First Lifer for 2023 - #153 House Sparrow

First Lifer for 2023 - A House Sparrow 

I have not been doing much birding thus far for the year so this local lifer, #153, caught me by surprise.  It presented itself as I was parking my car in a public car park in the lower part of Bridgetown, the island's capital. The bird, a male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in breeding plumage, flew into a Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) but was soon flushed by passersby.   It was later heard singing and then reappeared in the same tree where I first saw it.  On both occasions, it was in the company of another bird which I believe to be a female House Sparrow but was unable to make a positive identification.  The fact that a female was spotted on September 30th, at the Bridgetown Port by Ed Massiah added to that thinking. 

House Sparrows are no strangers to our shores with the first confirmed record in 1997, followed by a colonization attempt in 2009 and multiple reports since then, including 2 records in the last 10 years.  This small songbird is said to be one of the most widely distributed birds in the world but it is not a bird of the Americas. It originated in Eurasia and northern Africa, and as the story goes, was introduced in Brooklyn from Europe in 1851 as a method of biological pest control, which it did effectively.  As the population of this sparrow grew it soon spread across the Americas and is now considered a pest itself. Listed as a dangerous invasive species because it competes aggressively with native birds for food and nesting space.  

House Sparrows are about 5.75" in length, about the size of our Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis). Adult males are mostly reddish brown with a light grayish underside and a prominent black “bib”; their heads are patterned with darker rusty brown and have a gray patch on top. Female and young House Sparrows are streaked brownish-gray overall and have a lighter stripe near their eyes.  I will try to see if the bird that is with this male sparrow is a female and try to get a few more images to share here.  So stay tuned

Friday Morning at Bawdens

One of the Pied-billed Grebes at Bawdens
(1/1500 @ f8.0, ISO 1600*)

On the morning of Friday 13th, I visited the irrigation ponds at Bawden's St. Andrew to check on a Family of  Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) living there.  It was kind of a scouting trip as I am hoping to spend a morning or two photographing them but this was not that morning,  I had very little time to spare.

 Great Egret (1/2500 @ f8.0, ISO 400*)

As I was leaving, a Great Egret (Ardea alba) flew into a tree not too far from the pond.  The bird was well lit in the morning sun and tempted me into spending a few more minutes photographing it, a temptation I readily gave into and was rewarded with some nice images.  The Great was soon joined by yet another white egret.  This one flew around the pond a few times before alighting on a limb just opposite the Great Egret. 

Can you identify this white egret? (1/2500 @ f8.0, ISO 1600*)

The identification of this bird stumped me at first. It had black legs, yellowish-green lores, and a black bill.  Can you identify this bird?  Comment below and let's see what you think. Then look out for the correct ID in a post update on Friday. 

*All images were made using a Canon 7D II, Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 Contemporary DG OS HSM with minor adjustments using Lightroom 5

Starting The Year with Ring-necked Ducks

Ring-necked Duck

 I am having one of the slowest starts to a birding year ever. Actually, only in one year have I seen fewer birds in the first 4 days than the 19 seen so far. The previous lowest was 16 in 2013 my second year of birding but for the last 10 years, I've averaged 37 species in those first few days. I am not too worried though, the big year was last year but this year I am just chilling and working on my photography. I got a welcoming start yesterday, January 3rd, when I came upon this very cooperative group of Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris) at a small pond. The light was variable so I used a tripod.

Here are a few of the images taken with a Canon 7D II, with a Sigma 160 - 600mm contemporary lens.

1/1600 @ f8, ISO 640 - 600mm

1/1600 @ f8, ISO 640 - 600mm

1/1250 f8, ISO 640 - 600mm