Introduction to Birding Workshop

Workshop participants getting a good view of a Short-billed Dowitcher 

I had an enjoyable afternoon at Walkers Reserve on Saturday, May 25^th.  It was all about birds and birding as I had the privilege of making a presenting to 17 participants in the classroom on the theme “Introduction to Birding”.  After which, we went into the reserve for some birding, seeking to put into practice what was discussed in the classroom.

We got started around 3:15 pm with Jonathan Ramsay, Regeneration Coordinator at Walkers, giving a brief update on the ongoing project before introducing me to the group.  

We got started by first highlighting the basic anatomy of birds and encouraged using those terms when describing birds.  We then took a look at a few keys that can assist in positively identifying birds.  The keys that were highlighted and elaborated on were Physical Features, behaviour, songs and calls, habitats and field marks.

We considered a few devices that can enhance our naturally attained birding “tools” such as our sight, our hearing and the analytical abilities made possible by our marvelously made brain.  We looked at binoculars – the best specs for birding and the correct usage, we also took a look at field guides, both the book and app versions, just to mention a few.  When discussing making effective field notes. The participants undertook an exercise, which involved drawing a bird highlighted in a short video clip and providing enough information on the drawing to allow for someone (we used Jonathan), to identify the bird without seeing the clip.  We had fun with some of the creative drawings but Jonathan eventually identified the bird correctly, as a Blue Wing Teal drake in alternate plumage.  The point was made; it is not the quality of the drawing but the quality of the information that goes along with the drawing.

The final part of the workshop, before heading off birding, was to highlight by means of photographs, a few of the species which we were expecting encounter.  I highlighted the field markings to look for on each of them and with physically close species, such as the Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris) and Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) and the Snowy (Egretta thula) and Little Egrets (Egretta garzetta), images were displayed side by side to emphasize the species differences. For birds such as the Caribbean Elaenia(Elaenia martinica) and Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus) which you may hear before seeing, a recording of their calls and sounds were played to familiarize the group.

We started the birding part of the workshop about 5 pm, a ½ hour later than I expected, but a few nice teaching opportunities presented themselves right away.  One of them involved the first two birds we saw on leaving the classroom, a Barbados Bullfinch(Loxigilla barbadensis) feeding a noisy Shiny-cowbird chick.  In class, we spoke briefly about the cowbird’s brood parasitic ways but mainly with the Carib Grackle as host, but we all were now witnessing something that is rarely seen a Barbados Bullfinch as host.  In the failing light of the afternoon, as the choiring sounds of the Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechia) punctuated the unmistakable laughter of the Common Gallinules, my bird of the day was confirmed.  

Looking for the Ruddy Duck. Great spotting!

A bird was first seen by one of the mature female members of the group, with her naked eyes, which was waved off initially as just being a rock by another participant.  It turned out to be a male Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), a rare bird for this island.  Of course, as new birders, most were just happy to see a duck, while the spotter was happy it was not a rock.  I was happy though because it was my 83^rd recorded species for the year.  The birding section of the workshop came to an end in the evening’s dwindling light with the promise of meeting again to complete the birding at Walkers.

This was a fun group and my hope is that most of them would take up birding as a hobby and add to the rich data on ebird for the Birds of Barbados.

Here is a list of the birds we saw and heard

1.  Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
2.  Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
3.  Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa)
4.  Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
5.  Common Ground-Dove (Columbina passerine)
6.  Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)
7.  Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)8.  American Coot (White-shielded)Fulica americana 
9.  Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
10.Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
11.Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
12.Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
13.Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
14.Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
15.Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
16.Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
17.Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis)
18.Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
19.Yellow Warbler (Golden) (Setophaga petechia [petechia Group])
20.Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola)
21.Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)
22.Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor)
23.Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)