July
The bird group kicked off activities in July with a trip to the Caroni Rice Fields. Members were treated to the usual mix of marsh birds – spinetails, gallinules and herons. The highlight was a pair of white-faced whistling-ducks.
July marked the Club’s 124th birthday and, as tradition, it was celebrated by members evening where everyone had a chance to do a short presentation on a topic of their choice. Renoir Auguste presented a summary of his MSc project work on the amphibians of Aripo Savannas.
Dan Jaggernauth presented footage from the Club’s display at Atlantic’s World Environment Day celebration in Pt. Fortin and photos and video from his time helping Eliza Waldron with her capuchin monkey surveys in Chaguaramas. Amy Deacon presented a slide show to showcase some of the recent trips and artwork produced by the TTFNC Art Club. Jalaludin Khan used a slide show to draw the membership’s attention to the region’s volcanic activity, with a focus on the situation in Montserrat and Kris Sookdeo presented some recent photos from his camera traps in the Victoria-Mayaro forest, which included deer, tamandua, lappe and agouti.
The field trip that month was a short visit to a series of small pools near Rincon Waterfall. It was a very quiet and pleasing spot where members could enjoy the environment and look for things of interest.
August
Club member (and non-members) were able to participate in the Chaguaramas leg of the National Wildlife Survey, led by Darshan Narang during August. The surveys were completed in record time and were incident free.
The lecture for August was entitled “Ecotourism and conservation in T&T” and was presented by Robyn Bath-Rosenfeld. Robyn has been based in T&T since September 2014 and has worked with various organisations during this time, including Asa Wright Nature Centre and the Brasso Seco Community Group. She used examples from T&T to illustrate how the ecotourism sector can be developed successfully, as well as the challenges it faces.
The field trip was an overnight camp at Grand Tacaribe. Members went snorkelling, set up light traps for moths and witnessed leatherback hatchlings emerging.
Seascape at GT: Photo: L Wong Sang
The Club participated in NIHERST’s Youth Science Day on the 8th August at Camp Omega where children were shown some of the useful plants that grow in the forest.
September
The birders were happy in September when their rainy, overcast day out finally cleared up and revealed a multitude of forest birds in Talparo. The stars of the show included a variegated flycatcher and a flock of white-eyed parakeets.
Variegated Flycatcher in Talparo (Photo: Feroze Omardeen)
White-eyed parakeet in Talparo (Photo: Kamal Mahabir)
September’s field trip took members to a curious well on an estate in East Trinidad.
Dan demonstrates the ‘ink plant’. Photo: J Wong Sang
In keeping with the Club’s mandate to promote awareness of the natural environment, we began distributing the new book by Geoffrey Gomes and Fiona Reid “Bats of Trinidad and Tobago” in September. This lovely book provides not only a species account but a complete look at biology, bats in our environment and even our folklore. More info can be found at the Trinibats website. The book is available in all leading bookstores.
After two years of trying, the Club’s nomination of Dr. Victor Quesnel’s for a national award was successful. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Public Service Medal on the 31st August. His son Gregory accepted the award on his behalf.
For the September lecture, we had Hans Boos presenting “Through the Viewfinder” – a look back at moments frozen in time by still photography.
The Club participated in International Youth Day 2015 celebration in Rio Claro hosted by the End Hunger Committee.
Display at End Hunger Committee event. Photo: Seema Ramadhar
