2017 Photographic Big Year - 95

95 - Fulvous Whistling-Duck - Dendrocygna bicolo

With just three days to go before 2017 makes way for 2018, my intensified birding activity has finally paid off, if only with one bird.  I was able to add Fulvous Whistling-Duck⁹⁵ to my checklists, which brought my years tally to 98, and photographic big year to 95.  

See images below.  See 2017 Photographic Big Year images here.

Going For Broke - Allout Birding

With just a few day remaining it this year I will be making a desperate effort to find and photograph new & year birds with the hope of reaching my goals of 100 species for 2017 and my photographic big year.  At this point I have tallied 97 species for the year and captured 94 images.  I will be focusing mainly on wood warblers but there are a few other birds on my radar none of which are easy finds.

This is probably the second best time of the year for wintering warblers.  Warblers such as the Northern Parula, American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler and Ovenbird have been recorded multiple times in late December early January.

Another bird on my radar is a reported sighting, well reported only by one person - a white Ibis in the St. Andrew area.  I am not sure if it is an American White Ibis or a sub -adult Scarlet Ibis or even an Egret with a red dyed bill but it’s worth a look.  I was searching for this bird for most of the month and it led to the discovery of the Eurasian Spoonbill which I thought was the elusive “white ibis” until I received a call reporting both birds together, so that is on my list. 

Other birds of interest that were reported in the last week or so includes an elusive Purple Gallinule, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Graeme Hall and a recording sent to me by a friend of a bird in his backyard which sounds like a Pearly-eyed Thrasher.

I am now in birding desperation mode, no body of water, not even in pot holes, will escape my birding eye. I am Going For Broke - 2017 goals will be met!!

2017 Photographic Big Year - 93 & 94

It has been a difficult time for me birding in the last couple of weeks.  Car troubles, which impeded my movement for a few weeks, camera troubles, which are still unresolved and relegated me to my less than stellar Rebel XT, which in itself has problems.  These along with a few other factors limited my birding in the latter weeks of October and most of November.  So you would understand my joy to have gotten in a few hours of birding on Thursday November 30^th, which was a public holiday for the island’s independence.  

This early morning birding trip took me to the easterly parish of St. Andrew and landed me my 132^nd Barbados lifer, 97^th year bird, 93^rd Image for my 2017 Photographic Big Year and a Mega Rarity for the island.  This bird, a Eurasian Spoonbill⁹³ (Platalea leucorodia), was only the second one ever recorded on the island.  The Spoonbill, a juvenile, was white with patches of black at the edge of its flight feather; its unmistakable spoon shaped bill was yellowish in color with black legs.  Eurasian Spoonbills breed from southern Spain and Netherlands to Korea and from Western Africa through India to China. – The Birds of Barbados – P.A. Buckley et al.  The bird appeared healthy as it waded in water up to its knees.  It was recorded at this same location days after. 

My 94^th bird sent me back to images I took in January.  The images were of a Green-winged Teal⁹⁴ (Anas crecca).  The images were not of the best quality and I was hoping to photograph the bird as it molted into its stunning breeding plumage, which is a combination of shades of blue and brown, but that never happened.  

The task to photograph 100 different birds looks daunting with just four weeks remaining in 2017 but I still believe I can pull it off and will be working tirelessly to do so in the remaining days to come.

Stay tuned and enjoy your birding!

See images below.  See 2017 Photographic Big Year images here.

93 - Eurasian Spoonbill - Platalea leucorodia

94 - Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca