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| Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) |
On February
13, just one day before the start of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I had the
privilege of spending the day with two visiting birders as we seek out the
birds of Barbados. And what a day it
was! We visited all eleven parishes and saw over fifty species of Birds. Here are a few of the highlights.
Our first
stop was at The Graeme Hall Swamp at 6:45 AM. This important mangrove system is
taking an environmental battering, which is changing the ecosystem in the area
for the worse. The canals and channels along the border and throughout the
mangroves are being strangled by two very destructive water weeds - Water
Cabbage (Pistia stratiotes) and the beautiful but suffocating and invasive
Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) aka the world's worst waterweed. Both
plants were foreign to the swamp’s ecosystem pre-environmental meltdown, but
that is sounding like a topic for another post.
We got a glance of one of our target birds for this stop, five
Orange-winged Parrots (Amazona amazonica), and our second target a few minutes
later, two Northern Waterthrushs (Parkesia noveboracensis), a migratory wood
warbler which winters on the island.
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| Royal Terns (Thalasseus maximus) |
From there we
traveled along the south coast to Oistins were we saw Royal Terns (Thalasseus
maximus), 51 Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) and a few Sanderlings
(Calidris alba). Then to Ocean City for Red-billed Tropicbirds (Phaethon
aethereus). From there we made a few stops at private locations in St. Philip
and saw 169 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis), a Ruff
(Calidris pugnax), American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) and a few other
shorebirds and herons.
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| Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) |
Around 11:30
AM, we started heading towards the Walkers Reserve St. Andrew, via St. John,
St. George, and St. Thomas. We saw a
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) in St. John, and hummingbirds at Farmers St.
Thomas. Walkers Reserve was one of the
high points of the day. We witnessed one
of the three American Coots (Fulica americana (White-shielded)) fully diving
and staying underwater for 5-10 seconds, a behavior that is uncommon to this
species, it took us all by surprise. We were also amazed by the number of
Common Gallinules (Gallinula galeata), 87 in total, at that location. Our final
stop, in the parish of St. Lucy, sometime around 3:30 PM, gave us the birds of
the day, the elusive Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) and the Glossy Ibis
(Plegadis falcinellus).
All around it
was a wonderful day of birding, we saw 54 species in total, a few lifers for
them, and a few year birds for me, but the best part was spending the day with
two birders, sharing the birds of Barbados with them.
Here is the full checklist
1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
(Dendrocygna autumnalis)
2. Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)
3. Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus
podiceps)
4. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba
livia (Feral Pigeon))
5. Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas
squamosa)
6. Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia
decaocto)
7. Common Ground Dove (Columbina
passerina)
8. Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)
9. Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata)
10. Green-throated
Carib (Eulampis holosericeus)
11. Antillean
Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus)
12. Common
Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
13. American
Coot (White-shielded) (Fulica americana (White-shielded))
14. Black-bellied
Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
15. American
Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
16. Southern
Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)
17. Semipalmated
Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
18. Ruddy
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
19. Ruff
(Calidris pugnax)
20. Stilt
Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
21. Sanderling
(Calidris alba)
22. Least
Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
23. Semipalmated
Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
24. Short-billed
Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
25. Wilson's
Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
26. Spotted
Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
27. Solitary
Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
28. Greater
Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
29. Lesser
Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
30. Royal
Tern (Thalasseus maximus)
31. Red-billed
Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus)
32. Magnificent
Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)
33. Grey
Heron (Ardea cinerea)
34. Great
Egret (Ardea alba)
35. Little
Egret (Egretta garzetta)
36. Snowy
Egret (Egretta thula)
37. Cattle
Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
38. Green
Heron (Butorides virescens)
39. Glossy
Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
40. Peregrine
Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
41. Rose-ringed
Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
42. Orange-winged
Parrot (Amazona amazonica)
43. Caribbean
Elaenia (Elaenia martinica)
44. Gray
Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
45. Black-whiskered
Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)
46. Caribbean
Martin (Progne dominicensis)
47. Shiny
Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
48. Carib
Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris)
49. Northern
Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)
50. Yellow
Warbler (Golden) (Setophaga petechia [petechia Group])
51. Grassland
Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola)
52. Bananaquit
(Coereba flaveola)
53. Barbados
Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)
54. Black-faced
Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor)
