The Barbados Birds and Birding Report - September

Snail Kite

It was a September we will remember. The birders of Barbados submitted over 100 completed checklists to ebird with 69 bird species.  Eight new birds were added to the Barbados year checklist ending the month at 105 species for the year. One such bird, a Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), was a new species for the island moving our avian record to 273,  according to the Clements Checklist^#. The other birds were Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), Red Knot (Calidris canutus), Striated Heron (Butorides striata), Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus), Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), and a Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor).

During the month we saw notable movement in some species, like Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) and  American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) for example. At Chancery Lane on the 28^th John Webster tallied 56 individual Golden-Plovers, while Barns can be seen across the island in numbers. I counted close to 100 birds hawking over and around the raceway at Vaucluse in St. Thomas.  To a lesser extent, we had a mini  Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) inflow.  Since August 2019 we had one bird in St. Lucy.  Another bird joined that one in August, while yet another bird was seen there during a visit in September bringing the total to three birds at this private location. One bird was recorded at Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge in late August and remained throughout September.  Yet another Glossy was photographed at the Walker Reserved in the late in the month making a total of 5 on the island.  

We had a spike in South American rare birds during the month.  This may have been the result of the southerly winds we were experiencing over a few days.  We had the Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) at Bay Street on the south coast, Striated Heron (Butorides striata) at SBRC in St. Thomas, Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor), and a Collared Plover (Charadrius collaris). This may continue during October as weather systems continue to impact the island.

September Rare Bird Sightings

Here is a list of Rare Birds seen during the last month parish by Parish  (* continuing Birds)

St. Lucy

• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) (3)* The first bird has been around since August 2019, it was joined by another in August and now another one in September.

  

  Wilson's Phalarope

  
  
• Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) – John Webster discovered this bird at River bay. It had an injured eye.
• Collared Plovers (Charadrius collaris)* - seen at North Point, next to Animal Flower Cave

St. Andrew 

• American Coot ((White Shielded) Fulica Americana) (6)*, 5 at The Walkers Reserve, and 1 at Bawdens. These birds were here for more than a year, nesting expected. 
• American Coot ((Red Shielded) Fulica Americana)* the rarer of the two American Coots.  This bird is paired with one of the White Shielded mentioned above at Bawdens.
• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) – a photograph of this GLIB was shared with local birders.

St. Thomas

Striated Heron 

• Striated Heron (Butorides striata) was seen at the SBRC pond. This South American species returns to this location year after year.

St. Philip

• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)* at Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge (WSR), bird first seen on the 28^th of August.
• Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) was reported by John Webster on the 23^rd

Christ Church

•  Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) three reported at Chancery Lane. 

  

  Tricolored Heron

  
  
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) a juvenile at Silver Rock’s  estuary on the 26^th

St. Michael

Snail Kite

• Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) at Bay Street, a first for the island

Feel free to contact me, Julian Moore @ 100birdsbarbados@gmail.com, John Webster @ barbadosbirds@gmail.com, or Ed Massiah @ ebmassiah@hotmail.com to report any rare bird sightings, or if you need assistance identifying a bird, we would be happy to assist. 

^#Clements Checklist v2019 / Avibase
* continuing Birds from previous month(s)