First Week OF August

What a week of birding the first week of August provided. It
gave me my first lifer for the year, two yearbirds and  a few
rare birds. Here is the break down.

The Lifer

e.g. example of a Sandwich Tern  

I was excited to land my first lifer for 2020 on the 5^th of the month. I was  at Long Beach, Christ Church watching a Royal
Tern (Thalasseus maximus) and a Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) feeding close  to shore, then another tern joined in the mix.  This bird got my attention because it was
smaller than the Royal but yet it was still kinda large.  Through my bins, I saw that it had a black
cap, bill, and legs, but what cemented the identification as a new bird for me was
the yellow on the tip of the bill, which made it a Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis).  This
became my 141st species for the island. (why not my 142^nd ?
will be explained in a later post ). The best part of the afternoon came a few
minutes later when the Sandwich and Royal Terns were joined by 3 Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii).  I was able to observe these 3
tern species Large, medium, and small, flying around and feeding, sadly I did
not have a camera to document it.

The Year Birds

One of the 3 Whimbrels @ North Point

As you may know, I am trying to see a minimum of 110 species
of birds for 2020 (check my
progress here).  I added two
new species, along with the above lifer, to conclude the week at 88 species for
the year.  The first yearbird, a Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), came on the 3^rd at Redland St.
George. A few days later at North Point, St. Lucy on the 7^th, three Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) were the 88^th species for
the year. I hope this trend
continues into next week.

Rare Birds

While at long Beach observing the terns and other peeps on
the beach, a Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) flew in and
started fishing not too far away. This may have been the same bird I saw last
month sitting on a buoy far out to sea at Oistins. It was good to have this
closeup look at this prehistoric looking bird.
On the 7^th, while in the parish of St. Lucy I made a short
stop at a private location to check up on a Glossy
Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) who took up residents there for close to a year.
I was astonished on seeing not just that one bird, but a second Glossy
with it.  While this is not the first
record of multiple Glossys on the island, I am hoping that these two wll be the
first breeding pair for Barbados.

Migration An Action

Semipalmated Sandpiper at North Point

When there is physical evidence that a species of bird(s) is in
the process of migrating, we refer to it as a flight.  You can tell a flight is on because there is a
sudden spike in the numbers of that said bird across the island.  The first week of August saw a flight of a
few species.  Least (Calidris minutilla) and Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) were visible on the first two days of August., and this was followed by Semipalmated Sandpipers
and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa
flavipes) as the week progressed. On Friday three Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) at North Point, St.
Lucy, and four birds at Chancery Lane, Christ Church suggested a flight of this
large shorebird was ongoing.

This was a great start to the business end of the year added to that we are getting regular showers. Rain fell almost daily. I am looking forward to
what the 2^nd week of August will bring. If it is any thing like the first week i would be extremely happy.  Stay safe friends and enjoy your birding