Global Shorebird Counts - Day 4

September 4th, Global Shorebird Counts Day 4 

Shorebirds, mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers, feeding in a Sargassum Pool at Long Beach

Day four of the Global Shorebird Counts took me to the south coast of the island, where I birded the Sargassum Seaweed littered beach of Long Beach.  I then went to Chancery Lane, and finally Inch Marlow, for its second counting of the event.  At Long Beach, the most common shorebirds were Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) and Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla). A new addition to my Global Shorebird checklist, Sanderling ( Calidris alba) was also on the beach.  The water levels at the neighboring Chancery Lane Swamp were high, with little to no mudflats areas, so I was not surprised by the lack of smaller shorebirds in these conditions.  The larger ones though were still able to strive in these conditions, wading and finding food in the shallow parts.  In one such area in the middle of the swamp three Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus), two Willets (Tringa semipalmata), and a Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) could be seen doing just that.  The second time around at Inch Marlow tallied 30 more individual birds and one species, White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) than before.  Day 5 is most likely an off day for me until World Shorebird Day on September 6th and day 6 of the count.                                                                             

Here is a summary of day four's birding:

Total Shorebird Species seen on  Day 4: 14
New Shorebird Species seen on  Day 4: 4
Total Individual Bird Seen for the Day 4: 312 (149 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 86 Ruddy Turnstones)
Total Shorebird Species for the Global Shorebird Counts 2021: 16
Total Individual Birds For the Global Shorebird Counts 2021: 521

New Species

Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus)
Willets (Tringa semipalmata)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Seen running checklist here

Images from Day 4

Lesser Yellowlegs at Long Beach

Two Semipalmated Sandpipers gingerly walking among the Sargassum slush @ Long Beach

Three Ruddy Turnstones on the mound of Sargassum Seaweed at Long Beach 

more Ruddys

A Sanderling and a Ruddy Turnstone at Long Beach

A Willet inflight at Chancery Lane's Swamp

Two Short-billed Dowitchers at Inch Marlow

Global Shorebird Counts - Day 3

September 3rd, Global Shorebird Counts Day 3 

In the fading evening light of day three of the Global Shorebird Counts, I found myself at the most northern part of the island, North Point, St. Lucy.  Late last month I recorded over one hundred Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) at that very location and was happy when I saw that many of them were still there.  I added one more species, Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri), to my species list, bringing the total seen thus far to 14.  My plan for day 4 is to visit a few areas in the south of the island, including Long Beach and Chancery Lane. See a summary of day three numbers below.

Total Shorebird Species seen on  Day 3: 7

New Shorebird Species seen on  Day 3: 1 - Western Sandpiper

Total Individual Bird Seen for the Day 2: 100 (84 Semipalmated Sandpipers)

Total Shorebird Species for the Global Shorebird Counts 2021: 12

Total Individual Birds For the Global Shorebird Counts 2021: 209

Seen running checklist here

Semipalmated Plover

Global Shorebird Counts - Day 2

September 2nd, Global Shorebird Counts Day 2 

Day 2 of the Global Shorebird Counts found me at Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge (WSR), at Woodbourne, St. Philip.  There were many shorebirds there that afternoon wading in the shallow water.   In total there were seven species of shorebirds, including five new ones for the count. These were Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus), White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis), Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), and Greater ( Tringa melanoleuca) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipesr).

Total Shorebird Species seen on  Day 2: 8
New Shorebird Species seen on  Day 2: 5
Total Individual Bird Seen for the Day 2: 67
Total Shorebird Species for the Global Shorebird Counts 2021: 11
Total Individual Birds For the Global Shorebird Counts 2021: 109

Seen running checklist here

Images from Day 2

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Short-billed Dowitcher

The Fattest Short-billed Dowitcher I have ever seen

Global Shorebird Counts - Day 1

September 1st, Global Shorebird Counts Day 1

Ruddy Turnstones & a Semipalmated Sandpiper on the rocks at Inch Marlow

It was a slow start to the Global Shorebird Counts 2021.  I only got out to one location, Inch Marlow, Christ Church, but was unable to do a comprehensive count.  The highlight though was a  Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) with a green band on its leg but sadly I was unable to see the code printed on the band. I will visit this location again during the count for sure.

Day 1 numbers at a glance:

Total Shorebird Species for the Day: 6
Total Individual Bird Seen for the Day: 42
Total Shorebird Species for the Global Shorebird Counts: 6
Total Individual Bird For the Global Shorebird Counts: 42
New species for the count: 6 

1. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
2. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
3. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
4. Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
5. Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
6. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

Images from Day 1 of Global Shorebird Counts

Ruddy Turnstone  with a green band

Ruddy Turnstone & Semipalmated Sandpiper

Global Shorebird Counts - Checklist

Global Shorebird Counts Running Checklist

Number of Species Seen: 17

Total individual Birds : 661

Ruddy Turnstones & a Semipalmated Sandpiper on the rocks at Inch Marlow
on day one of the Global Shorebird Counts

The list of shorebirds seen during the Global Shorebird Counts

1. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
2. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
3. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
4. Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
5. Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
6. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
7. Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
8. White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)
9. Pectoral Sandpiper  (Calidris melanotos) 
10. Greater Yellowleg ( Tringa melanoleuca) 
11. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipesr)
12. Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
13. Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus)
14. Willets (Tringa semipalmata)
15. Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
16. Sanderling (Calidris alba)
17. Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)

The Best Shorebird Category

Ruddy Turnstone

Today one of the photographs I summited to the Birds Caribbean Global Big Day photography contest, which won the Best Shorebird category was featured on their social media accounts. I would like to say thank you to Birds Caribbean for the mention.

Birding Images: First Half of July

To me, the birding in the first half of July was much better than the entire month of June.  I saw some impressive birds thus far, four of which were yearbirds, two of those four are considered rare for the island.  The best part is that it is going to get even better as we head into the migration season in a  month or so. Here are a few images from the first half of July.

Rare Birds

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

I saw this juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) at the Graeme Hall Swamp on the 5th, just after the passing of Hurricane Elsa.  The water levels were higher than normal at that point and many of the trees were damage.  That probably forced this nocturnal heron to the front of the mangroves.

The second rare bird for the month have become a yearly fixture at the SBRC at Mangrove, St. Thomas.  This Striated Heron (Butorides striata) was seen on the 10th in the pond next to the entrance to the recycling plant. 

Insectivores on the coast

On the 10th, I stopped on the East Coast Road and observed three insectivorous birds - Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger), Barn Swallows(Hirundo rustica) and Caribbean Martins (Progne dominicensis) hawking for prey over the hills.

Black Swift 

Barn Swallow

Caribbean Martin

More birds

A pair of Martins, an odd pair, a flying duck and a few seabirds

A pair of Caribbean Martins on the powerline at Inch Marlow, Christ Church

The odd pair -A Golden Warbler with its surrogate Shiny Cowbird chick (more here) 

A Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) in flight 

Seabirds @ Oistins ice jetty - Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) above and Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) below

Laughing Gull