"From early July there is a trickle of migrant shorebirds passing through Barbados en route from their distant North American breeding grounds … to winter in South America …By August this trickle has become a stream, swell on occasions to a flood which continues on through September ….”
Maurice Bateman Hutt
in his book A Naturalists Year in
Barbados
This stream is flowing in
anticipation of flooding. The north bound migration is in full effect. For the month of August I posted eight (8) birds
moving my count to 65 species. I also added five (5) new species to my year and
life count both of which now stands at 77 species.
The Stream
The stream of migrating birds
continued into the month of August. My
checklist for that month consisted of forty-three (43) different species of
birds. While in July the Least Sandpiper and the Semipalmated Plover were the
most birds recorded in numbers, in the month of August it
was the Semipalmated Sandpiper.
The rain has finally arrived. With almost a week of rain many of the swamps,
ponds and water holes now contain water. Chancery Lane, whose water level was so low
that I walked on dry swamp beds, is now the fullest I have seen it for the
year. See some of the birds recorded there in Table 1 below.
Another location which benefited
from the rains was an old and abandoned shooting swamp at North Point St. Lucy;
it is located on the northern Coast of the island. The shooting hut, a reminder
of its past, was flattened by a storm system a few years ago, but the tray that
remains attracts many migrating shorebirds. If some local birds and conservationist had
their way it would be the second Shorebird Sanctuary, after WRS, on the island.
I visited that location on August 28th
and 31st and recorded eighteen species of birds. Some of
the birds recorded there in Table 2 below:
Table 1: Chancery Lane
Common Name
|
Scientific
Name
|
Whimbrels
|
Numenius
phaeopus
|
Ruddy Turnstones
|
Arenaria
interpres
|
Sanderlings
|
Calidris
alba
|
Least sandpipers
|
Calidris
minutilla
|
Semipalmated Sandpipers
|
Calidris
pusilla
|
Western Sandpipers
|
Calidris mauri
|
Spotted Sandpipers
|
Actitis
macularius
|
Semipalmated Plovers
|
Charadrius
semipalmatus
|
Table 2: North Point
Common Name
|
Scientific
Name
|
Semipalmated
Sandpiper
|
Calidris
pusilla
|
Solitary
Sandpipers
|
Tringa
solitaria
|
Pectoral Sandpipers
|
Calidris
melanotos
|
Western Sandpipers
|
Calidris mauri
|
Least Sandpipers
|
Calidris
minutilla
|
Spotted Sandpipers
|
Actitis
macularius
|
Greater Yellowlegs
|
Tringa
melanoleuca
|
Semipalmated Plovers
|
Charadrius
semipalmatus
|
American Golden
Plovers
|
Pluvialis
dominica
|
White Rumped
Sandpiper
|
Calidris
fuscicollis
|
(See photograph below taken by my
son Jason of the remains of the shooting hut)
My Photo of the Month
My Photo of
the Month is of a Sanderling on the shores of Martin Bay in St. John on the East
Coast of the island. This beautiful
fishing village attracts a number of shorebirds. This photograph was taken on August 25th,
2013. Everything was perfect for the
photo so I chose it as my Photo of the Month.
September
For
September, I am hoping to post ten birds. While the northern migration is in
full effect, I am hoping it will be a bit easier. The shooting Swamps are still out of bounds
with a month and a half remaining in the season. With the North Point Swamp coming into play this
should help a lot. Another plus is that I
am starting my vacation on September 2nd for two weeks.
With four
months to go I need another thirty-four (34) birds for my photo challenge and
another forty-three (43) for my year goal of one hundred and twenty (120) birds
for the year. Where am I going to find
these birds? I sent out a SOS to local birders. If you have any to spare one you can also
send them to Barbados W.I. lol.
So on to
September may the flood of birds begin…
Below are
some of the birds I photographed throughout the month of August.
