Osprey KW0

From the Youtube Page of Polly@pollyt

Polly@pollyt

An Incredible Week of Birding

The week, starting Monday, March 20th through to the 26th, was an incredible week of birding on the island.  It was not a week of celebration of any birding events that I know of, nor was it a planned week of increasing birding locally but for some reason, all the local birders and a few visitors came out during that week. The results? Over 110 checklists were submitted to ebird by close to fifteen birders, tallying up to 66 bird species which included a few rare birds. 

Garganey was seen in the parish of St. Lucy on the 20th

The week started off with a mega-rare Garganey (Spatula querquedula), which was seen in the parish of St. Lucy.  Another new rare for the year was a Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) seen at Pile Bay.  This bird was around for a few weeks.  The others are our usual suspects -  Lesser Black-backed Gull  (Larus fuscus), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), and a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus).  See the full list of birds seen during that week. 

1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
2. Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata
3. Garganey Spatula querquedula
4. Blue-winged Teal Spatula discors
5. Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis
6. Masked Duck Nomonyx dominicus
7. Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
8. Rock Pigeon Columba livia
9. Scaly-naped Pigeon Patagioenas squamosa
10. Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
11. Common Ground Dove Columbina passerina
12. Zenaida Dove Zenaida aurita
13. Eared Dove Zenaida auriculata
14. Green-throated Carib Eulampis holosericeus
15. Antillean Crested Hummingbird Orthorhyncus cristatus
16. Sora Porzana carolina
17. Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
18. American Coot Fulica Americana
19. Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
20. Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
21. Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
22. Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
23. Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus
24. Sanderling Calidris alba
25. Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
26. Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla
27. Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata
28. Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
29. Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
30. Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
31. Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
32. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
33. Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
34. Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
35. Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus
36. Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens
37. Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
38. Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
39. Great Blue Heron Ardea Herodias
40. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
41. Great Egret Ardea alba
42. Little Egret Egretta garzetta
43. Snowy Egret Egretta thula
44. Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
45. Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
46. Green Heron Butorides virescens
47. Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
48. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
49. Osprey Pandion haliaetus
50. Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
51. Merlin Falco columbarius
52. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
53. Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri
54. Orange-winged Parrot Amazona amazonica
55. Caribbean Elaenia Elaenia martinica
56. Gray Kingbird Tyrannus dominicensis
57. Black-whiskered Vireo Vireo altiloquus
58. Caribbean Martin Progne dominicensis
59. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
60. Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis
61. Carib Grackle Quiscalus lugubris
62. Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechial
63. Grassland Yellow-Finch Sicalis luteola
64. Bananaquit Coereba flaveola
65. Barbados Bullfinch Loxigilla barbadensis
66. Black-faced Grassquit Melanospiza bicolor 

A Transatlantic Flight from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation

 

KW0 was photographed in Barbados on 9th March (photo by Michael St John)

... A few weeks ago Michael St John got in touch with photos that he had taken on 9^th March of a first-winter female Osprey with a blue-colour ring on its left leg. Nothing unusual there until I noticed where he had seen it – Bawdens Irrigation Pond in the north of Barbados in the Caribbean! The ring number was clearly visible – KW0, which indicated it was a bird from Scotland. continue reading here 

The Foundation was set-up by Roy Dennis in June 1995 and since then we have undertaken innovative species restoration work, been at forefront of bird migration research, and become a leading advocate for the restoration of natural ecosystems. learn more here

RBTB at Green Point

Red-billed Tropicbird

I made a brief visit to the Red-billed Tropicbirds (Phaethon aethereus) nesting cliff at Green Point St. Philip on Thursday. On arrival, it was very quiet, with just one bird seen far out to sea, but that soon changed as more and more birds flew in from the ocean.  Some birds appeared to be actively searching for nesting areas in crevices in the face of the cliff. 

A Red-billed Tropicbird entering a crevice 

Their made repeated flights to the rock face, as if entering a specific hole then pulled away at the last minute.  This inspection continued repeatedly along the cliff front, going in a northerly direction.  Two birds successfully entered holes, like the one in the image above, and a different bird flew out of another, directly out to sea. In the 45 minutes I spent on the sea ridge I counted eleven birds but I am sure there are more nesting pairs along the coast. Here are a few more images from the outing.

Taken from the blog The Enthusiastic Birder

Join the 2023 Caribbean Seabird Census

Whether it’s the regal tropicbird in a crevice, the boisterous Sooty Tern overhead, or the Brown Booby sitting defiantly on its nest, it’s exciting to be among seabirds of all kinds. This year we encourage you to join the excitement during the 2023 Caribbean Seabird Census!  (or CSC23).

WHO can take part? This groundbreaking effort relies on participants to get out and count seabirds locally. Whether you manage a seabird nesting island as part of your professional duties, are an avid amateur ornithologist or birder, or are new to the seabird world but keen to get involved, you can take part in CSC23!

WHEN will CSC23 take place?  It has already started but will run until the end of 2023! And a bit longer for species that nest over December-January. The best time to census nesting colonies of tropical seabirds is during the peak nesting period. The timing of this peak depends on species and can vary between islands – have a look at our Species Hours webinars (below) to learn ... continue reading here >>

Global Big Day—13 May 2023 By Team eBird

 

Be a part of birding’s biggest team! Global Big Day is an annual celebration of the birds around you. No matter where you are, join us virtually on 13 May, help celebrate World Migratory Bird Day, and share the birds you find with eBird.

Participating is easy—you can even be part of Global Big Day from home. If you can spare 5 or 10 minutes, report your bird observations to eBird online or with our free eBird Mobile app. If you have more time, submit several checklists of birds throughout the day. You never know what you might spot. Your observations help us better understand global bird populations through products like these animated abundance maps brought to you by eBird Science.

Last year, Global Big Day brought birders together virtually from more countries than ever before. More than 51,000 people from 201 countries submitted 132,000 checklists with eBird, setting new world records for a single day of birding. Will you help us surpass last year’s records?

How to participate

• Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s sightings into a single massive Global Big Day list—while at the same time collecting the data to help scientists better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free from start to finish.
• Watch birds on 13 May: It’s that simple. You don’t need to be a bird expert or go out all day long, even 10 minutes of birding from home counts. Global Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You can report what you find from anywhere in the world.
• Enter what you see and hear in eBird: You can enter your sightings via our website or download the free eBird Mobile app to make submitting lists even easier. Please enter your checklists before 16 May to be included in our initial results announcement.
  
• Watch the sightings roll in: During the day, follow along with sightings from more than 200 countries in real-time on our Global Big Day page. 

Continue reading >>>