The Enthusiastic Birder: March 2021

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Birding after the Pause – week 2

In the second week since returning to work after the Pause, I got out to a few of the birding locations I missed during the first week. I was concentrating more on photography, and becoming more familiar with the Canon 7D MKII which led to a few impromptu photoshoots when finding willing feathered models, common or rare, local or migrant, it mattered not. This drive gave me a fair week of birding and photography, in which I tallied 43 species and captured many gigabytes of RAW images. The major stops I made were at Oistins Fishing Complex, Redland, North Point, and Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge (WSR) but also got images from across the island at common "none-birding" locations.

On the afternoon of Monday 8th, I stopped at The Oistins Fishing Complex, Christ Church, which is on the South Coast, to look for seabirds. A few Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) and Royal Terns (Thalasseus maximus) were perched on one of the piers. The Royals were at the far end of the pier, too far for the Canon EF-s 55-250mm. The Laughers, on the other hand, were much closer so I focused on the one closest to me. It was an adult in breeding plumage, showing its black head with a pronounced eye-ring.

Laughing Gull

A beautiful Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) also in breeding plumage drew my attention away from the gulls and I was able to capture a few images before it disappeared behind a bolder.

Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage

The next time out birding was on Wednesday afternoon (March 10^th), but this time at the opposite end of the island, North Point, St. Lucy. The wet area there has long dried up as we are now in the dry season but a few birds, both native and migratory, can normally be found along the tundra-like flats to the south of the wetland area. I saw 5 species of shorebirds, as I hiked along the rocky terrain.(Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), Sanderling (Calidris alba), Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) and Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)).

Least Sandpiper

Black-bellied Plover

Three Black-bellied Plovers at North Point

The next day I made a short stop at one of the irrigation ponds at Redland to check out an interesting-looking domestic duck that was hanging around with Muscovy Ducks (Cairina moschata). It was a beautiful duck, probably Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) mixed. Four Blue-winged Teals (Spatula discors), two males in breeding plumage, and two females were also on the pond along with a few shorebirds.

domestics Muscovy Duck
and other hybrid

Solitary Sandpiper

Male and Female Blue-winged Teals

For the second week straight, Friday afternoon found me at the WSR. The light was not as good as it was last week but I still got a few images.

A remnant of the 100 Teals @ WSR, notice the Green-winged Teal leading the flight

Solitary Sandpiper

comparison between Lesser (front) and Greater (rear) Yellowlegs

I had no plans for birding on the weekends because some of the COVID restrictions were still emplace, but on Saturday 13th, I took my son to an appointment and while waiting for him I did a bit of drive by birding and photography in the area. Some of the highlight sightings and images included three Golden Warblers (Setophaga petechia) foraging among a grove of mature Acacia trees, and an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus).

Yellow (Golden) Warbler can always be found in or around
Acacia trees

Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)

Osprey

Sunday, March 7, 2021

After the Pause

The first week back to work after the “pause” was surprisingly busy. It was good to be out of the house after weeks of confinement but I was a little nervous, even a little afraid because of the pervasiveness of COVID in society. The routine of mask and face shield has become the norm for me, and disposable gloves are added to the mix depending on where I am going. It was refreshing being outdoors, seeing the different birds as I moved around the island. After work, on most of the days, I visited a few of the birding hotspots, utilizing that activity for exercise as afforded by the government's COVID-19 protocols. During that week I tallied 32 bird species from 8 checklists, also adding 2 yearbirds namely Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis), which I saw in Bridgetown and Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) at Pile Bay. You can see the full list of the birds I saw below.

I continue to be impressed with the Canon 7D Mark II, even as it is paired with the underwhelming (because of reach) Canon EF-s 55-250mm f/4 – 5.6 IS II, which effectively becomes 89.1 - 405mm (x1.62 crop sensor of the Canon 7D II). Here are a few highlight images for that week. All images were lightly edited using Adobe Lightroom CS2.

On March 1^st I had my best look at a Merlin (Falco columbarius) for the year. It was going after Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) for dinner, and while the shots I got were not ones I would normally highlight, I love this one that shows the beautiful barring pattern in this raptor's tail.

© Julian Moore - birdingbarbados@gmail.com

Merlin showing its tail feathers (1/4000 @ f8 ISO 1000 – 250mm)

On the 3^rd, my after work exercising took me to Chancery Lane Swamp, Christ Church. While there, I tried to photograph an American Coot (Fulica Americana) with her chicks. This was not an easy task as both mum and chicks played peek-a-boo with me, using the mangroves for cover. While I easily got images of both of them alone, the image below was the only opportunity I had of them together.

Adult (1/1000 @ F/8 ISO 640 250mm)

Juvenile (1/1000 @ F/8 ISO 640 250mm)

Mother & Chick ((1/1250 @ F/8 ISO 640 250mm)

The following day, the 4^th, I ended work in the north so I visited the irrigation ponds at Bawdens, St. Andrew, and had a short photo session with a pair of Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps).

Pied (1/1600 @ F/5.6 ISO 640 250mm)

The Pair (1/1250 @ F/8) ISO 640 250mm)

My last stop for the week was at the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge (WSR) on Friday, March 5th. The water in most of the ponds was evaporating making foraging by wading birds much easier. This triggered a small feeding frenzy among various species of waterbirds. In one pond I counted 7 species of heron/egrets tallying 22 birds, 6 species of shorebirds, and in another, 68 Blue-winged Teals (Spatula discors), only a fraction of the 111 seen just a few days before. My most exciting capture, though, was that of a Sora (Porzana Carolina). This was the best look I’ve had of this shy bird for the year. I would’ve love to get even lower but two things prevented that: first, I would have to take my camera close to the water in the pond, too close for my comfort. Even though it is weather-sealed I am not ready for that adventure as yet with this babe. Secondly, I am always skeptical of lying, sitting, walking in the grass, fields, or even the paved road in the parish of St. Philip. It is notorious for its forty legs, its big, long, ugly stinging CENTIPEDES and I don’t mess around with those things. Here are a few of the images from WSR.