31 species in the first week of 2014
The phone
rang, I got up and looked at the clock, it was 5:50am and raining outside. I was warm under the covers with my wife next
to me, keeping me warm. I struggled out
of bed and answered the telephone. A
voice on the line said “I’m here, how far are you?” You see, a day before I had promised to go
out with a new birder/Photographer. During
2014 he will be trying to photograph the 100 birds which I was unable to
photograph in 2013. So there he was, in
the cold, windy, wet outdoors and I was in bed. My reply was “did you not get my message?” I had
messaged him earlier cancelling the morning’s trip. “No.” was the reply “I am here”. My response, “ok,
I will be there in half an hour”… This
started my birding for 2014.
January 1st
Our first
stop was the Hope Pond, St. Lucy to the North of the island. I had heard that flocks of Masked Ducks “Nomonyx dominicus ” were seen there. At that pond I recorded five of them, 4 hens
and a drake with his beautiful blue bill, as my first birds for 2014. In total, in one hour, I recorded eight (8)
species of birds.
See the table below.
|
The next stop
was at Checker Hall, also in St. Lucy. I
was able to add eleven (11) bird species to my list. I observed a couple of Sandpipers, Egrets and
an Osprey. See table below.
Common
Names
|
Scientific
Names
|
Great Egret
|
Ardea alba
|
Little Egret
|
Egretta garzetta
|
Snowy Egret
|
Egretta thula
|
Osprey
|
Pandion haliaetus
|
Solitary Sandpiper
|
Tringa solitaria
|
Greater Yellowlegs
|
Tringa melanoleuca
|
Lesser Yellowlegs
|
Tringa flavipes
|
Least Sandpiper
|
Calidris minutilla
|
Semipalmated
Sandpiper
|
Calidris pusilla
|
Wilson's Snipe
|
Gallinago delicate
|
Grassland
Yellow-Finch
|
Sicalis luteola
|
From Checker
Hall, we moved to the Fishing Village of Six Men’s Bay in the Parish of St.
Peter to see the now famous flock of Sanderlings which winter there
yearly. I was not disappointed. On
arrival at Six Men’s Bay I was greeted by a flock of over 50 Sanderlings,
feeding on fish parts from the market. I
was also able to observe a banded bird, Y2L, which I reported to www.bandedbirds.org .
See the table
below.
Common
Names
|
Scientific
Names
|
Sanderling
|
Calidris alba
|
Spotted Sandpiper
|
Actitis macularius
|
Ruddy Turnstone
|
Arenaria interpres
|
Zenaida Dove
|
Zenaida aurita
|
Bananaquit
|
Coereba flaveola
|
Magnificent
Frigatebird
|
Fregata magnificens
|
On leaving
Six Men’s Bay and heading home I decided to do a little back yard birding. Well really bedroom window birding. I was able to add the Barbados Bullfinch “Loxigilla
barbadensis” and the Scaly-naped Pigeon “Patagioenas squamosa” to my list
for the day giving a total of twenty-seven (27) bird species on the first day
of January.
January 03
This day I was on the
job when I heard a familiar bird call. I
looked to the sky in time to see two Rose-ringed Parakeets “Psittacula krameri” flying overhead. It has been said that a
birder is always birding and this observation testifies to that statement. This
sighting was listed as incidental.
January 04
I had the privilege of
spending a couple of hours in the rural parish of St. Andrew. St. Andrew is a beautiful parish with lots of
rivers, ponds and streams. Although I was not there for birding or photography
I could not miss the chance to photograph some of the rocks along the stream,
but as I said, birders are always birding. So for the three hours I was there, I took
note of the birds I saw. I was able to
add a Green Heron “Butorides virescens” and a Shiny Cowbird “Molothrus bonariensis” to my year list.
January 06
Traveling along
the west coast of the island in the parish of St. James about 9am, I started to
count the Eurasian Collard Doves along the way. After about two miles I had a total of five (5)
Doves. The Eurasian Collard Doves were once
only found in the eastern and southern parishes, but are now almost found
island wide.
So for the first
seven days of 2014, I have a total year count of thirty-one birds.
Below are some
pictures from the first week of birding.
 |
| Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita |
 |
Part of the flock of Sanderling at Six Mens , Barbados |
 |
Sanderling - Calidris alba |
 |
Sanderling - Calidris alba |
|
Sanderling - Calidris alba |
 |
Sanderling - Calidris alba |
 |
Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis |
 |
Tag Sanderling Y2L |
 |
Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata |
 |
Masked Duck - Nomonyx dominicus |
