparations. We drove in the morning to the ASA Wright Bird Sanctuary and to Maria's surprise we saw the same birds (and more) than she had seen two weeks prior. This time, however, Maria had armed herself with a bird guide to Trinidad and Tobago (Birds of Trinidad & Tobago by Richard Ffrench & Roger Neckles, world renowned Trinidadian wildlife photographer).

Watching the birds, particularly the mating display of the White-bearded Manikins and the male Bellbird with his "dreadlocks" for a beard and singing so loudly that the entire area would become silent upon his singing, was really a worth-while experience to have. We had fun checking off lists of birds that we saw in just 2 hours. We had never experienced seeing so many beautiful and interesting birds. Coming to this center can make bird watchers out of people and now we are going around places checking out the birds and seeing if we can name them and categorize them. In fact, in our own marina we had noticed several large and interesting looking birds and in the guide we found their name - the Southern Lapwings. They are sort of a cross between a seabird and a land bird. In Wikipedia we learned that this bird is a widespread resident thorough South America, except in the jungles of the Amazon and Andes, and it is the national bird of Uruguay.

Unfortunately we did not have an opportunity to go see many other birds that are residents in Trinidad such as the Scarlet Ibis, the national bird of Trinidad. These birds tend to perch on trees with the most popular place being the Caroni Bird Sanctuary in the Caroni Swamp. We are told this is another great bird watching experience for those visiting Trinidad.