First Lifer for 2024, a Local Lifer, #162

Tropical Mockingbird from a trip to Bonaire

My first local lifer of 2024 was a Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus), a bird that gave me both joy and a little disappointment. Let me tell you how it happened. I was birding along the south coast of Barbados after work, stopping at Graeme Hall, Oistins, and Chancery Lane. I saw the usual suspects, but nothing out of the ordinary. As the sun was setting, I reached the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge (WSR).  This was just an exploratory stop, as the fading light made general photography strenuous.  It was to see if two duck species  I was struggling to photograph all season, Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) and Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) were still around. I didn’t think I would find anything new, so I left my camera in the car and headed to the western end of the reserve, where there is a spot we birders call the “back pond”. That’s where I spotted the bird. It was obvious from the first glance that it was not a common bird. It flew up from the ground, showing the white edges in the tail that no other bird on the island has. It then landed next to a Grey Kingbird, which confirmed its identity. I recognized it immediately as a Tropical Mockingbird, having seen many of them in my Caribbean travels. I wanted to capture it on camera, so I ran back to get my camera, but when I came back, the bird was gone. I looked for it in the following days, but it never reappeared.

The last photo of a Tropical Mockingbird in Barbados by Richard Roach 2009

The only other time I saw a Tropical Mockingbird in Barbados was in a photo taken by my good friend and fellow photographer Richard Roach. He snapped that bird in 2009, not far from the WSR. The Tropical Mockingbird has greyish upperparts and paler underparts. Its tail is long and has wide white tips on the outermost feathers, which are very noticeable when the tail is open or in flight. Young birds may be more brownish or buffy than adults and have weak dark streaks on the chest and sides. While this bird is rare for our island it is a common bird for the Lesser Antilles.

My first new local bird of 2024 was a rewarding experience, but I regret not having a photo of it because I didn’t bring my camera with me. But that’s birding for you.