Friday April 18, 2014
Oistins , Christ Church
My first stop on this beautiful morning was at Oistins, the small
town in the south coast parish of Christ Church. The reason for stopping there was to investigate
the report of a Ruddy Turnstone
whose legs became entangled in what was believed to be the remnant of fishing net. I arrived there at about 6am and noted the customary birds for that location for this time of year. Some of the birds on the beach were Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, Cattle Egrets and the ever present Rock Pigeons, just to mention a few, but the highlight of the morning was to watch and photograph five Laughing Gulls feeding and interacting with each other. This was the closest I had ever been able to get to this bird. After an unsuccessful search for the Ruddy Turnstone with the net on its feet, I moved on to my main reason for being out birding that morning – Red-Billed Tropicbirds.
whose legs became entangled in what was believed to be the remnant of fishing net. I arrived there at about 6am and noted the customary birds for that location for this time of year. Some of the birds on the beach were Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, Cattle Egrets and the ever present Rock Pigeons, just to mention a few, but the highlight of the morning was to watch and photograph five Laughing Gulls feeding and interacting with each other. This was the closest I had ever been able to get to this bird. After an unsuccessful search for the Ruddy Turnstone with the net on its feet, I moved on to my main reason for being out birding that morning – Red-Billed Tropicbirds.
Click this link to see photographs from the 3rd Weekend in April
Green Point, St. Philip
The Red-billed Tropicbirds breed on the rugged South and
East coast of the island but this bird, which spends most of its life at sea,
has always been a favorite of mine. So when reports of sighting Red-billed
Tropicbirds were raised I made time to go and see it. To reach the coast line at Green Point, I had
to navigate a maze of houses and roads. It was about a mile off the main
highway and its coast line was Rugged because of the constant battering of the
Atlantic Ocean. I was unsure of where to
start looking but as I walked to the cliff looking over the sea I saw the bird.
With its white plumage and its elongated central tail feather, this was
unmistakably the bird I came to see – The Red-billed Tropicbird. However it quickly disappeared in the glare of
the sun and that was the last I saw of it. I spent over an hour searching the cliffs
and the sea for the birds but to no avail.
I saw Caribbean Martins going in and out of holes in the cliffs, no
doubt nesting or preparing to nest, Grassland Yellow Finches and Black-faced
Grassquits but no other sightings of our star birds. I will definitely be paying another visit to
Green Point.Click this link to see photographs from the 3rd Weekend in April
The New Bird in Town
Later that day Dr. John Webster and Edward Massiah met at a
private residence located on the border of the parishes of St. Philip and St.
John to observe and photograph one of the most exciting additions to the local avian species. A bird no one expected to be this far
south. The bird is the White–crowned
Pigeon. The discovery was made by the keen eyes of the master of the residence
when the bird came to his bird bath for water, along with some Scaly-nape
Pigeons. This discovery was made known to us by a local historian and birder Dr.
Karl Watson on April 9th. From then, a cat and mouse game was played
with this bird in an effort to see and photograph it. Finally, on April 18th, Dr.
Webster and Edward Massiah were finally able to see and photograph the bird. I am hoping to be able to see and photograph
this rarity to our shores in the coming week before it moves on. So stay tuned for the photographs.
The White-crowned Pigeon, Patagioenas
leucocephala, is about 13-14”, the same size
and shape of the Scaly-naped Pigeon, dark grey with a white crown.
Click this link to see photographs from the 3rd Weekend in April
Click this link to see photographs from the 3rd Weekend in April
Sunday April 20, 2014
Six Men’s Bay St. Peter
It was a dark and gloomy
morning with threats of rain all around. As I pulled into the car park of the
fishing village at Six Men’s, my goal was to see and photograph for the first
time an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.
This gull, a vagrant to the island, was first spotted by birder and
photographer Richard Roach. The tide was high and the sea looked angry. The
sandy beach in front of the car park, where Sanderlings would have been busy
looking for food was now replaced by waves pounding against the foundation well
of the car park. These conditions made
me more protective of my camera, but were ideal for gulls. Laughing Gulls were
plentiful, flying over the surf, swooping down to feed, amassing
on the water break and boats off shore. It was on one of those boats off shore
that I first saw the Lesser Black-backed Gull. He was standing on the top
proudly preening his white breast feathers. I took up a better position to
photograph the Laughing Gulls feeding close to the shore and then the rain
came. I ran for cover under one of the stalls just in time to see the Lesser
Black-backed fly by. I took out my
camera and started to shoot this beautiful bird as it made a series of fly bys.
I was at Six Men’s Bay for about forty-five minutes before having to leave to
fulfill a commitment.
So that was my weekend. I am
hoping to be able to see and photograph White-crowned Pigeons in the coming
weeks. I will also be going back to Green Point sometime this week to look for
the Tropicbirds. Hope you had fun birding last weekend like I did.
Click
this link to see photographs from the 3rd Weekend in April
Here is the list of birds recorded.
Here is the list of birds recorded.
Common Name
|
Scientific Name
|
Bananaquit
|
Coereba flaveola
|
Barbados Bullfinch
|
Loxigilla barbadensis
|
Black-faced Grassquit
|
Tiaris bicolor
|
Carib Grackle
|
Quiscalus lugubris
|
Caribbean Martin
|
Progne dominicensis
|
Cattle Egret
|
Bubulcus ibis
|
Common Ground-Dove
|
Columbina passerina
|
Eared Dove
|
Zenaida auriculata
|
Eurasian Collared-Dove
|
Streptopelia decaocto
|
Green Heron
|
Butorides virescens
|
Grassland Yellow-Finch
|
Sicalis luteola
|
Gray Kingbird
|
Tyrannus dominicensis
|
Laughing Gull
|
Leucophaeus atricilla
|
Lesser Black-backed Gull
|
Larus fuscus
|
Magnificent Frigatebird
|
Fregata magnificens
|
Red-billed Tropicbird
|
Phaethon aethereus
|
Rock Pigeon
|
Columba livia
|
Ruddy Turnstone
|
Arenaria interpres
|
Sanderling
|
Calidris alba
|
Zenaida Dove
|
Zenaida aurita
|
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