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| My bird of the day a Ruff at Trents |
It was intense, it was fast paced, it was fun, it was my
first ever big day event. I joined
thousands around the world, taking part in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Global
Big Day on Saturday May 9th, 2015. It was when birders try to sight as many birds
as possible in twenty four hours. The preceding week and day, I scouted. I took note of what and where the birds were
and from that, I set a goal of reaching fifty species. This would normally not have been much of a challenge
with an entire day to do it in, but I did not have a full day, because of
commitments, I had just about four hours in the morning, so planning was very
important. I targeted areas in the south
and east of the island because they were no more than fifteen minutes apart
from each other. Another potential
problem was that four of the birds I needed were located on two private
irrigation ponds. With such little time
on my hands my timing was not in sync with my fellow birder who had permission
to enter these private locations.
With that in mind my journey started in the cool morning at 4:45am
but before leaving home I registered my first bird- a Grey Kingbird breaking
the silence with its cheerful wakeup call. As I drove to my first location, Belleville,
it was still dark out and with no real
nocturnal birds to check on I was starting to regret not spending a few more
minutes in bed and leaving at my accustomed time of 5:30am. I adjusted my plans and headed to the south coast
road looking for any sign of life on that quiet morning. I traveled the road next to the boardwalk then
drove to the Garrison Savannah and to the horse racing tracks. It was a hive of activity with joggers and
walkers. Just one horse and its jockey were
pacing back and forth on the sand track with a sprinkling of spectators looking
on. I was surprised to see so much
activity before sunrise so I started my birding there at 5:20am.
Garrison Savannah: 8 species
At the Garrison I saw eight species mainly our common birds
with the Carib Grackles (49) having
the highest count. I added to the Grey Kingbird; the Barbados Bullfinch, Blackface Grassquit, Caribbean Elaenia, Cattle
Egret, Scaly-nape Pigeon and Zenaida Dove. Next
stop Belleville!!
Species Count: 8
Belleville: 14 species
I arrived at Belleville at 5:35am this was the best time to
see the two main birds I was after, the Orange- winged and Yellow-crowned
Parrots. These birds for me are not easy
to find but with recent sightings, I decided to give it a try. I spent longer than I had originally planned
looking for them (30 minutes), but to no avail. I did not know that I would regret giving that
extra time later. I added the ever
present Rose-ringed Parakeet, Bananaquit,
Black-whiskered Vireo, Common Ground-Dove, Shiny Cowbird and Green-throated
Carib to my tally. Next stop on the list was Oistins.
Species Count: 14
Oistins : 4 species
At Oistins, I registered just four
species of Birds; three were added to the count. These three were Ruddy Turnstone, Laughing Gull and Rock Pigeon. I was hoping to see Royal Terns and Magnificent
Frigatebirds at this location but did not. As I continued along the south coast my next
stop was Inch Marlow.
Species Count: 17
Inch Marlow: 4 species
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| Shorebirds at Inch Marlow |
Inch Marlow was the first stop I made which had the birds I
expected to be there. The large flock of
Ruddy Turnstones (50) was easily
seen along with a few Sanderlings,
one of which was in the process of molting to breeding plumage. I did not take too long at Inch Marlow staying
just 10 minutes before heading off to Chancery Lane.
Species Count: 19
Chancery Lane: 20 species
The Lane Swamp was the most productive stop of the day. There I added seven species to my day’s tally
and one species, the Willets to my year
count. The birds added were Great Blue
Heron, Snowy Egrets, Green Heron,
Black-belled Plover, Common Gallinule, Greater Yellowleg, Lesser Yellowleg,
Semipalmated Plover and Yellow
Warbler. I was hoping to see a Stilt Sandpiper, as I did earlier in
the week but these appeared to have moved on. The Black-bellied
Plover was a bonus, I was not expecting to see one here but it allowed me
to add my next stop to the list. Congo Road was going to be my stop to see the
Black-bellied Plover but after registering that at Chancery lane, I decided to
make a stop at Green Point.
Species Count: 29
Green Point: 8 species
Green Point is known for Red-billed Tropicbirds but with no reports of sightings in the last
couple of weeks and with the short amount of time that was available to me I
had no plans of visiting but I am glad I did. Within seconds of arriving I saw
two Tropicbirds and a Frigatebird. I spent ten minutes at that Point and added
four more to my list: Red-billed
Tropicbird (6), Magnificent
Frigatebird, Grassland Yellowfinch and Caribbean Martin.
Species Count: 33
Congo Road: 4 species
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| Black-billed Plover at Congo Road |
Congo Road was a very short stop. The main bird I was looking for was the Little
Egret but it was not there. I did pickup
an Ear Dove before moving on to WSR.
Species Count: 34
The WSR: 8 species
The WSR was a lot dryer than when I was last there but the
main bird I was hunting for would not be affected by the dry conditions. This
bird was the Black-crowned Night Heron
(BCNH) which roost in the back swamp of the refuge but none was visible
when I checked. I saw a Solitary Sandpiper which was in flight
and leaving the swamp. Other first sightings
for the day were Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Little Egret and Spotted
Sandpiper.
Species Count: 39
I left WSR at 8:10am ending my morning birding on the Global
Big Day. About an hour later I added an Antillean Crested Hummingbird to end
the morning at forty species.
Species Count: 40
I restarted my Global Big Day drive at about 5pm in the
north of the island. My first stop was at
Greenland St. Andrew.
Greenland: 5 species
The main birds I was hoping to see at Greenland were Pied-Billed Grebes and I was not
disappointed, I saw two of them right away.
I also saw a duck with a dark grey to black bill which I was and am, still
unable to identify. I was only able to
take one very poor photo of it before it disappeared. From Greenland I traveled further north to
meet up with Dr. Webster to visit the Half Acre for Black-crowned Night Herons.
He was running late so I decided to try a pond at Trents in St. Lucy first.
Species Count: 41
Trent’s: 5 species
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| Ruff |
I have never seen much at this pond so it was never on my
list as a place to visit during the Global Big Day but I was glad I did, for that
is where I saw my bird of the day which was a Ruff (Calidris pugnax). This
Eurasian Shorebird which is about 8-12” in size, is becoming a yearly visitor
to our shores. This was my second ‘first
for the year’ bird of the Big day. My
next stop was Half Acre.
Species Count: 42
Half Acre: 5 species
Because of the location of this pond I never feel safe going
to it alone but with time running out and the sun setting I made the trek to
the Half Acre pond. I parked my car and as
I was approaching the pond I saw a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron flying around. That was all I needed, I
was back in my car in a flash and off to my next stop.
Species Count: 43
The Turf Farm: 1 species
Before heading off to the Turf Farm I met Dr. Webster at
Trent’s to confirm the sighting of the Ruff.
I spent a few minutes photographing
the bird and then headed off to what was my last stop for the day, The Turf
Farm. The Turf Farm is a private business so I did not want to venture on the
property so late in the afternoon but I saw a “strange” bird which got up and
alighted in the center of the turf just out of view. I also heard the calling it made. I was unable to identify it so I ended the day
with forty- three species. I visited the
Turf Farm once again on Monday after the reported sighting of the Southern Lapwing and confirmed that the
bird I saw on 9th May was indeed a Southern Lapwing which brought my
Cornell Lab of Ornithology Global Big Day tally to forty-four species.
Species Count: 44
My Big Day ended at 6:30pm. I spent just over six hours in
the field, completed fourteen checklists and recorded three birds for my year
list. Dr. Webster, who also participated
in the Big Day, recorded forty eight species. Together we registered fifty
species for the island which contributed to the close to six thousand recorded
species worldwide in just one day. What
a day of birding May 9th 2015 was. Truly a Global Big Day!
The complete list of birds seen
- Grey Kingbird
- Blackface Grassquit,
- Caribbean Elaenia,
- Cattle Egret,
- Scaly-nape Pigeon
- Zenaida Dove
- Carib Grackle
- Barbados Bullfinch
- Rose-ringed Parakeet,
- Bananaquit,
- Black-whiskered Vireo
- Common Ground-Dove
- Green-throated Carib
- Shiny cowbird
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Laughing Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- Ruddy Turnstones
- Sanderling
- Willets
- Snowy Egrets
- Great Blue Heron
- Green Heron
- Common Gallinule
- Black-belled Plover
- Greater Yellowleg
- Lesser Yellowleg,
- Semipalmated Plover
- Yellow Warbler
- Magnificent Frigatebird
- Red-billed Tropicbird
- Caribbean Martin
- Grassland Yellowfinch
- Ear Dove
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Little Blue Heron
- Little Egret
- Spotted Sandpiper.
- Great Egret
- Antillean Crested Hummingbird
- Pied-Billed Grebes
- Ruff
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Southern Lapwing
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