Great Backyard Bird Count 2021

Carib Grackle

This was the first  Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) that I spent solely counting in my backyard.  Normally for this four-day international event,  which ran this year from February 12-15^th, I would have visited a few local birding locations and would have ended the event with 35+ species recorded.  This was not possible this year because the island is on “pause” because of the second wave of the COVID virus.  The GBBC is an event that engages birders from across the world, of all ages, in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations worldwide.  Participants are not tied to their backyards but can submit a checklist from any location.

A female Shiny Cowbird

I did my count on the morning of February 13^th. A Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris) and a Bananaquit(Coereba flaveola) are both in the process of constructing a nest in the Bajan (Barbados) Cherry Tree (Malpighia emarginata) just outside my bedroom window, and I realized that it attracted a lot of other species.  Where ever Carib Grackles are nesting you will find Shiny Cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis)  and four of them came to the tree.  Cowbirds are brood parasites, in that they lay their eggs in another bird's nest, relying on them to raise their young.  Carib Grackles are the main host for this behavior.  I was soon joined by a pair of Yellow Warblers (Golden) (Setophaga petechial) and three noisy Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica) on my back fence.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

All in all, I saw only a few common birds, like Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto), Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and Gray Kingbirds (Tyrannus dominicensis), and I tallied 13 species in 30 minutes. See the full list below

1. Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa)
2. Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
3. Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)
4. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
5. Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
6. Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica)
7. Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
8. Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
9. Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris)
10. Yellow Warbler (Golden) (Setophaga petechia)
11. Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)
12. Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)
13. Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor)

Highlights and Images from January

As I said in a previous post, my birding will be very low key this year, but when you look at my activity for January you may feel I was joking.   The fact is I  tallied 68 species in 21 outings during the month, an all-time high for me.  This came about because I was involved in a region-wide conservation program directed by Birds Caribbean called the Caribbean Waterbird Census or CWC, which got me out during the month.  It also afforded me the time to get more familiar with my new camera, the Canon 7D MK II.  Even with the sub-par Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS II lens that I paired it with I was very surprised by this beast.  I am still figuring out some of the bells and whistles (man this thing has lots of them) but I am happy with the results.  For February, the island will be on lockdown, at least for the first half of the month but my goal would be to photograph the birds around my curtilage. (One of my new COVID words).

I wish you all a great and productive month of February. Remember to follow the protocols and stay say.  I hope you enjoy the images below from the month of January.

Semipalmated Plover
(Charadrius semipalmatus)

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Cliff Swallow
(Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

Cliff Swallow 
(Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

Lesser Scaups (Aythya affinis)

American Coot (Fulica americana)