What a year of birding we had in 2022, with 119 bird species seen and reported for the year, many of which can be classified as rare. December added one species to that tally one of the most coveted birds among the local birders, an indigenous species, one which breeds on the island but can be considered a rare species by virtue of the scarcity of sightings. This bird, Audubon Shearwaters (Puffinus lherminieri), over 400 of them, was the only additional species for 2022. More on the birding highlights from 2022 will be coming in a future post so be on the lookout for it
December’s Rare Bird Sightings
Here is a complete list, highlighted parish by parish. (* continuing Birds)
St. Lucy
 |
| Glossy Ibis |
- Glossy Ibis (Plegadis
falcinellus)(6)*- Last year December we saw 3
birds, then in January only one bird, as two of the 3 migrated but in August, 5
birds joined our loan bird.
Fulvous Whistling-Duck - Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna
bicolor)* – the lone duck that was seen last month was joined by
another 2.
Killdeer - Killdeer (Charadrius vociferous) flew into a private marsh late one evening
- Audubon's Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) a night visit to Bird Rock, the first time in some 29 years, tallied 451 sightings.
St. Andrew
 |
| Grey Heron at Bawdens St. Andrew |
- Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) seen at the Bawden ponds.
Christ Church
- Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)(1)* seen on the south coast was most likely our long stay friend.
- American Coot (Red-shielded) (Fulica Americana) - the rarer of the two American Coots, this was discovered at the WSR by Ed, along with a white shielded virity.
- Ruff (Calidris pugnax) - Also was seen at the WSR by Ed Webster hiding among tall grass in the pond.
St. Michael
- Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)(2)* - two birds seen at Brown's Beach late in the month. One a sub-adult, most likely the long-stay bird, and the second, a new arrival, a juvenile bird.
- Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis)* was seen pearched on the fence of the property which is destine to be the new Hyatt Hotel
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 help. A new tool to help with your local bird identification is our Facebook Group, The Birds of Barbados. Click here to join