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| Bobolink |
It has been a while since I was out birding and I was
eagerly looking forward to this northern trip. At the end of September I was sitting on
ninety-one birds for the year and coming to the end of October it remained
unchanged. I was sure that by the end of
the day I would at least record one bird, a Godwit. For the past week, two Godwits were hanging
around one of the swamps in the north; this would be a new year-bird for me. The prospect of recording migrating warblers
at their main landfall location, Harrison’s Point, was also adding to the
excitement for the trip.
Harrison’s Point
I was on my way at 5:30am to meet Edward Massiah at
Harrison’s Point (HP) at 5:45am; with a 30-35 minute drive ahead of me I knew I
was going to be late. When I reached HP
at about 6:00am Edward was already there and we both began a search of the
foliage for these tiny birds. We worked
our way north to the lighthouse recording mainly common birds such as Yellow
Warblers which were singing sweetly, Grey Kingbirds, Shiny Cowbirds and
Antillean-crested Hummingbirds to mention a few. Flying above our heads back and forth were
Barn and Cliff Swallows. On reaching the
lighthouse I noted a number of Swallows were sitting on the powerline to the
east and I went for a closer look. As I
came to the powerline, a flock of birds flushed from a grass field just in
front of me. The flight calls of these
birds (clink clink, in single notes) were new, but straight away I knew that they
were Bobolinks. It was a small flock of
about sixteen birds feeding on grass seeds and I was able to get a few photos. Bobolinks were my 122nd Barbados
lifer and my 92nd species for the year. It was about this time that we were joined by
Dr. John Webster and Mr. Richard Roach, both of them made their way to see and
photograph the bobolinks.
John told us of a Blackpoll Warbler he saw just a few
minutes previously so I went off in search of it.
I have been practicing my Pishing for a couple
months now and it works well with the common birds now I have to see if it will
work with these migrants. I found what I
thought was a good location, an opening among the trees and started my calls. Straight away I drew the interest of a few
birds, one of them being… yes, a Blackpoll Warbler. That became my 93rd bird for the
year. We left Harrison’s Point at 7:50am
for our next location at Bright Hall for the Godwit.
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| Blackpoll Warbler |
Bright Hall
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| American Wigeon |
This was my first visit to this location for the year and it
was clear to see that this wet area was also suffering from the ongoing
droughts. There were many shorebirds on
the mudflats and wadding in the low water. A few ducks were also there but as I scanned the
area, it was clear to see the Godwit was no longer there. However eight Blue-winged Teals and an
American Wigeon were present, which I tried to photograph. Stilt and Pectoral Sandpipers were also there
busy searching for food. That was about
it, so I moved on to my final stop at Greenland.
Greenland
This irrigation pond at Greenland, St.
Andrew is one of the few wet areas showing little or no effect from this
prolonged drought. This pond is deep and
rarely attracts dabbling ducks, such as Teals, which are the main type of
migrating ducks we see. It does not have
much of a mudflat and for that reason does not attract many shorebirds. It attracts divers like Grebes, Masked and
Ruddy ducks etc. but I visited because it was on my route to home. I was surprised to see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo
as I walked in. Another surprise was to
see that the Ruddy Duck I first recorded in September was still there. The family of three Grebes who live in the
pond was nosily making their presence known. I did not see the forth one which I first
noted last month. This may have been a
migrant which had moved on.
At the end of that northern excursion I claimed
one lifer, Bobolink and a year bird (Blackpoll Warbler). I missed the Godwit but hopefully one is still
around and just moved to a different location.
It was a pleasant outing and I look forward to doing it again.
List of the birds seen during the trip
1. American Wigeon - Anas americana
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2. Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors
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3. Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis
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4. Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps
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5. Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens
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6. Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
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7. Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
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8. Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
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9. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
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10. Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius
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11. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
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12. Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes
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13. Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus
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14. Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
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15. White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis
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16. Pectoral Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos
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17. Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
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18. Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
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19. Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
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20. Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina
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21. Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
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22. Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus americanus
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23. Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus
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24. Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus
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25. Caribbean Elaenia - Elaenia martinica
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26. Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis
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27. Black-whiskered Vireo - Vireo altiloquus
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28. Caribbean Martin - Progne dominicensis
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29. Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
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30. Cliff Swallow - Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
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31. Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
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32. Blackpoll
Warbler - Setophaga striata
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33. Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola
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34. Black-faced Grassquit - Tiaris bicolor
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35. Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis
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36. Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus
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37. Carib Grackle - Quiscalus lugubris
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38. Shiny Cowbird - Molothrus bonariensis
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