Weekend Birding Blitz

An image of an adult Black-crowned Night-heron by Quincy Clark during last weekend's birding blitz

Last weekend (January 25th-26th) saw a flurry of birding activity across the island. Ten birders, mostly visitors, submitted over 40 checklists to eBird, contributing significantly to our island's 2025 bird list.

The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly the addition of three new species:

• Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea): A stunning discovery by Ed Massiah near Gays St. Peter.
• American Wigeon (Mareca americana): Two of them along with several other duck species, were discovered in a flooded cane field near the Mount Gay Distillery in St. Lucy by the dynamic duo of experienced birder Quincy Clark and first-year birder Ocean Campbell—both of whom are already tallying impressive counts of 70 and 61 species respectively in their Big Year campaigns; 
• Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri): Observed by visiting birder Ian Alkins at the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge (WSR).

What an exhilarating start to the new year! I can’t wait to see how things unfold month by month. If every weekend turns out to be like this one, we might be in for a record-breaking 2025. How wonderful that would be! 

I hope you also had a good weekend of birding, If you did or not, I hope you continue to enjoy your birding. 

The Barbados Birds and Birding Report - November, December

Glossy Ibis no longer consider a rare species

After a bustling October, November and December brought a sense of normalcy with three new yearbirds in November and one in December, wrapping up 2024 with a total of 122 species recorded in Barbados. The three November birds, all mega-rarities, included a Gadwall (Mareca strepera) spotted in St. Lucy, an Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens), and a Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), the latter being a first for the island. December's sole yearbird was a Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus).  The Glossy Ibis ( Plegadis falcinellus) has been a regular feature in this report for several months. Consequently, its status on the island has been upgraded from rare to locally common. Therefore, it will no longer be individually highlighted in this report.

Looking Ahead to January

January is usually very quiet in terms of rare bird arrivals, so don't expect much. However, we have a few birders doing a big year, along with the additional eyes from our new local birders, who completed the tour guide training, plus the start of the tourist season and we are seeing more visitor birding. If there's something to be seen, we will see it. Here is a recap of those rare bird sightings from the previous months, organized parish by parish.

(* denotes birds that remained from previous months)

St. Lucy

• Red Knot (Calidris canutus)(1) a bird seen and photographed by Michael St. John on November 11 and 19th;

  

  Hudsonian Godwit

• Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) - one bird at North Point on November 14th, last seen on 16th;

  

  Gadwall 

• Gadwall (Mareca strepera) - the duck was seen first seen by Mike St. John on 15th, it relocated to another location in the parish and remain into the new year;
• Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) - long stay bird
• 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)

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 thought November and into December, being last seen on December 6th in St. Philip. 
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) (2) - two birds seen at North Point on the 5th.  

St. Andrew

Prothonotary Warbler

• Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) this warbler was recorded at Turners Hall Woods by Julian and Jason Moore on December 14th;

St. Philip

• Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) first seen by John Webster on December 28th. This bird moves between this location and Oistins, in Christ Church;
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) this bird was first seen in October but was last seen in this parish on December 6th;

Christ Church

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

  

  Gull-billed Tern

• Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) suddenly appeared at WSR on November 16th
• Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) - heard by Ed Massiah at Graeme Hall Swamp;
• Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla) - A new species for the island, first seen on November 14th and last seen on December 7th;
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) seen at Woodboure Shorebird Refuge throughout November and December and into the new year .
• Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) (5) - seen by Quncy Clarke at Oistins on November 17th;

  

  Lesser Black-backed Gull

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) this bird made it round at different location around the island and was seen at the Oistins ice pier on the 16th of November;
• Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) first recorded in St. Philip but was frequently seen on the ice pier at Oistins;

  

  Northern Parula

• Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) this wood warbler was a surprised find at the Graeme Hall Swamp by Julian Moore and Ocean Campbell.

St. Michael

• Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) (4) seen offshore by a visitor cruising into 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 help.  A new tool to help with your local bird identification is our Facebook Group, The Birds of Barbados. Click here to join   

Trust to Manage Graeme Hall, Expand Conservation Efforts from Barbados Today

The Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, home to Barbados’s largest remaining mangrove forest, is set to reopen in March following a multi-million-dollar acquisition. The South Coast wetland, closed since 2008, will now operate as a paid facility, creating jobs and boosting ecotourism, the new owner has told Barbados TODAY exclusively. When the sanctuary is reopened, some 20 people will be in full-time jobs and there will be approximately 40 more during the $2.5 million upgrade of the physical amenities. The owner – prominent businessman and philanthropist Anthony Da Silva – also said that by the end of this month, a new entity he spearheaded — the Barbados Wetlands Trust (BWT) – will take control of managing the sanctuary as a national asset dedicated to nature conservation, community engagement and sustainable ecotourism.  The owner – prominent businessman and philanthropist Anthony Da Silva – also said that by the end of this month, a new entity he spearheaded — the Barbados Wetlands Trust (BWT) – will take control of managing the sanctuary as a national asset dedicated to nature conservation, community engagement and sustainable ecotourism. (continue Reading >>>)

Emmanuel Joseph emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb