We visited Tobago in April 2006 and while there visited a number of the prime birdwatching locations described in William Murphy's book "A Birdwatchers Guide to Trinidad and Tobago". We would describe ourselves as very keen amateur birdwatchers rather than experts or twitchers and so our impression of these different locations will naturally reflect that. A full list of all the birds we saw at each location can be found on this blog.Grafton Estate
As we stayed at the Grafton Beach Resort Hotel (which incidentally we found to be excellent, despite some very mixed reviews on TripAdvisor) the Grafton Estate was very much our local birding spot, being just a few minutes gentle walk from the hotel.
Bird feeding still takes place there regularly at 8am and 4pm (most days) but what really appealed to us was the fantastic location - very tranquil with splendid tropical vegetation and excellent views. In addition, of course, to the prospect of seeing many of the classic birds of Tobago which we duly did ! We visited on a number of occasions at different times of the day and, as is so often the case, found the birding to be quite variable with no particular time of day or weather condition seeming to be particularly significant. That said, we loved the feel of the place in the early morning and late afternoon - outside the main heat of the day.
We explored each of the trails, finding the lower trail (to the left of Copra House) to be most productive. Indeed, on our very first outing there, just about all the birds we had hoped to find appeared in turn as if on some hidden cue ! All of the trails are very well cleared, easy to follow and seemed entirely safe. And, despite Easter being one of the busiest times for tourists on Tobago we very rarely encountered anyone else in this excellent location. Certainly our favourite birding spot ! Just one word of caution, as William Murphy notes, is that we did find some mosquitoes on the trails so insect repellent is recommended.
Main Ridge - Gilpin Trace
Before travelling to Tobago we had already decided to hire a guide for this trip and having read some very good recommendations on other birding websites, we hired Newton George for the day - and what a good decision that turned out to be.
Not only was Newton an extremely knowledgeable guide (and a very likeable chap) who knew the likely location for each of the main birds but he was able to identify their calls - and then quickly locate them for us. Moreover, he could imitate the calls of the birds so effectively that he was able to call down the more elusive ones so that we could get a good look ! As a result, we saw all the hoped for birds of this region and several more besides including American Redstart and Venezuelan Flycatcher. Newton made it seem so easy that we were then surprised to hear from other birders who had visited the same region, either unguided or with lesser guides, and had seen relatively little as a result.
Quite a few of the birds, including the Collared Trogon and Violaceous Euphonia were seen on the journey up from Roxborough with Newton able to spot them from the van and then stop for us to observe them properly. The scenery on this part of the trip is quite spectacular, so well worth taking time over, especially in the early morning light (7am). The Gilpin trail itself is very easy to find and follow so there is no actual need for a guide from that perspective - though you will get plenty of offers from the local guides who stake out the starting point and it would be hard to refuse. The tropical vegetation on the trail was again spectactular, a real rain forest experience - complete with those mosquitoes (so more repellant required). After birding the trail for about 3 hours we continued down to the river estuary at Bloody Bay on the west coast and saw a number of herons and seabirds, shown separately in the full list on this blog.
Arnos Vale and the Adventure Farm
We visited the Arnos Vale hotel intending to have "tea with the birds" at 4pm as suggested in William Murphy's book. However, on arrival there, we found the terrace to be very crowded and the hotel staff made us feel like unwelcome outsiders. So we decided to follow Newton's recommendation instead and made a visit to the Adventure Park just down the road from the Arnos Vale. 
Although the name seems very unpromising, the "Adventure Park" is nothing more or less than a large garden open to the public. And, for the entry fee of $2 US we were able to explore the gardens at our leisure and then sit on the terrace - all on our own - to watch the multitude of hummingbirds on the feeders there.
Whilst the gardens were pleasant, they were not productive from a birding standpoint but this was more than compensated for by the splendid views of the hummingbirds. All the main species were in evidence and we were able to sit quietly within a couple of metres of them and watch to our heart's content. This also provided a good opportunity to photograph these birds - and a demonstration of just how hard this is !
These photos are the only half-decent results from about 50 attempts.
Buccoo Marsh
We visited Buccoo Marsh on our own, before our trip to the Main Ridge with Newton George. Although we were able to find the entrance gate quite easily we were puzzled that the lagoon was quite hard to find and was much smaller and less productive than we had expected from William Murphy's book. Newton subsequently explained that the lagoon has dried up considerably in recent years and been largely overgrown with swamp grasses.
This would explain why our views were quite distant and even then we only saw a very small patch of open water. Newton also advised us that as this is a very quiet and lonely spot we were taking something of a risk visiting there alone. When combined with the relatively small number of birds we saw, all of which we were able to see more easily elsewhere, I would not recommend this as a good birding spot. However, there was the small compensation of watching an Osprey fish in the remaining small lagoon.
Bon Accord
The rest of the family were hardly enthusiastic when I suggested a trip to these treatment ponds but actually the location is not quite as bad as it sounds. The ponds are in a semi-residential area which is expanding quite rapidly with new building going on nearby and so it is not clear if this will remain a good site. As the guide suggests, the ponds are inside a chain link fence but the gate was securely shut when we visited along with a number of notices stating 'no unauthorised persons' and so we stayed outside. In a short visit and with the aid of a telescope - to the amusement of the locals - we did spot a fair number of the expected species though would probably have done better had we arrived earlier in the morning. We then walked along the drainage canal to Bon Accord lagoon and although relatively quiet for birds in the heat of the day it was a pleasant enough spot with always the chance of seeing something.
Hilton Hotel
Whilst we did not visit this ourselves, Newton also recommended the ponds at the Hilton hotel. Apparently the Hilton is quite used to birders visiting these ponds in their grounds and Newton told us they are a reliable spot for many of the herons on Tobago.
Little Tobago
We drove to Speyside and booked a trip to Little Tobago with Top Ranking Reef Tours who operate from the Blue Waters hotel there (along with Franks Tours). 
For $20 US this gave us a trip in their glass bottom boat, about an hour and a half on the island with a guide and the opportunity for some excellent snorkelling on the return trip. 
Our guide proved to be very knowledgeable and provided a good insight into the flora and fauna of the island. Although only a fairly short time was spend birding, we were easily able to locate the expected species and had some excellent close-up views of juvenile Magnificent Frigatebirds, Audobon's Shearwater and Brown Boobies all on their nest sites and seemingly undisturbed by our close proximity.
That's about it for the birdwatching but suffice to say this was just one part of a really excellent holiday on the island which must be one of the very best Caribbean destinations. The combination of beautiful scenery, wonderful people, good hotels, fine beaches, warm & clear blue sea - and of course the birdwatching - would take a lot of beating. But that's just our opinion, of course !
If you'd like more information about Tobago then I suggest this excellent (non-commercial) website : http://www.mytobago.info/
