Global Big Day Birding - The Morning

On May 13th, I participated in the Global Big Day, a worldwide event to celebrate  World Migratory Bird Day and bird diversity.  I had a blast birding for half a day, although I wished I could have stayed longer. Unfortunately, some urgent matters came up that shorten my outing. Nevertheless, I was proud to add my observations and photos to the island's and my team's (Bajan Birders & Friends) final counts. I spotted 45 different species of birds, two of which were first for the year for the island and four for me.

Caribbean Elaenia @ Graeme Hall 

The first bird I heard today was a Grey Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis), singing at 4:39 am. That was the start of our birdwatching day, breaking the quiet of the dawn. After a while, more birds joined the chorus, like the native Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis). Then a Golden Warbler (Setophaga petechia) chimed in, followed by a couple of Caribbean Elaenias (Elaenia martinica). Some Eurasian Collared-Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) added their low tones and a pair of Bananaquits (Coereba flaveola) made their sharp noises. We had already seen seven kinds of birds by the time Jason and I left the house, around 5:30 in the morning.

Black-crowned Night-Heron @ SBRC's Pond

We went to the SBRC in St. Thomas first. We were looking for the uncommon Striated Heron (Butorides striata) and Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and we spotted them right away. We also saw a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) there. We had 14 species on our list when we left the SBRC.

We continued our journey to Pile Bay, where we spotted two Brown Boobies (Sula leucogaster) perched on a distant bouy. We hoped to see a Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) at Carlisle Bay, but we only found a Royal Tern (Thalasseus Maximus) and two Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla). By the time we arrived at Graeme Hall Swamp, our list had grown to twenty-two species. 

The Graeme Hall Swamp was teeming with birds.

Golden Warbler @ Graeme Hall

This is the kind of habitat that World Migratory Bird Day and Global Big Day aim to protect and promote by emphasizing its ecological value and its crucial role in bird migration. At the swamp, we encountered seventeen species, but only three counted for our list.

A minor glitch with our vehicle delayed us a bit, so we could've only visited one more location before ending our morning's birding. That place was Oistins, Christ Church, where we added three more species to our list. One of them, a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), was the first of the four new birds for the year for me.

Our morning birding ended at about 8:10 am with a tally of twenty-eight species seen. 

Here is a list of the birds seen at the break:  

1. Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
2. Eurasian Collared-Dove(Streptopelia decaocto)
3. Cattle Egret(Bubulcus ibis)
4. Caribbean Elaenia(Elaenia martinica)
5. Golden Warbler(Setophaga petechia)
6. Bananaquit(Coereba flaveola)
7. Barbados Bullfinch(Loxigilla barbadensis)
8. Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa)
9. Common Ground-Dove(Columbina passerina)
10. Green Heron(Butorides virescens)
11. Striated Heron (Butorides striata)
12. Black-crowned Night-Heron(Nycticorax nycticorax)
13. Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
14. Carib Grackle(Quiscalus lugubris)
15. Brown Booby(Sula leucogaster)
16. Rock Pigeon(Columba livia)
17. Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)
18. Magnificent Frigatebird(Fregata magnificent)
19. Green-throated Carib(Eulampis holosericeus)
20. Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)
21. Royal Tern(Thalasseus Maximus)
22. Black-whiskered Vireo(Vireo altiloquus)
23. Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
24. Rose-ringed Parakeet(Psittacula krameri)
25. Black-faced Grassquit(Melanospiza bicolor)
26. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
27. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
28. Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)