The Northern Trip (Images)

Images from my birding trip to the most northern parish on October 25

Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus

Blackpoll Warbler - Setophaga striata

Black-whiskered Vireo - Vireo altiloquus

White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis

Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes

Four Blue-winged Teals - Anas discors inflight

American Wigeon - Anas americana

Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus

A talkative Stilt with a Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATORY BIRD DAY 2015

International Migratory Bird Day October 17, 2015: Restore Habitat, Restore Birds

International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) celebrates one of the most important and spectacular events in the Americas: bird migration. Since 1993, IMBD has fostered bird conservation and education, and has introduced countless youths and adults to migratory birds. The event, hosted at over 700 sites, serves as a call to action to preserve birds and their habitats.

Birds don’t migrate on a single day. So while IMBD’s official date is the second Saturday in May for the U.S. and Canada, and the second Saturday in October for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bird Day activities take place year-round, and events are best offered when migratory birds are present. IMBD is coordinated by Environment for the Americas.

Learn More

State of my Birding: Third Quarter 2015

Alpine Swift my bird of the quarter

The third quarter was very dry. With the continued low rainfall the island was experiencing it was no surprise that most of the wet areas were now dry.  This did not stop the birds from coming however, and during this quarter we had some exciting birds.  With the invasion of our beaches by the Sargassum seaweed, they are teeming with small crustacean, fish eggs and small insects, it was a buffet for the shorebirds.  

July

Roseate Terns

In July I registered forty-seven species.  With the southern migration just beginning I was not expecting any surprises but a surprise was what I got.  On the afternoon of July 13^th I recorded an Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba).  This was only the fourth ever confirmed sighting with the first one being in 1955 (The Birds of Barbados an annotated checklist pg167) and it was also my 120^th lifer.  I registered two other year birds, Roseate Terns at Inch Marlow and Whimbrels at Chancery Lane.  At the end of the month my checklist stood at seventy-seven species.

August

August was like “spinning a top in mud”.  In that month I recorded over 50 on the month’s checklists and only added one species to my year list.  While I was not productive in the sense of increasing my list I was able to see fifty seven species during that month.  The single new bird for August was the White-Rumped Sandpiper which was seen at Inch Marlow, Christ Church. 

September

Striated Heron

September was the complete opposite of August.  I registered thirty-seven species from just eight checklists but added twelve new species for the year including one lifer.  The month started off with a low key World Shorebirds Day (see here).  By the first half of the month I had already surpassed my highest September Count with seven year birds.  This included my 121^st lifer a Fork-tailed Flycatcher seen at Harrisons Point (see here).  The second half of the month was just as exciting with five more new sightings including the 2^nd recorded Striated Heron for the island.  It was truly a month of rarities.   

Caribbean Martins

It was a dry quarter but it added sixteen species, including two lifers, to my year list.  I missed three birds in that quarter a Pearly-eyed Thrasher, Purple-throated Carib and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.  There were a number of species which were seen in large numbers.  Barn Swallows and Caribbean Martins were seen all over the island. The last quarter of the year promises more birds with Harrisons Point in October and the rarities of November, if all goes to plan, I am hoping to go pass the 100 mark before the middle of December. So here is to the last quarter.

September! New Rarities Month?

In 2015, September is making a credible attempt to replace November as Rarity Month after putting up a number of rarities and even a few mega-rarities. 

The second day of the month set the tone for things to come. I was finally able to see up-close and photograph a bird, which I first saw flying high over St. Lucy, our most northern parish, in the latter part of August.  The bird was white, with black patches by its eyes and flew like a tern.  I was able to get a couple poor quality photographs before it disappeared. I shared the images with a few birders but we were unable to make a definitive identification.  I was about to give up on being able to ID this bird when two local birders, Dr. Webster and Mr. R. Roach, discovered a Gull-billed Tern, around the same area.  There was no doubt that this was the bird I saw earlier.  Even though we recorded this species here on the island in the last few years, in some quarters it is still considered a rarity. 

Three other birds were seen during September, some may differ on their status as rarities.  They were a Red Knots, a Grey Heron and a Glossy Ibis.  September was like the month for

Knots with confirmed sightings of two in the eastern parish of St. Philip and unconfirmed reports of a small group at a swamp in the parish of St. Lucy.  I was able to see and photograph one of the two in St. Philip.  I saw a Glossy Ibis while on the Highway the morning of September 8^th.  The bird was not hard to identify as it flew towards me and directly over my car. I noted the dark colour, decurved bill and the extended neck position synonymous with its flight.  The bird was next seen and photographed by R. Roach on September 13^th in the parish of St. Lucy. The Grey Heron was an unexpected surprise.  I was on my way home from work one afternoon when I saw it in an irrigation pond in the parish of St. George.  This Eurasian heron is becoming a regular visitor to our shores, this being the second consecutive year it was recorded.  

The parish of St. Lucy continues to attract rarities with two Collard Plovers on September 2^nd , a Fork-tailed Flycatcher, a lifer for me, on the 13^th,  and the bird of the month (even though I did not get to see it), a juvenile Purple Heron, our second for the year.  The trend of rarities

continued right into the last weekend of the month, with two more bird sightings, one can even be considered a mega rarity.  First, on Saturday 26^th, a quick stop at one of the irrigation ponds at Greenland, St. Andrew, turned up a single female Ruddy Duck and on the following day a Striated Heron was seen at the Mangrove Landfill in the parish of St. Thomas.  That sighting represented the second record of this species for the island.  This bird is a close relative to our Green Heron, locally known as a Gaulin, but while the Green heron's plumage is mostly brown the Striated one is grey.

The month of September was outstanding, can November measure up? Time will tell.

Here is the list of the rare birds seen in the month of September:

1. Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellu
2. Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea
3. Red Knot - Calidris canutus
4. Fork-tailed Flycatcher - Tyrannus savanna
5. Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis
6. Striated Heron - Butorides striata
7. Collared Plover - Charadrius collaris x2
8. Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica 
9. Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea

September Images of Birds

Here are a few images of birds I saw during October 

Striated Heron - Butorides striata - 2nd record for Barbados

Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius

American Golden-Plover - Pluvialis dominica

Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri

Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus @ Silver Rock, Christ Church

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

Red Knot - Calidris canutus

Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica

Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus -with little fishy in mouth

Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps

Eared Dove - Zenaida auriculata

Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola

Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia

Caribbean Martin - Progne dominicensis

Southern Lapwing - Vanellus chilensis

September to Remember Continues and Continues ....

And it continues!! This September 2015 has been amazing so far.  After setting a goal of trying to attain seven new "year birds", I reached that goal half-way through the month. I then set a goal of ten species and in the last full week of September I reached and surpassed that goal.

Here are the birds I saw:

• The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) was expected to be arriving at Harrison’s Point around this time, so it was not surprising to see and hear one when we visited that location on the 26^th, the first sighting for the year.  These birds are 11-12 inches with greyish brown upperparts and white underparts.  The base of its bill is yellow and it has a yellow eye-ring. This is no doubt the first of many of these we will see in the coming months ahead. 

Ruddy Duck

• A Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) was a bird I had missed earlier in the year and was surprised when I saw one at Greenland, St. Andrew, also on the 26^th.  This small diving duck was sitting quietly in the pond. 

Striated Heron

• A Striated Heron (Butorides striata) seen at the Mangrove Landfill on September 27^th represented the 2^nd record for the island. This bird is a close relative to our Green Heron “Butorides virescens”, locally known as a Gaulin, but while that plumage is mostly brown in colour the plumage of the Striated Heron is grey.

The month of September is proving more productive than I could have ever imagined.  With this being the last day of the month, can I add any more birds to my count? Anything is possible in this September to Remember…