Argyle Falls
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Mon 21 Jun 2010 22:55
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The Argyle Waterfalls
Our first ever look at a Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Off we went one day on an adventure to visit the
Argyle Waterfalls. Bear drove our now well-proven, trusty steed along the short
but only main road, the Claude Noel Highway, by-passing Scarborough, past Hope
and notable sounding places such as: Goodwood, Windsor, Pembroke, Richmond,
Glamorgan and finally Roxborough to get some petrol. The falls are
located
near Roxborough and are Tobago's highest waterfalls, tumbling in a series of
stepped cascades from a height of about one hundred and seventy feet. Our lovely
guide was called Alison Bascombe and after a very short walk she had called a
Jacamar for us.
 A very handsome little chap
The
Jacamar is a fairly common resident of both Trinidad and Tobago, and can be
found from Southern Mexico to Ecuador, Bolivia, Northern Argentina. The nominate
species range from North Colombia and Venezuela to the Guyanas and Northern
Brazil. Definitely not seen on any bird table in UK. The Jacamar is about ten
inches tip to tail and is an insect eater, catching on the wing and perching to
eat after battering its prey to death on the branch. Like kingfishers they nest
in a burrow, laying two to four eggs, both parents raise the young. During
courtship the male woos the female by catching insects, battering then stripping
the wings before offering the gift. They are very unaware of man as a predator,
we watched a pair and when we got too close to their burrow they flew
slightly away to a further perch and waited until we moved
off.
 Alison with her brolly shoved down a
burrow
 Our fist ever pair of Motmot
   Further along the track was this handsome fellow - a good six inches across the back
 The Argyle Waterfall
 Bear enjoying cooling off
 After our
swim it was back along the track where we saw this Blue-crowned Motmot
 Fruit bats enjoying the shade
 ALL IN ALL A WOW TO TICK OFF THE JACAMAR AND
MOTMOT
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