White-tailed Tropicbird Here!!

White-tailed Tropicbird photo Grete Pasch

What a week, the newest addition to our merry band of birders, Grete Pach, is having.  Already this week she has alerted us of the return of the Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis) in St. James, a bird she first saw and reported on, last year March 20^th.  This is the second record for the island.  She doubled down on her rare bird findings when she and Dr. Webster visited Green Point, St. Philip to see the seasonal Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) migration.  These birds spend most of the year at sea but are close to the island around this time of the year.  She photographed one of the Tropicbirds with a different winged pattern and shared it with us on our local birding alert platform.  Ed Massiah, our local expert, confirmed her hunch that this was indeed a White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) and he also added that her sighting was the first ever confirmed land sighting and could be the first recorded breeding attempt for the island.

Separating P. aethereus and P. lepturus

Red-billed Tropicbirds

White-tailed Tropicbird photo Grete Pasch

There may be difficulty in separating these two tropicbird species; both are predominantly white in colour with black markings on the back and wings, also both adults also show the characteristic of a long white tail feather which is synonymous with these sea birds, but there are a few differences that will help with the correct identification.  First, note the wing patterns when seen in flight, that is the way we normally see them; in the Red-tailed Tropicbird the black markings are on the outer feathers or primary feathers while in the White-tailed Tropicbird along with the black primary markings they also have additional black markings on the inner wings or carpal bar which appears in a V shape looking down on the bird in flight. Size isanother identifying mark.  The White-tailed Tropicbird is marginally smaller than the Red-billed though this may not be always obvious in the field.  Finally the bill colour is also a factor with the Red-billed having a bright red bill while the White-tailed has a yellowish one.  The bill colour can be used as an identification marker in St. Philip, because the birds seen there are normally adult birds but it should be noted that the bills of the juvenile Red-bills are also yellow.

I will try to see both birds in the coming days.  If seen, the White-tailed Tropicbird would be a lifer and the Bat Falcon a yearer for me.  I will let you know how my birding goes, until then enjoy your birding.

References

• Tropicbird Identification by Don Roberson

10th Caribbean Waterbird Census Reveals Signs of Hurricane Recovery and Exciting Discoveries

We are impressed. We are excited. We are hopeful. Yes, CWC 2019 has sparked some emotions among us all!

First and foremost, we at BirdsCaribbean wish to thank you – our partners, who joined in the 2019 Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC). The Census is now in its tenth year of data collection by energetic birders across the region. Over the three-week count period ending on February 3rd, we received a total of 321 checklists from 19 countries, with 212 different species observed. We are deeply impressed by the work you have all put in! .... continue reading here

Good Bye My Friend

Richard doing what he loves

On Monday I said goodbye to an outstanding bird photographer and friend Richard Roach.  I first met Richard through his photographs on the birding sight Bird Forum where he shared images of some of the bird species he saw on the island.  This culminated in a gallery of over 80 high-quality images of common to rare  birds dating back to 2009, including rarities like Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) at WSR in 2010, Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus) in St. Philip and a Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) in 2009, all of which I am hoping we can add to the islands historical record on ebird.org.

I then met Richard physically while on an excursion with my family at Long Pond, St. Andrew in 2013, which I came to learn, was one of his favorite birding locations.  At that time his camera of choice was a Pentax K200D with a Sigma 50-500mm, this was before he joined the Canon family with a 5D MKIII with the matching sigma 50-500mm.  This often led to a double prong taunting of the lone nikon user Dr. Webster.

American Redstart @ Turners Hall in 2015 by Richard

We shared many fun times together, birding the highs and lows of the island and if there is one thing we were sure of it was that Richard always got the shot.  Just two examples of this were in January 2015 when we went to Turners Hall Woods (read about it here) in search of an Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla).  We did not find the Ovenbird but we did find an American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla).  In those dark conditions, he was the only one who got an image.  Later that year, in late September, he and I made a visit to Harrison’s Point in St. Lucy, on getting out of our vehicles we saw a Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus savana) sitting on a tree, Richard got that shot in seconds then the bird disappeared and we never saw it again that day. (see here)

Richard Roach Apral 15, 1957 - January 19, 2019

Richard lost his fight with cancer on January 19^th, 2019 while undergoing treatment in the United States. Shortly after his death, he was cremated and on March 11^th a memorial service was held here in Barbados to celebrate his life. The comments and sentiments I heard expressed by the speakers, have added to my fond memories of my birding pal, Canon brother and friend Richard “double R” Roach.  I would like to express my condolences to his family and friends on behalf of my family and the Birds of Barbados family.

Good Bye my friend.

Checklist update 2019

New birds are slow in coming but that was expected as the year motors on. I was able to add 4 species since my last update on February 6th moving my year tally to 74 species.  While the birds are drying up, as the wet areas across the island are, there is one bird that I am currently searching for. This bird, a Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus), was first seen and reported on, on February 27^th in the St. James area. If seen, this would be my first lifer for the year. Check here to see my full 2019 checklist.