Birders Out In Full Force (November 23)

The local birders were out in full force this morning, spanning from the east to the north coast. Even though we did not visit all of the birding areas, we recorded over 40 species, including a few rare ones.

The North

My son Jason and I, visited the northern parish of St. Lucy. It was a complete contrast to the last time I visited.  Then everything was dry, now, every location  we visited had water, with some even full to the brink.  This was because of the downpour of rain we had during the last week. Many shorebirds were around, with us recording over 10 species including a <>rare Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus).  The ducks are still arriving and we counted 31 Blue-winged Teals (Spatula discors) at one location.  As the water settles and Dragonflies, fish, and tadpoles begin to strive in them, I am sure the number of birds will increase.

The East

John Webster, Ed Massiah, Jason and I all visited eastern parishes. John spent most of his time at Greenland collecting images - stills, and motion on a rare male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) at that pond.  He also drew our attention to a duck he saw there that was much like a female Blue-winged Teal but had a very light-colored belly/underbody when compared to the Blue-winged Teal. It was also somewhat smaller. 

Ed went to the eastern parish of St. Philip to see a pair of Ruffs,  first seen by John two days ago. Sadly he did not see them but saw over 40 Black-bellied Plovers and over 50 Semipalmated Sandpiper and a semirare Western Sandpiper.

Jason and I added another an eastern rarity to the list and a lifer for him. We saw a juvenile Purple Gallinule at Redlands Irrigation Pond in the parish of St John.

A good morning of birding was had by all. Below are the birds we saw.

1. Blue-winged Teal - Spatula discors
2. Northern Pintail Anas acuta
3. Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
4. Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
5. Common Ground Dove - Columbina passerina
6. Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
7. Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
8. Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus
9. Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus
10. Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinica
11. Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola
12. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
13. Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus
14. Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus
15. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres
16. Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
17. White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis
18. Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
19. Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri
20. Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus
21. Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
22. Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
23. Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria
24. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
25. Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes
26. Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens
27. Great Egret - Ardea alba
28. Snowy Egret Egretta thula
29. Green Heron - Butorides virescens
30. Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
31. Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon
32. Caribbean Elaenia - Elaenia martinica
33. Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis
34. Black-whiskered Vireo - Vireo altiloquus
35. Shiny Cowbird - Molothrus bonariensis
36. Carib Grackle - Quiscalus lugubris
37. Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
38. Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
39. Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola
40. Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola
41. Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis
42. Black-faced Grassquit - Melanospiza bicolor

Rare Birds Update: October

October is always a hive of activity for local birders as we all head north to the parish of St. Lucy in search of migratory birds.  One must-see on most of our list is a small bird, a champion of migration, the Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)*.  This small bird makes a 12,400 miles (20,000 km) roundtrip each year, some crossing the entire North American continent before making a nonstop trans-ocean flight for up to four days to South America.  Other than the Blackpolls, we saw some other rare birds for the island.

Mega-Rare

• Ed Massiah reported a Wilson's Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) at Chancery Lane, Christ Church on the 5^th.  He also noted that one of the Whimbrels there was a European subspecies.

Black-headed Gull 

• A Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) was seen perching on the roof of a fishing boat moored at Pile Bay, St. Michael.

• On Wednesday afternoon of the 23^rd, while out in the field with the University of the West Indies, Bio-diversity study students, we observed a Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor ), which flew directly over our heads. 

White-winged Tern

• A White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) was seen from the 10^th to 12^th in St. Lucy.  This may have been the same bird that was seen in St. Philip during September.
• A pair of Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), the shovel billed duck, was seen in St. Lucy on 

Rare

Hudsonian Godwit

• Three Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) sightings were reported in October.  The first two on the 3^rd at Chancery Lane and the 18^th in St. Philip, were seen by John Webster and I saw the third on the 23^rd in St. Lucy.

• A Juvenile Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica) was discovered at Greenland, St. Andrew by John Webster on the 20^th
  
  



Bobolinks

• Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) in St. Lucy on 19^th 

Continuing Rares 

Grey Heron

• Grey Herons (Ardea cinereal) were seen in St. Lucy, St. Andrew, St. Thomas and St. Philip. This may have just been two birds moving around;  
• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in St. Lucy first seen in August; 



American (Caribbean) Coots

• American (Caribbean) Coots (Fulica americana) has grown to 5 in total at Walkers Reserve, St. Andrew. 
• A Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)  continues on the south coast. It was photographed by my niece at Carlisle's Bay.

v

Blackpoll Warbler

Notable Mentions: The Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) migration is in full effect and a few birds were seen in the latter half of October; Yellow-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus) were seen in St. Lucy, St. Andrew and St. John during the month.  The Pied-billed Grebes(Podilymbus podiceps) at Walkers are continuing to grow in numbers – a visit to the reserve on the 26^th  tallied 10 birds, mostly adults.  It was good to see the return of this bird to St. Andrew.

As we move into November, rarity month, stay tuned to this blog for the most up to date local birding sightings.


        *About Blackpoll migration and here

October Big Day—19 Oct 2019

Are you taking part in the October Big Day? Follow this link to see how you can be a part. here

Happy Birding

Banded Bird Discomfort

I know oh too well, that bird ringing/banding plays an important part in ornithology but I do look forward to a time when it is replaced by a much less intrusive technique. This Semipalmated Sandpiper I saw during the Global Shorebirds Count was clearly show signs of discomfort and sadly it was not the first banded bird I have seen showing behavior like this.  I do hope it quickly becoming a thing of the pass.

News : 3 billion birds lost in U.S. & Canada since 1970

A study published today in the journal Science reveals that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signaling a widespread ecological crisis. The results show tremendous losses across diverse groups of birds and habitats — from iconic songsters such as meadowlarks to long-distance migrants such as swallows and backyard birds including sparrows.

Continue reading here >>>

September: Rares, Rares Rares

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

It is looking like a September to remember.  What a bold, early prediction you may say, but thus far for the month we have seen a mega-rare bird, two rare ones and unusual numbers, and we are just  12 vdays into the month.  Look at what we saw so far.

Mega-Rare Bird

On September 5^th,  John Webster saw a small tern while birding in the eastern parish of St. Philip.  The bird was identified as a White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus), which is one of the terns commonly referred to as marsh terns.  This small Eurasian Tern, about 9-10” (23-27cm), breeds in central Europe through central Asia, and locally in eastern Asia, with a wintering range that includes Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeastern Asia, and the Australian region.  This would make the 6^th record of this species for Barbados (The Birds of Barbados: An Annotated Checklist (BOU Checklist Series): Paul A. Buckley, Edward B. Massiah el.at).
Check out this article on Marsh Terns from Birdguides.com

Rare Birds

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Three species of birds that would be considered rare for the island was recorded thus far for September.  Even though some may not consider them rare because one or two are seen almost yearly, they are rare to our region or to our island according to ebird.org.  On the second of September and today, a Brown Pelican(Pelecanus occidentalis)was seen sitting on a buoy in the bay at Pile Bay, St. Michael.  This bird may be the same bird that was seen multiple times last month on the south coast.  The other bird was a Red Knot (Calidris canutus) that was seen on September 03^rd, by John Webster.

Rare Numbers

We had a few interesting numbers during the month, but two really stood out.  On September 2^nd  John did the first-ever Big Sit* for the island.  He saw 38 species, which in itself was outstanding for one location,  but not as mind-blowing as the 255 Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) he saw.  He promised to share his experience with us on the blog so look out for that.  On the morning of the 7^th, Edward Massiah saw nine Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) in St. Lucy.  This was a significant number as was shown by Ed’s comments when he said “Largest flock of adults I have ever seen!”.

Migration is definitely in full swing.  What else will show up in the month of September?  Whatever it is you will know about it here.

What is a Big Sit?

Cuban Martin - Mega-rare

Cuban Martin (Progne cryptoleuca)

Finding a rarity is always exciting but when it is a mega-rare bird, even better.  That is what happened on Saturday, August, 24^th at Bruce Vale in St. Andrew. The bird I saw was a Cuban Martin (Progne cryptoleuca), a close relative of our Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis).  The most noticeable difference between the two Martins is the Caribbean shows a white underpart while the male Cuban shows very dark underparts.  I at first incorrectly identified the bird as a Purple Martin  (Progne subis), another close member of the Martin family, but this was amended when the images were shown to author of the book Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Field Guide and expert on Cuban endemics – Mr. Nils Navarro. Here is an excerpt  of his response:

On this picture you can see:

1. Male and female in typical plumage, Males completely dark and female with a brown breast like in Cubans. 
   
2. If you see the male close is possible to see the white section of the feathers in the abdomen, that is typical in Cuban Martin, due its specific name cryptoleuca (hidden white), I have seen close and they have the same white area of the Caribbean Martins, but the tip of the feathers are dark and by this reason they look like completely dark, but the molting immature males in 1st year or less looks like the Caribbean with black markings and flecks...

This could be the second confirmed record of this species on the island, the first was seen in October 2002, at Newcastle St. John.(The Birds of Barbados – P.A. Buckley, Edward Massiah et. al.)

What a way to end the month of August with a Mega.

This is an informative article on Cuban/Purple Martin Identification 

World Shorebirds Day 2019

A large percentage of the migrating birds to this island are shorebirds.  This family of birds is on the decline worldwide due to habitat loss, hunting and climate change just to name a few.  The Global Shorebird Counts (September 3^rd – 9^th) and the World Shorebirds Day (September 6^th), was set up to highlight the plight of these marathon migrants around the world and the need for shorebird conservation and research.  You can get involved by getting out during the counting dates September 3^rd – 9^th, count the shorebirds you see, enter the results of your count on ebird, share the checklist with World Shorebirds Day and that’s it.  Those few steps can potentially save thousands of shorebirds so get involved. 

Two Rare Birds For August

Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
Photograph by Sahara Moore

It has been an uneventful birding year in Barbados thus far but the month of August gave it just a little spark with two rare birds.  The first one, a Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), was seen by Ed Massiah on August 1, in the parish of St. Philip.  These birds, though common in other islands of the Caribbean, are considered rare to ours, even though around 2008 a pair successfully nested and raised chicks at Walkers, St. Andrew, now Walkers Reserve. 

Black-necked Stilts look like birds on stilts. They are between  13.5-15.5” in length, with long pink legs, black upperparts, and white underparts.  The last Black-necked was recorded on May 1, 2013, at Chancery Lane’s swamp.

The other rare bird seen was a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus).  This species has become a yearly visitor to our island.  This one was spotted in the parish of St. Lucy on August 19.  Ibis is known for its decurved bill.  Glossies are 22-25” in length.  Adults are mostly dark with iridescent green and reddish tones, with a very thin white border surrounding the dark facial skin.  Immatures are a duller brown.

As we approach the end of August and the birds begin to arrive we will be on the lookout for more rare birds.

Lifer #140

Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia

Tuesday afternoon I passed to check the water level at Chancery Lane’s Swamp after a few days of heavy rain.  The swamp was about 10% of its full capacity but it had a few shorebirds wading and feeding.  There were Sanderlings,(Calidris alba) Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus)and a single Willet(Tringa semipalmata). One bird among the Semi-plovers caught my eye. It was about the same size as the plovers but a little paler and a had a large bill. Straight away I knew it was a Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia), a rare bird for the island.  It was also my 140^th lifer for the island.

Wilson's Plover is a stocky 'ringed' plover, about 7-8” in size, with a large head and a long heavy black bill.  Males have a black breast band while females and immature birds have a brown breast band.  This is the second lifer I recorded for this year.

A Visit to Chancery Lane

A Dry Chancery

The rainfall we were having over the last few days encouraged me to pay a visit to Chancery Lane, which is on the south coast of the island, to see what effect it had on this wet area.  On my way there I passed through the town of Oistins and made a check for seabirds.  I saw three small white Terns fishing close to shore.  These birds’ bill and legs were red and they had a black crown with bright white plumage. They were no doubt, Roseate Terns.  As I was about to continue on my journey to Chancery, a fourth tern flew by.  This one appeared slightly larger, with longer wings than that of the Roseate Tern.  Its back was also shades darker than that of the Roseates.  Could this be a Common Tern? 

Brown Pelican

An object bobbing in the sea about 400 to 500 feet out also caught my attention.  On closer inspection, I realized it to be a Brown Pelican, a rare but yearly visitor to our shores.

The stop at Oistins, while fulfilling, was not the main purpose for me being on the south coast that afternoon,  so I continued on my way to the Chancery Lane Swamp.  When I arrived, I was surprised to find that the area was still mostly dry, with just a few “puddles” here and there.  A few shorebirds, made up of

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones and a Sanderling, were relaxing around the larger catchments.  The air was full with the loud calls of the Black-whiskered Vireos and Golden Warblers.  With the prolonged dry spell we had, or continue to have, I guess it was wishful thinking to believe that the first real rain of the season would have much of an effect on this wet area.  However, it was good to see that the micro-ecosystem cycle that comes to life when water accumulates in this area, was beginning to take place.  With every collection of water, hundreds of Fiddler Crabs congregated.  This is one of the basic food sources and just a glance of the swamp at Chancery Lane slowly coming alive, and not a minute too soon.  We move swiftly into the migration season.  So please join me in a rain dance.

Fiddler Crabs

Sanderling

Birding Last Day of June

Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria

With all the rain and strong winds, we were experiencing last week, on Sunday I headed to the east to see if any new birds were about.  On my way there, I first checked the irrigation ponds at Redland in St. George and was surprised to find a very early or very late Solitary Sandpiper.  According to ebird.org, this is the second Solitary ever recorded on the island in the month of  June.  It is so rare, that I was prompted to investigate the possibility of this being its old world doppelganger, GreenSandpiper.  I will let you know how my investigations into that matter end up.

Leaving Redland, I ventured to a private pond in the east and recorded a tally of sixteen species including nine shorebird species but nothing out of the ordinary.  We are still a few weeks away from the busy period resulting from the fall migration but things are starting to heat up.

 Here are the species I saw on Sunday

1. Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
2. Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
3. Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina 
4. Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
5. Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
6. Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola
7. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
8. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres
9. Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
10. Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri
11. Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus
12. Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria
13. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
14. Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes
15. Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
16. Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
17. Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
18. Green Heron - Butorides virescens
19. Carib Grackle - Quiscalus lugubris
20. Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
21. Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola
22. Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis

Incidental Birding

Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)

It looks like the dry spell is finally over.  We had a lot of rain over the last two weeks, not enough to start affecting the water levels in the ponds and wet areas but it is looking promising.  The island though was blanketed by a cloud of Saharan dust for most of last week and reports are that it should continue into this week. 

Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger)

I saw a few interesting birds as I traveled around the island last week.  On Wednesday afternoon I saw two Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) in St. Philip.  The following day, the 20^th, I saw a raft with close to thirty Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) , just off the coast of Speightstown, St. Peter, on the West Coast.  Later that day I recorded my 85^th bird species for the year, when I saw five Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger) while I was driving along the Ermy Bourne Highway, St. Andrew.   The following day I found myself in the northern parish of St. Lucy and in the pond outside the world famous Mount Gay Rum Distilleries I saw a Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) resting peacefully on the pond.  On Saturday afternoon I saw a total of five Masked Ducks (Nomonyx dominicus)at two different locations in the central parish of St. Thomas.  The first four I saw by a bridge at Farmers, two females, and two males.  One of the males was in breeding plumage, showing a blue bill.  The final one, a female, was seen at the SBRC pond.

Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla)

With the rains coming, I am expecting to see more birds as we enter July and then into the fall migration.  Stay tuned to this blog for the latest in birding happenings on the island of Barbados.

Birding Walkers +

Pied-billed Grebe @ Walkers Reserve

With “drought-like conditions”  prevailing and a scarcity of migrating birds, because of the time of year, choosing a location for a few hours of birding was challenging.  I decided to take the suggestion of fellow birder, Dr. John Webster and head east to the parish of St. Andrew.  There, my son Jason, nephew Davion and I, visited Walkers Reserve, Long Pond and made a short visit to Greenland Irrigation Pond.  Here are the highlights.

Walkers Reserve – 23 Species observed

Pied-billed Grebe and two chicks @ Walkers Reserve

This was my first visit to Walkers since the Introduction to Birding workshop on May 25^th  and I was eager to see what birds were around.  John visited the reserve the day after the workshop and saw not only the Ruddy Duck but also reported a Pied-billed Grebe with seven chicks.  I was keen to see them and also to get a good sighting of the Ruddy Duck.  We got started at the Main Pond, which was not the plan but a cluster of shorebirds on the far bank of the pond caught our attention.  We tallied 25 Semipalmated Plovers, 75 Ruddy Turnstones and a Sanderling.  These birds appeared to be in the process of migration as a small mixed group of Turnstones and Plovers flew in and we saw the main group of Turnstones taking to the sky as one body and disappearing over the trees.  As we moved on to the southern pond we quickly located the family of Grebes, the chicks appeared healthy, we even saw one diving.  A few of the Common Gallinules in this pond also had chicks but we never saw the Ruddy Duck.  As we were leaving Walkers we saw a Great Blue Heron wading in the main pond.  It is rare to see Great Blues at this time of year and even more so with the scarcity in seeing them last season, but it was easily my bird of the afternoon.

Long Pond – 14 Species observed

Sanderlings and Semipalmated Plovers @ Long Pond

There were only a few birds at Long Pond.  The main bird of interest was a Sanderling molting to breeding plumage.  The transformation which some birds make to breeding plumage still intrigues me and sanderlings are one of the poster birds for this change.  In normal plumage, it is a pale-ish grey bird but around this time of year, the breeding season, it starts to replace that pale look with a reddish-brown and black livery, making it distinguishable from its non-breeding self.  Sadly while the molting process may start here on the island, by the time the process is completed the bird would already have migrated.

Greenland Irrigation Pond – 8 Species observed

With the sun setting over the hills of St. Andrew, we made our final stop at Greenland Irrigation Pond. This small and usually deep pond has suffered greatly from the dry conditions and is now very shallow and receding at the banks.  This pond  still attracted Common Gallinules (21) but not much else.

At the end of our trip to St. Andrew, we tallied 26 species made up of 388 individual birds.  Common Gallinules accounted for 163 birds with 141 of that number recorded at Walkers Reserve.  Even though I did not see the Ruddy Duck it was still a good afternoon of birding in the east.

---See images here

Birds seen:

1. Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps
2. Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
3. Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
4. Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina
5. Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
6. Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus
7. Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus
8. Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
9. American Coot - Fulica Americana
10. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
11. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres
12. Sanderling - Calidris alba
13. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
14. Great Blue Heron - Ardea Herodias
15. Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
16. Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
17. Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
18. Green Heron - Butorides virescens
19. Caribbean Elaenia - Elaenia martinica
20. Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis
21. Caribbean Martin - Progne dominicensis
22. Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
23. Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola
24. Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola
25. Black-faced Grassquit - Tiaris bicolor
26. Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis