GBBC:Days 3&4

 February 16

Day 3 of the GBBC was a day that was not on my schedule.  The family and I spent the morning of February __ in the scenic parish of St. Andrew, and on our way home we started counting all the birds along the way.  The count was made up of common birds with the Carib Grackles having the highest count of 63 in total, followed by our endemic Bullfinch totaling 20.  In total 15 species were recorded on our drive.  It was also the first time the entire family was out birding together.

 February 17

Day 4

Like day 3, day 4 just happened.  At the end of my day I happened to be in close proximity to two swamps in St. Philip –Bayfield and Golden Grove.   My first stop was at Bayfield.

Bayfield Pond

When you think of Bayfield Pond one bird comes to mind – Masked Ducks.  Even though the pond is overrun with water lilies and in the midst of a densely populated village, these shy ducks seem to find it appealing.  This makes it probably one of the best places in the world to observe these ducks in the wild.  There were five Masked Ducks in the pond, three females and two males.  Eared Doves are also common to this area and for the first time for the weekend this species entered the count registering three doves.   From Bayfield my next stop was about a mile away- Golden Grove.

Golden Grove

After being granted permission from the care taker to enter this private swamp, I set about continuing my count.  There were twenty-one species seen at Golden Grove.  The high counts were thirty-nine Blue-winged Teals and thirty Least Sandpipers.  There were also ten Greater Yellowlegs and eight Wilson’s Snipes.  From there I headed to the Parish of St. John for my final stop in the GBBC 2014 – Codrington College.

Codrington College

One of the oldest buildings in Barbados, this Theological College allows visitors to enjoy the tranquility of its beautiful surroundings.  The property with its well-manicured lawns, mahogany woods and lily pond is an attraction for many birds.  I recorded 21 species, mostly common species to the island.  The high count was 21 Zenaida Doves.  I was surprised not to see Eurasian –collared Doves, the population at this location is steadily increasing.  It is also a good location to see and photograph Green Herons but on this occasion only one was seen. 

At about 4:30pm my first GBBC came to an end.  The funny thing is that I did not do any birding in my own backyard, lol.   Please stay tuned for the breakdown of the details in our next post.  Until then, enjoy your birding!