This is the first of a two parts description of my birding trips
to the northern parish of St. Lucy on September 2nd and 8th
September 2nd
My birding trips to the north of the island this year were
few and far between. Of the 137 checklist
I reported to ebird
thus far for 2018, only 12 were recorded in the northern parish of St. Lucy. So I was really looking forward to my
September 2nd trip to the area.
Another cause for excitement was the reports of large concentrations of
shorebirds of many varieties at various locations in the north. I was not disappointed because from the three
(3) locations (Harrison’s Point, River Bay and a private location) I visited, I
saw 35 bird species, three of which were rare to the island and two my first
for the year (yearbird). Here is a rundown
of the trip.
Harrison’s Point (HP)
My son Jason and I arrived at HP just before 6 am. The old US Naval Base turned temporary prison,
was now serving another purpose of which I am unsure. As I moved further into the wooded interior I
could hear the familiar calls of some of our common birds, Yellow Warblers (Golden), Caribbean
Elaenias and Gray Kingbirds were
very much present. Caribbean Martins
were busy over head with the smaller sized Barn Swallows making an appearance
every now and then. Around the area of
the lighthouse both Martins and swallows were alighting on a powerline allowing
us to have good views of these close relatives. They were no surprises, bird wise that is at
HP, but expectations will change as we draw closer to the month of
October.
Our next location, which was a private location, made up for
the lack of exciting birds at HP. It was
there that we saw two rare birds one of which was a yearbird for me. The first bird a Glossy Ibis was expected but the second bird was not. When I first saw this bird I thought it was a
Gray Kingbird but quickly noticed that its plumage was much darker and its
breast was much whiter. I quickly
realized that I was looking at a Fork-tailed
Flycatcher and this one had a long beautiful tail. The bird was sitting on a
low lying shrub and was sallying out taking insects on the wing and returning
to his perch. It then flew into a tree where
it was joined by another Forked-tailed flycatcher. Two of them! The flycatcher was a lifer for Jason, and a
year bird for me. Other birds of note
were White-rumped Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers and much more.
River Bay
Our next rare bird species was recorded at the popular
picnic spot of River Bay. The birds, two
Collared Plovers, were first located
by Ed Massiah. While the beaches at
River Bay were covered with sargassum seaweed our two rarities were not
attracted to it. To find them we left
the beach and hiked to the top of the hills overlooking the bay. While the scenery was breath taking the sun
was very hot. After five or so minutes of searching we found the tiny plovers among
the rocks. These birds were not only small but fast, however I was able to get
a photograph.
Checklist
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)
- Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa)
- Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
- Common Ground-Dove (Columbina passerina)
- Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)
- Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhy)
- Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
- Collared Plover (Charadrius collaris)*#
- Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
- Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
- Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
- Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
- White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)
- Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
- Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
- Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
- Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
- Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
- Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)
- Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
- Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
- Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)#*
- Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica)
- Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
- Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus savana)#*
- Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)
- Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis)
- Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
- Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
- Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris)
- Yellow Warbler (Golden) (Setophaga petechia [petechia Group])
- Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola)
- Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor)
- Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)
- Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)
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