Drought was the main problem for 2016 on the island. This spilled over from 2015 but the rain came
in a big way during the latter quarter of the year hopefully signaling the end
of these extreme dry weather conditions and low rain falls we have been having
for at least a year and a half. In spite
of these conditions the island recorded 105 bird species one of which was a new
species and it also includes a few rarities.
New Species
for the Island
In the month of February a new bird was added to the local
avian checklist. It was the Great
Kiskadee. This bird was seen
by a visiting birder on the grounds of the Hilton Hotel. The bird hung around for a couple of weeks
before disappearing.
Rarities
Some of the rarities from 2015 stayed with us into 2016. A Eurasian
Wigeon in St. Andrew, and a Grey Heron at Chancery Lane, Lesser
Blackbacked Gull at Oistins and the Marsh
Harrier. A West Indian Whistling-Duck in St. John
could be considered a resident since it was here for a couple of years now and
is reported to have its second brood of hybrid ducklings with a Black-bellied Whistling duck.
The island has a few species of rare birds that are becoming
yearly visitors such as the Glossy Ibis,
Gray Heron, Ruffs, Fulvous Whistling Duck and Wood Sandpipers. Other
species of interest recorded during 2016 that can be considered rare were the Pearly-eyed Thrasher, Tricoloed Heron, Brown Pelicans, Purple Gallinules and Striated Heron.
The two birds I considered to be the mega-rarities for 2016
were a
Greater Shearwater, which
strolled into a hotel on the south coast one night, (follow these links to see
the postings
1, 2)
and a White-crowned Pigeon which was
photographed by a resident in the
Warrens, St. Michael area.
Birding Aboard,
a program which seeks to mobilize
the worldwide boating community to document ocean bird sightings for the sake
of conservation, added a few pelagic birds to the island’s checklist. The vessel Delphinus on a
transatlantic voyage from Cape Verde to Barbados recorded sightings of White-tailed Tropicbird, Leach's Storm-Petrel and a Pomarine Jaeger to mention a
few.
We can add to this
list a few special birds that were seen during 2016. A Pink Cattle Egret which was seen in
St. Philip, we also had a Eurasian Whimbrel seen at Chancery Lane and a
suspected Lesser Antillean/ Barbados Bullfinch hybrid seen in St.
Peter.
There were a few
unconfirmed sightings for example a White-cheeked Pintail seen at Graeme
Hall Nature Sanctuary which most likely was one of the caged pintails kept at
the sanctuary and another was of a flock of Gadwalls which were seen after
a rainstorm. If there is any confirmation
of these two birds, I’ll let you know.
Wild Bird
Rehabilitation found a Home on the island
During 2016 we had two occasions where wild birds needed
emergency medical attention and on both occasions a friend was found in the
local RSPCA. The first occasion was a Great Blue Heron with a broken wing
which arrived at the Barbados RSPCA
in November 2015 and was released in February 2016 (Click
Link). The second bird was a Greater Shearwater, nicknamed Ocean (see
here), who strolled into a south coast hotel on the night of June 8th.
Ocean was unable to fly but showed no
signs of injury. Dr. John Webster took
him to the Barbados RSPCA where the staff worked assiduously to nurse Ocean
back to health but sadly he died (See here).
A Big thank you to all involved.
This is the 2016 record what will 2017 bring…
