The Barbados Birds and Birding Report - October

American Wigeon, one of the year birds

October was a bustling month for birds and birding in Barbados. On October 12th, World Migratory Bird Day, we participated in the October Big Day and recorded a record number of species (see here). From the 21st to the 25th, at Walkers Reserve, Birds Caribbean conducted a Bird Guide Certification workshop, introducing a few locals to birding, eBird, and bird guiding. As usual for October, local birders spent many days at Harrison's Point and came away with a few rarities. With all this activity,  eleven species were added to the 2024 checklist, bringing the year's tally to one hundred and seventeen species.
These were the yearbirds during October:   

• Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) - Harrison's Point and few other locations;
• Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) - two birds in St. Philip 
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) - multiple sighing 
• Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) - three birds at Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge;
• Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) seen once at Harrison's Point;
• Common Swift (Apus apus) was also seen at Harrison's Point;
• Western House Martin (Delichon urbicum) another from Harrison's Point;
• Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) - also seen at Harrisson's Point; 
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) - St. Philip;
• American Wigeon (Mareca Americana) - at North Point, St. Lucy.

Looking Forward to November

I don't have to guess about birds and birding in November since we're already past the middle of the month. I can tell you that rare birds continue to pour in, but you'll hear all about that next month.

October's Rarebird Alerts

The number of rare bird sightings this last month was astonishing, it highlighted the island's incredible ability to attract these "unusual" species not only from North America but also from across the Atlantic. Here is a breakdown of the other rare sightings for the month, organized parish by parish.

(* denotes birds that remained from previous months)

St. Lucy

Glossy Ibis

• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)*(7)  - at the usual location at a privately owned wetland.  This species has been removed from the island rarebird list on ebird and hence will no longer appear on this list.
• Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) -bird seen in the in the Checker Hall area;
• Ruff (Calidris pugnax) (1) - showed nicely at North Point for a couple of days;

  

  Chimney Swift

• Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) - first seen at Harrison's Point on the 14th by J. Moore in a mixed flock of swallows;
• Common Swift (Apus apus) - discovered by Niels Larsen at Harrison's Point on the 26th. Identity confirmed by Ed Massiah;

  

  Western House Martin

   
• Western House Martin (Delichon urbicum) (8) was first seen in a mixed flock of swallows on the 23rd at Harrison's Point. (see)
• Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) - a bird calling from the power line just in front of the isolation center at Harrison's Point, was seen briefly by Ed Massiah on the 19th. This would be the third record of the species on the island;

  

  Lesser Black-backed Gull

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)—This bird was seen and photographed at North Point during the October Big Day, but the juvenile bird was spotted at multiple locations around the island for a week or so. 

  

  Tricolored Herons at North Point

• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) (2) - two birds seen at North Point on the 5th.  

St. Peter

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) seen around the Six Men's area. Most likely the same bird that was seen at various coastal locations across the island
• Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) (3) brought excitement to the members of the Bird Guide Certification workshop during an early morning field trip to Cherry Tree Hill;
• Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) (4), four seen late afternoon in the Oxford area;

St. Joseph

• Red Knot (Calidris canutus) was seen by some of the members of the Bird Guide Certification workshop  at Bathsheba on the 20th; 

White-tailed Hawk

• White-tailed Hawk (Geranoaetus albicaudatus)* - A bird seen and described by a nonbirder this bird in the location where this bird was last seen at Cambridge. This bird was first seen at the end of April and later found regularly at a pond in St. John. It then relocated to the East Coast, hills of Cambridge, St. Joseph. 

St. Philip

• Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) (7) - seven birds were photographed by Reg Wilson and posted on Facebook on October 3rd;
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) briefly seen by John Webster at a private location; 
• Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica)(2) - seen by John Webster at a private location on the 8th;
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) - this was the first record of this species for the month;
• Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - seen on the 15th;
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) seen at Green Point by Mike St. John. This was the first sighting of this large gull for the month.

Christ Church

• Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) - seen at Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge during the October Big Day islandwide birding event;

Two of the five Least Terns at Inch Marlow

• Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) (5) - these birds spent a few days on the beach at Inch Marlow
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) was and is regularly seen at Woodboure Shorebird Refuge.

St. Michael

Audouin's Gull

• Audouin's Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii)* This bird was first seen on June 20th and remained throughout October.

St. Thomas

• Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) - this roosting bird was seen by Beny Wilson, one of the facilitators for the Bird Guide Certification workshop,   while on tour at Earthworks Pottery, Edgehill.

St. James

Common Nighthawk

• Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) - I saw and photographed this bird while driving along the Ronald Mapp by Landcaster on the 14th. It was busy hawking for insects with hundreds of bats.

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