January in Review

The first month of the birding challenge was good, as expected.  I was able to post ten (10) photographs, my year count stands at 42 species with three new species added to my life count.

  

The Photo of the Month

My photo of the month was chosen from some shots which I took of a group of shorebirds at Inch Marlow in the southern parish of Christ Church.  This group of shorebirds was made-up of Semipalmated   Plovers “Charadrius semipalmatus”, Sanderlings “Calidris alda” and Ruddy Turnstones “Arenaria interpres”.  They were very cooperative allowing me to get very close and to get some good shots.  To me though, the best photograph was that of three (3) Semipalmated Plovers on a wall. This is my Photo of the Month.

Extreme Birding Event of the Month

After standing for days, weeks then months on the cliff looking over Chancery Lane Swamp and having  a bird’s eye view of  Egrets, Yellowlegs and Teals below, I decided to climb down to get closer to our bird friends.  I found what looked like an easy way down a rock about 8 to 10 feet down and it was quite easy but climbing back out was a bit harder. After walking head first into a low lying branch I managed to climb up with a bad headache but it was fun.  Let’s hope we don’t have this every month I don’t think my wife will like it.

Photo from the cliff at Chancery Lane

Greater Yellowlegs at eye level

Greater Yellowlegs

Egrets and Blue Winged Teals @ base of cliff

Blue Winged Teals

Blue Winged Teals

 My Bird of the month

My bird of the month is a bird I have not mentioned on this blog before but one I followed and continued to observe with great interest.  As yet I’m not sure if it a Lesser Antilles Bullfinch (LAB) “Loxigilla violacea” or a Hybrid of the LAB and the Barbados Bullfinch “Loxigilla  barbadensis”.  I first saw this bird late last year, and sought the help on noted experts on the island for confirmation on its ID.  It is an ongoing saga and I’ll keep you guys up to date on the Case of the Bird with no Identity.  LOL Sherlock Holmes on the case. What do you think it is?

Update: DNA testing show this bird to be a Hybrid of the Barbados and Lesser Antillean Bullfinch

Let see what birding fun February has in store.