Birders Out In Full Force (November 23)

The local birders were out in full force this morning, spanning from the east to the north coast. Even though we did not visit all of the birding areas, we recorded over 40 species, including a few rare ones.

The North

My son Jason and I, visited the northern parish of St. Lucy. It was a complete contrast to the last time I visited.  Then everything was dry, now, every location  we visited had water, with some even full to the brink.  This was because of the downpour of rain we had during the last week. Many shorebirds were around, with us recording over 10 species including a <>rare Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus).  The ducks are still arriving and we counted 31 Blue-winged Teals (Spatula discors) at one location.  As the water settles and Dragonflies, fish, and tadpoles begin to strive in them, I am sure the number of birds will increase.

The East

John Webster, Ed Massiah, Jason and I all visited eastern parishes. John spent most of his time at Greenland collecting images - stills, and motion on a rare male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) at that pond.  He also drew our attention to a duck he saw there that was much like a female Blue-winged Teal but had a very light-colored belly/underbody when compared to the Blue-winged Teal. It was also somewhat smaller. 

Ed went to the eastern parish of St. Philip to see a pair of Ruffs,  first seen by John two days ago. Sadly he did not see them but saw over 40 Black-bellied Plovers and over 50 Semipalmated Sandpiper and a semirare Western Sandpiper.

Jason and I added another an eastern rarity to the list and a lifer for him. We saw a juvenile Purple Gallinule at Redlands Irrigation Pond in the parish of St John.

A good morning of birding was had by all. Below are the birds we saw.

1. Blue-winged Teal - Spatula discors
2. Northern Pintail Anas acuta
3. Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
4. Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
5. Common Ground Dove - Columbina passerina
6. Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
7. Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
8. Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus
9. Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus
10. Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinica
11. Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola
12. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
13. Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus
14. Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus
15. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres
16. Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
17. White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis
18. Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
19. Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri
20. Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus
21. Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
22. Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
23. Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria
24. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
25. Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes
26. Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens
27. Great Egret - Ardea alba
28. Snowy Egret Egretta thula
29. Green Heron - Butorides virescens
30. Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
31. Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon
32. Caribbean Elaenia - Elaenia martinica
33. Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis
34. Black-whiskered Vireo - Vireo altiloquus
35. Shiny Cowbird - Molothrus bonariensis
36. Carib Grackle - Quiscalus lugubris
37. Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
38. Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
39. Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola
40. Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola
41. Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis
42. Black-faced Grassquit - Melanospiza bicolor

Rare Birds Update: October

October is always a hive of activity for local birders as we all head north to the parish of St. Lucy in search of migratory birds.  One must-see on most of our list is a small bird, a champion of migration, the Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)*.  This small bird makes a 12,400 miles (20,000 km) roundtrip each year, some crossing the entire North American continent before making a nonstop trans-ocean flight for up to four days to South America.  Other than the Blackpolls, we saw some other rare birds for the island.

Mega-Rare

• Ed Massiah reported a Wilson's Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) at Chancery Lane, Christ Church on the 5^th.  He also noted that one of the Whimbrels there was a European subspecies.

Black-headed Gull 

• A Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) was seen perching on the roof of a fishing boat moored at Pile Bay, St. Michael.

• On Wednesday afternoon of the 23^rd, while out in the field with the University of the West Indies, Bio-diversity study students, we observed a Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor ), which flew directly over our heads. 

White-winged Tern

• A White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) was seen from the 10^th to 12^th in St. Lucy.  This may have been the same bird that was seen in St. Philip during September.
• A pair of Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), the shovel billed duck, was seen in St. Lucy on 

Rare

Hudsonian Godwit

• Three Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) sightings were reported in October.  The first two on the 3^rd at Chancery Lane and the 18^th in St. Philip, were seen by John Webster and I saw the third on the 23^rd in St. Lucy.

• A Juvenile Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica) was discovered at Greenland, St. Andrew by John Webster on the 20^th
  
  



Bobolinks

• Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) in St. Lucy on 19^th 

Continuing Rares 

Grey Heron

• Grey Herons (Ardea cinereal) were seen in St. Lucy, St. Andrew, St. Thomas and St. Philip. This may have just been two birds moving around;  
• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in St. Lucy first seen in August; 



American (Caribbean) Coots

• American (Caribbean) Coots (Fulica americana) has grown to 5 in total at Walkers Reserve, St. Andrew. 
• A Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)  continues on the south coast. It was photographed by my niece at Carlisle's Bay.

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Blackpoll Warbler

Notable Mentions: The Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) migration is in full effect and a few birds were seen in the latter half of October; Yellow-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus) were seen in St. Lucy, St. Andrew and St. John during the month.  The Pied-billed Grebes(Podilymbus podiceps) at Walkers are continuing to grow in numbers – a visit to the reserve on the 26^th  tallied 10 birds, mostly adults.  It was good to see the return of this bird to St. Andrew.

As we move into November, rarity month, stay tuned to this blog for the most up to date local birding sightings.


        *About Blackpoll migration and here

October Big Day—19 Oct 2019

Are you taking part in the October Big Day? Follow this link to see how you can be a part. here

Happy Birding

Banded Bird Discomfort

I know oh too well, that bird ringing/banding plays an important part in ornithology but I do look forward to a time when it is replaced by a much less intrusive technique. This Semipalmated Sandpiper I saw during the Global Shorebirds Count was clearly show signs of discomfort and sadly it was not the first banded bird I have seen showing behavior like this.  I do hope it quickly becoming a thing of the pass.

News : 3 billion birds lost in U.S. & Canada since 1970

A study published today in the journal Science reveals that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signaling a widespread ecological crisis. The results show tremendous losses across diverse groups of birds and habitats — from iconic songsters such as meadowlarks to long-distance migrants such as swallows and backyard birds including sparrows.

Continue reading here >>>

September: Rares, Rares Rares

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

It is looking like a September to remember.  What a bold, early prediction you may say, but thus far for the month we have seen a mega-rare bird, two rare ones and unusual numbers, and we are just  12 vdays into the month.  Look at what we saw so far.

Mega-Rare Bird

On September 5^th,  John Webster saw a small tern while birding in the eastern parish of St. Philip.  The bird was identified as a White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus), which is one of the terns commonly referred to as marsh terns.  This small Eurasian Tern, about 9-10” (23-27cm), breeds in central Europe through central Asia, and locally in eastern Asia, with a wintering range that includes Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeastern Asia, and the Australian region.  This would make the 6^th record of this species for Barbados (The Birds of Barbados: An Annotated Checklist (BOU Checklist Series): Paul A. Buckley, Edward B. Massiah el.at).
Check out this article on Marsh Terns from Birdguides.com

Rare Birds

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Three species of birds that would be considered rare for the island was recorded thus far for September.  Even though some may not consider them rare because one or two are seen almost yearly, they are rare to our region or to our island according to ebird.org.  On the second of September and today, a Brown Pelican(Pelecanus occidentalis)was seen sitting on a buoy in the bay at Pile Bay, St. Michael.  This bird may be the same bird that was seen multiple times last month on the south coast.  The other bird was a Red Knot (Calidris canutus) that was seen on September 03^rd, by John Webster.

Rare Numbers

We had a few interesting numbers during the month, but two really stood out.  On September 2^nd  John did the first-ever Big Sit* for the island.  He saw 38 species, which in itself was outstanding for one location,  but not as mind-blowing as the 255 Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) he saw.  He promised to share his experience with us on the blog so look out for that.  On the morning of the 7^th, Edward Massiah saw nine Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) in St. Lucy.  This was a significant number as was shown by Ed’s comments when he said “Largest flock of adults I have ever seen!”.

Migration is definitely in full swing.  What else will show up in the month of September?  Whatever it is you will know about it here.

What is a Big Sit?

Cuban Martin - Mega-rare

Cuban Martin (Progne cryptoleuca)

Finding a rarity is always exciting but when it is a mega-rare bird, even better.  That is what happened on Saturday, August, 24^th at Bruce Vale in St. Andrew. The bird I saw was a Cuban Martin (Progne cryptoleuca), a close relative of our Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis).  The most noticeable difference between the two Martins is the Caribbean shows a white underpart while the male Cuban shows very dark underparts.  I at first incorrectly identified the bird as a Purple Martin  (Progne subis), another close member of the Martin family, but this was amended when the images were shown to author of the book Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Field Guide and expert on Cuban endemics – Mr. Nils Navarro. Here is an excerpt  of his response:

On this picture you can see:

1. Male and female in typical plumage, Males completely dark and female with a brown breast like in Cubans. 
   
2. If you see the male close is possible to see the white section of the feathers in the abdomen, that is typical in Cuban Martin, due its specific name cryptoleuca (hidden white), I have seen close and they have the same white area of the Caribbean Martins, but the tip of the feathers are dark and by this reason they look like completely dark, but the molting immature males in 1st year or less looks like the Caribbean with black markings and flecks...

This could be the second confirmed record of this species on the island, the first was seen in October 2002, at Newcastle St. John.(The Birds of Barbados – P.A. Buckley, Edward Massiah et. al.)

What a way to end the month of August with a Mega.

This is an informative article on Cuban/Purple Martin Identification