Hmmm what can I say about the month of June? It was a bitter sweet month. I was able to post six (6) birds; it could
even have been more. I was able to add four
(4) new species to my year count and three (3) to my life count.
The Sweet
The month of June was sweet because of the number of
shorebirds seen around the island. The Chancery Lane Swamp, which is in the parish
of Christ Church on the South Coast of island was dry just a couple of weeks
ago. Now this swamp is bubbling with
activity. There are thousands of fiddler
crabs and shorebirds. Observed at this
location were Willets (Tringa semipalmata), Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria
interpres)( in abundance), Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus),
two Short billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus), Sanderlines (Calidris
alba) and a Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus).
At the Conga Road Private Swamp in the parish of St Philip,
Black bellied Plovers and Semipalmated Plovers can be seen. Also spotted was the unverified Western or
Semipalmated Sandpiper. It was in the
north however; in the parish of St. Lucy where I did the bulk of my birding
this month. The shorebirds observed at the
locations in that Parish were Greater Yellow Legs, a Buff Breasted Sandpiper, a
Pectoral Sandpiper and our Southern Lapwing, who we all hope attracts a mate
and resumes breeding. Other noted non
shorebirds seen were a juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron and a flock of Black
Bellied Whistling Ducks.
The Bitter
Early in the month I lost my darling Sigma 28-300mm. She was a loyal and trusted friend and we have
been through so much together – (A moment of silence). Her backup is a very unreliable Canon 70-300
USM IS which works only when she feels like it. This brought my photo-excursion to a halt. I am now on the hunt for a 300+ mm lens.
The Photograph
of the Month
My photograph of the month is not one but a series of photographs
I call “When Food Fights Back”. It shows the dramatic struggle between food
and survival - a mouse fighting not to become the snack of a Cattle Egret.
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| Cattle Egret with a mouse for dinner |
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| Closer look: the mouse is biting into the egrets bill |
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| The fight is on the mouse for its life |
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| He is not letting go |
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| The Egret is not giving up either |
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| A few shakes and the mouse is in the death grip of the cattle egrets |
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| Can it escape? |
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| Of course not! |
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| He is food |
 |
Yummy!!
The End.
|
New Channel
100barbadosbirds is now on You Tube.
The name of the channel is Barbados Birds and
we have started with a recap, in slideshow form of all the birds we have seen so
far.
You can follow the link below and
be sure to join to keep up to date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnn2V5nRj8
July Upcoming…
I will be hoping to have my lens problem corrected by the
end of July but I am still hoping to be able to post some pictures. If I am unable to post actual pictures I will
keep you informed with word pictures.
I learnt that 117 species is the record held for the number
of birds sighted in one year here in Barbados, so in addition to reaching my
hundred bird photo challenge, I will be aiming for a record of 120 different
sightings. My year count now stands at
71 species that leaves me with another 49 species in 6 months for the new
record.
The local hunting season starts on July 15th. For the next couple of months, thousands of
mainly shorebirds will meet their death in a hail of bullets. During this time these locations will be out
of bounds to birders. So my birding will be restricted to none hunting area such
as Long Pond and Chancery Lane.
With that said onward to the month of July!
