October Big Day and Global Bird Weekend

The island put on a show for the October Big Day and the Global Bird Weekend.  Close to ten birders got out birding either on the 17^th or 18^th or on both days, recording a total of 69 species for the weekend.  Here are a few highlights.

October Big Day on the 17^th

The two main teams started at either end of the island. The Moore Birders, a team made up of my wife, two children, and myself, started at the north of the island and worked our way east then south, ending our day at Pile Bay, St Michael.  The team recorded 65 species included a few rarities, but the bird of the day, well two of them, were a pair of beautiful Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) at the polluted Graeme Hall Swamp.

John Webster was part of a regional team called The Rare Bird Club.  He started on the South Coast and worked his way north.  He recorded 54 species included a few rare birds with his highlight bird being a Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) at the Oistin pier.  The two other birders, Ed Massiah, and a visiting birder recorded 24 and 55 species respectively, giving the island an October Big Day record total of 66 species, all of which also counted towards the Global Bird Weekend. 

Global Bird Weekend

The Global Bird Weekend is a new initiative that encourages birders from across the world to “come together as a global community and celebrate birds, by participating in birdwatching, birdwatching events, citizen science, and conservation”.  The intensity that was shown on day one did not continue into day two.  Four birders made it out birding and added two more species to the Weekend's checklist.  Ed an Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) in st. Lucy and another visiting birder a Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) at the Boardwalk in Hastings, Christ Church.  It was a good weekend of birding for all.

See image here 

Here is a list of the birds seen on the weekend (*birds seen on the 18th)

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. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
11. Green-throated Carib (Eulampis holosericeus)
12. Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus)
13. Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
14. American Coot (Red-shielded) (Fulica americana (Red-shielded))
15. American Coot (White-shielded) (Fulica americana (White-shielded))
16. Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
17. American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
18. Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)
19. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
    
20. Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)*
21. Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
22. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
23. Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
24. Sanderling (Calidris alba)
25. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
26. White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)
27. Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
28. Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
29. Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
30. Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
31. Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
32. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
33. Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
34. Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
35. Willet (Tringa semipalmata)
36. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
37. Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)
38. Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)
39. Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)
40. Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
41. Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus)
42. Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)
43. Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
44. Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)*
45. Great Egret (Ardea alba)
46. Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
47. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
48. Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
49. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
50. Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
51. Striated Heron (Butorides striata)
52. Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
53. Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
54. Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis)
55. Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
56. Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
57. Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica)
58. Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
59. Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)
60. Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis)
61. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
62. Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
63. Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris)
64. Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)
65. Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
66. Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola)
67. Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)
68. Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)
69. Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor)