September to Remember Continues and Continues ....

And it continues!! This September 2015 has been amazing so far.  After setting a goal of trying to attain seven new "year birds", I reached that goal half-way through the month. I then set a goal of ten species and in the last full week of September I reached and surpassed that goal.

Here are the birds I saw:

• The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) was expected to be arriving at Harrison’s Point around this time, so it was not surprising to see and hear one when we visited that location on the 26^th, the first sighting for the year.  These birds are 11-12 inches with greyish brown upperparts and white underparts.  The base of its bill is yellow and it has a yellow eye-ring. This is no doubt the first of many of these we will see in the coming months ahead. 

Ruddy Duck

• A Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) was a bird I had missed earlier in the year and was surprised when I saw one at Greenland, St. Andrew, also on the 26^th.  This small diving duck was sitting quietly in the pond. 

Striated Heron

• A Striated Heron (Butorides striata) seen at the Mangrove Landfill on September 27^th represented the 2^nd record for the island. This bird is a close relative to our Green Heron “Butorides virescens”, locally known as a Gaulin, but while that plumage is mostly brown in colour the plumage of the Striated Heron is grey.

The month of September is proving more productive than I could have ever imagined.  With this being the last day of the month, can I add any more birds to my count? Anything is possible in this September to Remember…