I had an exciting morning of birding in the parish of St. Lucy yesterday. In just a few hours, I saw rarities, good raptor action, and plenty of good birds. The only thing missing that would have made the morning perfect would have been a lifer. Here is a synopsis.
Raptor Action
Peregrine Falcon with its bat prey |
The first sign that it was going to be a good day in the field took place on my way to my first stop. It was about 6:15 am, and still a little dark out when I noticed a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) on a powerline feeding on a bat. I stuck around, photographing, and even did a little video until he was finished, then he flew off. The second raptor encounter was not as exciting and happened between birding stops. It was a flyover from an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the fishing falcon. I had no time to adjust the setting on the camera but just fired away.
Rare
Birds
Purple Gallinule |
It was an American Coot (Fulica Americana), and what was surprising is that it was a juvenile bird, which means the bird was hatched at that location. Coots have not nested on the island for some time but with the increase in long stay individuals, it was expected. For more than a year John Webster and I were on Coots nesting watch at two locations in St. Andrew and here it appeared that one was nesting right under our noses and we never knew. Well well, at least I did see some good birds.
Plenty of Good Birds
Outside of the rare birds I also saw some good common birds. I saw 66 Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) as the most numerous bird for the morning, followed by Blue-winged Teals (Spatula discors) (52). Soras (Porzana Carolina) also made their presence felt throughout the morning. At one location these tiny birds demonstrated their big voices when one started a chorus of calls and held their own against the much larger Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata) and Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica) who joined in. It was my first time hearing the call of the Purple.
Juvenile Purple Gallinule |
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - Dendrocygna autumnalis
- Fulvous Whistling-Duck - Dendrocygna bicolor
- Blue-winged Teal - Spatula discors
- Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis
- Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
- Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
- Common Ground Dove - Columbina passerina
- Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
- Sora - Porzana carolina
- Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
- American Coot - Fulica americana
- Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinica
- Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola
- Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
- Sanderling - Calidris alba
- Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
- Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
- Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus
- Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
- Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius
- Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
- Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes
- Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens
- Great Egret - Ardea alba
- Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
- Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
- Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
- Green Heron - Butorides virescens
- Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
- Osprey - Pandion haliaetus
- Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus
- Rose-ringed Parakeet - Psittacula krameri
- Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis
- Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
- Cliff Swallow - Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Shiny Cowbird - Molothrus bonariensis
- Carib Grackle - Quiscalus lugubris
- Northern Waterthrush - Parkesia noveboracensis
- Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
- Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola
- Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola
- Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis
- Black-faced Grassquit - Melanospiza bicolor