110/10 Big Year Update: 2nd Week of January

Week two of 110/10, my 2022 big year challenge was very productive.  I reached most of the goals set for the week and also added a few of the more common species ebird.org target list highlighted I needed.  After adding 11 species, my tally at the end of the second week of the year stands at 64, a new high for January.  My previous best was 61 in 2019 and 2020.  Here is how the week went.

Caribbean Elaenia

I collected a few common species while traveling around the island on Tuesday 11th. A singing Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus) in the Black Rock, St. Michael area, and a Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica) feeding on pittosporum berries from a hedge in a carpark. Then on my way home from work, I stopped at Pile Bay and was rewarded with a lone Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) sitting on a yellow buoy far out to sea.

 Glossy Ibis 

I visited the north on Friday afternoon, with my son who is also doing a big year.  We both got the long stay rarity, the Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), my other targeted bird for the north, but was unable to locate the Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor), which was last seen on December 6^th.  From that trip, I also added Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus), American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), and a Sora (Porzana Carolina).

Magnolia Warbler

Saturday was Turners Hall Woods with the tedious task of searching for wintering wood warblers.  While it is a difficult place to bird, it provides the best opportunity of seeing these migratory warblers.  The downside is that it is dark, very difficult for photography, the birds are small and move around very quickly, and tend to stay at the top of the trees.  It also involves hiking for over a mile over uneven, slippery terrains, navigating fallen trees and deep water trenches quarried by fast-moving water of torrent rains pass, extreme birding for sure.  I got the two warbler species I was targeting in the woods, both rated as rare for the island, American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) and the beautiful Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia*). 

??

I saw and photographed a bird, a warbler, I was unable to identify at first glance, and sadly the image quality was so poor that thus far it identity is still up in the air. These were my last additions for the week.

Photo Big Year

Masked Duck

The Photo Big Year is finally on its way with two images, a Masked Duck (Nomonyx dominicus) and a Green-throated Carib (Eulampis holosericeus).  More images are on their way so stay tuned.

This Weeks Goals

I know the weeks of adding 10+ even 5+ species are just about done as most of the more common birds are accounted for, with just a few exceptions – the parrots and Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).  I will continue my search for wood-warblers mostly at Graeme Hall, not sure I can make it back to Turners Hall this month. Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor), and our missing Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) will also be on my radar. 

I am happy with the start of the 110/10 but have a lot of work to do with the photo big year. So Stay Tuned!

*correct was made to the post on January 21,2022, that the bird I  identified as Prothonotary Warbler was later correctly identified as a Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)