Evening Birding (Sept 2)

South Coast

Checklist

Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)  
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)  
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) 
Sanderling (Calidris alba)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)  
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)  
Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)*
Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis)

* Year Bird

 Silver Sands Pond

Green Heron (Juv)

3 Least Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Inch Marlow and Long Beach

Sargassum littered Long Beach

50+ Ruddy Turnstones on Long Beach

Willet

Least Tern (Year bird)

Barbados Lifer #141

Finding a lifer is always exciting but when the lifer is a mega-rare bird it even better.  That what happened on Saturday, August, 24^th, which just happened to be the day of our, my wife Sophia and myself, 17^th wedding anniversary.   The bird I saw was a Cuban Martin (Progne cryptoleuca), a close relative of our Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis), was seen at Bruce Vale, St. Andrew.  The most noticeable difference between the two Martins is the Caribbean shows a white underpart while the male Cuban shows very dark underparts.  I at first incorrectly identified the bird as a Purple Martin  (Progne subis), another close member of the Martin family, but this was amended when the images were shown to author of the book Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Field Guide and expert on Cuban endemics – Mr. Nils Navarro. Here is an excerpt  of his response:

On this picture you can see:

1. Male and female in typical plumage, Males completely dark and female with a brown breast like in Cubans. 
2. If you see the male close is possible to see the white section of the feathers in the abdomen, that is typical in Cuban Martin, due its specific name cryptoleuca, I have seen close and they have the same white area of the Caribbean Martins, but the tip of the feathers are dark and by this reason they look  like completely dark, but the molting immature males in 1st year or less looks like the Caribbean with black markings and flecks...

 This could be the second confirmed record of this species on the island, the first was seen in October 2002, at Newcastle St. John.  (The Birds of Barbados – P.A. Buckley, Edward Massiah et. al.)

What a way to end the month of August with a Mega.

World Shorebird Day 2019

A large percentage of the migrating birds to this island are shorebirds.  This family of birds is on the decline worldwide due to habitat loss, hunting and climate change just to name a few.  The Global Shorebird Counts (September 3^rd – 9^th) and the World Shorebirds Day (September 6^th), was set up to highlight the plight of these marathon migrants around the world and the need for shorebird conservation and research.  You can get involved by getting out during the counting dates September 3^rd – 9^th, count the shorebirds you see, enter the results of your count on ebird, share the checklist with World Shorebirds Day and that’s it.  Those few steps can potentially save thousands of shorebirds so get involved. So join me along awith the 

Lifer 140

Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia

Tuesday afternoon I passed to check the water level at Chancery Lane’s Swamp after a few days of heavy rain.  The swamp was about 10% of its full capacity but it had a few shorebirds wading and feeding.  There were Sanderlings,(Calidris alba) Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus)and a single Willet(Tringa semipalmata). One bird among the Semi-plovers caught my eye. It was about the same size as the plovers but a little paler and a had a large bill. Straight away I knew it was a Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia), a rare bird for the island.  It was also my 140^th lifer for the island.

Wilson's Plover is a stocky 'ringed' plover, about 7-8” in size, with a large head and a long heavy black bill.  Males have a black breast band while females and immature birds have a brown breast band.  This is the second lifer I recorded for this year.

North American Birding

I am spending 17 days in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and even though it is not a birding trip I will be trying to see as much birds as possible. I will list my lifers here.

Day 1, August 1st

1. Black-bellied Magpie
2. American Crow
3. American Robin
4. Canada Goose
5. Mallard
6. Common Merganser 
7. Ring-necked Pheasant 
8. Double-crested Cormorant
9. American White Pelican 
10. Downy Woodpecker 
11. Northern Flicker
12. Least Flycatcher 
13. Eastern Kingbird
14. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
15. Black-capped Chickadee
16. Cedar Waxwing
17. American Goldfinch 
18. Clay-colored Sparrow
19. Lincoln's Sparrow 
20. Red-winged Blackbird
21. Brown-headed Cowbird
22. Yellow-rumped Warbler
23. Warbling Vireo ------ Day 2,  August 02nd
24. Tree Swallow
25. Red-breasted Nuthatch 
26. White-breasted Nuthatch 
27. Gray Catbird
28. European Starling
29. Dark-eyed Junco
30. Song Sparrow
31. Common Grackle
32. Sharp-shinned Hawk
33. Redhead
34. Bufflehead
35. Common Goldeneye
36. Red-eyed Vireo
37. Wood Duck --------- Day 3, August 03rd
38. California Gull
39. Foster's Tern
40. Chipping Sparrow
41. Savannah Sparrow
42. Pileated Woodpecker 
43. Bald Eagle --------------Day 4, August 04
44. Blue Jay
45. Common Raven
46. Western Wood -Pewee 
47. Canvasback
48. Swainson's Hawk -------Day 5, August 05 (Not a birding day)
49. Great Horned Owl ------Day 6, August 06th
50. Red-necked Phalarope
    
51. Hairy Woodpecker 
52. Red-necked Grebe -----Day 7, August 07th
53. Yellow-headed Blackbird
54. Brewer's Blackbird
55. Baltimore Oriole
56. Tennessee Warbler
57. Orange-crowned Warbler
58. Eared Grebe ------ Day 8, August 8th
59. Western Grebe
60. Horned Grebe
61. American Avocet
62. White-faced Ibis
63. Marsh Wren
64. House Finch ------ Day 9, August 9th
65. Mountain Chickadee ----- Day 11, August 11 (Banff)
66. Golden-crowned Kinglet
67. Ovenbird----------- Day 12, August 12th
68. Gadwall
69. Pine Siskin
70. Wilson's Warbler ------- Day 13, August 13th
71. Black & White Warbler ------ Day 14, August 14th
72. Western Tanager
73. Mourning Dove
74. Olive-side Flycatcher------- Day15, August 15
75. Townsend's Warbler. -------Day 16 August 16 (Last Day in Calgary)

Mammals

1. Mink
2. Eastern Grey Squirrel
3. Red Squirrel  
4. Bobcat 
5. White-tailed Deer
6. Mule Deer
7. American Beaver
8. Richardson's Ground Squirrel (Gopher)
9. Long - tailed Weasel 
10. Least Chickmunk 
11. Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel 

Incedental Birding

Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)

It looks like the dry spell is finally over.  We had a lot of rain over the last two weeks, not enough to start affecting the water levels in the ponds and wet areas but it is looking promising.  The island though was blanketed by a cloud of Saharan dust for most of last week and reports are that it should continue into this week. 

Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger)

I saw a few interesting birds as I traveled around the island last week.  On Wednesday afternoon I saw two Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) in St. Philip.  The following day, the 20^th, I saw a raft with close to thirty Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) , just off the coast of Speightstown, St. Peter, on the West Coast.  Later that day I recorded my 85^th bird species for the year, when I saw five Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger) while I was driving along the Ermy Bourne Highway, St. Andrew.   The following day I found myself in the northern parish of St. Lucy and in the pond outside the world famous Mount Gay Rum Distilleries I saw a Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) resting peacefully on the pond.  On Saturday afternoon I saw a total of five Masked Ducks (Nomonyx dominicus)at two different locations in the central parish of St. Thomas.  The first four was seen by a bridge at Farmers, two females, and two males.  One of the males was in breeding plumage, showing a blue bill.  The final one, a female, was seen at the SBRC pond.

Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla)

With the rains coming, I am expecting to see more birds as we enter July and then into the fall migration.  Stay tuned to this blog for the latest in birding happenings on the island of Barbados.

Birding St. Andrew

Pied-billed Grebe @ Walkers Reserve

With “drought-like conditions”  prevailing and a scarcity of migrating birds, because of the time of year, choosing a location for a few hours of birding was challenging.  I decided to take the suggestion of fellow birder, Dr. John Webster and head east to the parish of St. Andrew.  There, my son Jason, nephew Davion and I, visited Walkers Reserve, Long Pond and made a short visit to Greenland Irrigation Pond.  Here are the highlights.

Walkers Reserve – 23 Species observed

Pied-billed Grebe and two chicks @ Walkers Reserve

This was my first visit to Walkers since the Introduction to Birding workshop on May 25^th  and I was eager to see what birds were around.  John visited the reserve the day after the workshop and saw not only the Ruddy Duck but also reported a Pied-billed Grebe with seven chicks.  I was keen to see them and also to get a good sighting of the Ruddy Duck.  We got started at the Main Pond, which was not the plan but a cluster of shorebirds on the far bank of the pond caught our attention.  We tallied 25 Semipalmated Plovers, 75 Ruddy Turnstones and a Sanderling.  These birds appeared to be in the process of migration as a small mixed group of Turnstones and Plovers flew in and we saw the main group of Turnstones taking to the sky as one body and disappearing over the trees.  As we moved on to the southern pond we quickly located the family of Grebes, the chicks appeared healthy, we even saw one diving.  A few of the Common Gallinules in this pond also had chicks but we never saw the Ruddy Duck.  As we were leaving Walkers we saw a Great Blue Heron wading in the main pond.  It is rare to see Great Blues at this time of year and even more so with the scarcity in seeing them last season, but it was easily my bird of the afternoon.

Long Pond – 14 Species observed

Sanderlings and Semipalmated Plovers @ Long Pond

There were only a few birds at Long Pond.  The main bird of interest was a Sanderling molting to breeding plumage.  The transformation which some birds make to breeding plumage still intrigues me and sanderlings are one of the poster birds for this change.  In normal plumage, it is a pale-ish grey bird but around this time of year, the breeding season, it starts to replace that pale look with a reddish-brown and black livery, making it distinguishable from its non-breeding self.  Sadly while the molting process may start here on the island, by the time the process is completed the bird would already have migrated.

Greenland Irrigation Pond – 8 Species observed

With the sun setting over the hills of St. Andrew, we made our final stop at Greenland Irrigation Pond. This small and usually deep pond has suffered greatly from the dry conditions and is now very shallow and receding at the banks.  This pond  still attracted Common Gallinules (21) but not much else.

At the end of our trip to St. Andrew, we tallied 26 species made up of 388 individual birds.  Common Gallinules accounted for 163 birds with 141 of that number recorded at Walkers Reserve.  Even though I did not see the Ruddy Duck it was still a good afternoon of birding in the east.

---See images here

Birds seen:

1. Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps
2. Scaly-naped Pigeon - Patagioenas squamosa
3. Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
4. Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina
5. Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita
6. Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus
7. Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus
8. Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata
9. American Coot - Fulica Americana
10. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
11. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres
12. Sanderling - Calidris alba
13. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
14. Great Blue Heron - Ardea Herodias
15. Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
16. Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
17. Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
18. Green Heron - Butorides virescens
19. Caribbean Elaenia - Elaenia martinica
20. Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis
21. Caribbean Martin - Progne dominicensis
22. Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
23. Grassland Yellow-Finch - Sicalis luteola
24. Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola
25. Black-faced Grassquit - Tiaris bicolor
26. Barbados Bullfinch - Loxigilla barbadensis