October Birding at HP

Northern Wheatear, one of my two Harrison's Point Lifers for 2023

Harrison’s Point (HP), St. Lucy, is my favorite birding spot in October. This place is known for attracting migratory sound birds every year. This month has been halfway through, and I have already seen some regular visitors and some unexpected ones.

A Blackpoll Warbler at HP last year

Some of the birds that I usually see at HP around this time are Blackpoll Warblers (Setophaga striata), Yellow-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus), and Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). They have all shown up this year as well. Sometimes, HP also surprises me with some rare birds, like the Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia) and Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) that I saw last year, or the Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens) and Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) that was spotted in 2014.

Prothonotary Warbler, my first record of this warbler at HP

This year, I have seen four special birds so far, two of which were lifers for me - the elusive Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), the stunning Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), and then two lifers: a Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), which is extremely rare in this region and only the third record for the island, and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus), which is probably the second record for the island. With just two more weeks to go in October, I will be looking forward to seeing more birds at Harrison’s Point.