My 2023 Images - September

September was a month of bird photography for me.  After being inspired by a visiting bird photographer from the UK, Mark Went (Art Studio Wild), I made time just to get out and photograph birds artistically, and not just in a documentary style.  A planned morning of strictly bird photography with a few members of our local photographic club, The Barbados Photographic Society, also helped in that endeavor.  You may notice for the second month in a row the focus was on shorebirds, my favorite subject, which may change in the coming months as I try to balance documenting the arrival of migratory songbirds and planning and preparing photo excursions in the ever-decreasing spare time I have available. As you may know, my tools of choice are trusty Canon 7D II, Candace II, and a Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 Contemporary DG OS HSM, also known as Big Selma, and edited the photos with Lightroom 5.  I hope you will enjoy the images and feel free to contact me for prints or otherwise. 

Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage 

Camera shy Sanderling

Sanderling in the morning light

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turn so 😁

Least sandpiper at Portvile Sugar Factory

Yellow Warbler

Little Blue Heron in the fading light 

Laughing Gull

Gull-billed Tern

Masked Duck

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.  

 

My 2023 Images - August

 August was shorebird month for sure, I photographed hundreds of them, various species,  all over the island.  Here is a sample of some of the images I got both shorebirds and others.

Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) were the most common shorebirds on the ground

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

This one at the beach among the sargassum 

The other semi, Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), was also numerous

Semipalmated Plover aka Ring Necks

another ...

and another 

I found this beautiful Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), still showing signs of breeding plumage at the Portvile Sugar Factory 

Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus), like this one photographed at
 North Point, St. Lucy, were very visible this year 

this one was seen in St. Philip 

The rain briefly paused this White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) feeding, but it was soon back to the task of fueling up to continue its migration trek 

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), to me, was not as prevalent as in other years 

The ever-present Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) - This on is still sports some of the dotted breeding plumage that gives it its name

Yes, I did photograph other birds too!!

A Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) sitting on its nest at the quickly developing Bawdens Aquapark. I hope the projected increase in activity does not bring an end to this species' breeding at this location

A juvenile Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) 

A Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) hunting for fish 

Global Shorebird Count - Day 2

Semipalmated Plover showed up on day 2

On the second day of the Global Bird Count, I visited three sites on the island’s south coast: Inch Marlow, Long Beach, and Chancery Lane,  Christ Church. The most common bird was the Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), with a total of 116 individuals. Two other species had more than 50 individuals: the Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) with 74 and the Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) with 85. I also recorded four new species for our list: the Ruddy Turnstone, the Sanderling (Calidris alba), the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), and the Willet (Tringa semipalmata).

American Golden-Plovers on the Polo Field at Lion Castle

In the afternoon, I went to Lion Castle Polo Field in St. Thomas and spotted some American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica), which have been migrating in large numbers recently.

Here are the stats at the end of day 2:

Total Shorebird Species seen today - 15
Total Individual birds I saw today - 349
Total shorebird species for the count - 17
Total Individual birds for the count - 583

List of Shorebirds seen:

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

Global Shorebird Count - Day 1

Three shorebirds listed on day one at WSR - L-R White-rumped Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Lesser Yellowlegs

I am participating in the Global Shorebird Count which is part of World Shorebird Day. This international bird count will run from today, September 1st to 7th, the day after World Shorebird Day, which is observed on the 6th.   On the first day and visited three sites in the eastern parishes of St. Philip and St. John. The first site was Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge, a wetland that hosted a variety of shorebirds thus far for the migration season. However, on this occasion, I only saw eight species there. The most abundant species were the Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) with 89 individuals and the Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) with 20 individuals. This wetland is the first shorebird sanctuary on the island.

(L-R) Stilt Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher at site #2 

The second site was another shorebird sanctuary which is known to attract a high volume of birds, but that was not the case this afternoon.  This was due in part to the high water levels at this artificial wetland caused by extensive rainfall just hours before.  The high water levels cover the mudflats, the main feeding area of the smaller birds.  Still, while the bird count was low, 52 individual birds, it was divided among nine species, which included 16 Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes). The last site was a field in Redland, St. John, where chicken guano was stored for fertilizing the grass fields. This attracted seven shorebird species, among them two American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica). In total, I recorded 13 shorebird species and 234 individual birds on the first day of the Global Shorebird Count.

Total Shorebird Species seen today - 13

Total shorebird species for the count - 13

See Day 1 images here

List of Shorebirds seen:

1. Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola
2. American Golden-Plover - Pluvialis dominica
3. Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
4. Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus
5. Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
6. White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis
7. Pectoral Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos
8. Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
9. Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus
10. Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius
11. Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria
12. Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
13. Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes

Global Shorebird Count - Images

Day 1 

On day one of the Global Shorebird Count I visited three sites in the eastern parishes of St. Philip and St. John. Here are a few images of the birds I saw.

White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)

(L-R) White-rumped Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Lesser Yellowlegs 

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Stilt Sandpiper

L-R Stilt Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher

American Golden Plover

My 2023 Images - July

In July, I captured a variety of bird species with my camera, but I focused on shorebirds in the second half of the month as they became more common with the onset of the fall migration. I used my trusty Canon 7D II, Candace II, and a Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 Contemporary DG OS HSM, also known as Big Selma, and edited the photos with Lightroom 5. 

These are a few of the images  I got:

The rare Fulvous (front) and more common Black-bellied (back) Whistling-Ducks

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck in flight 

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Laughing Gulls are plentiful at this time of year

Green Heron aka Gaulin 

Grassland Yellow-finch aka Grass Canary 

Black-faced Grassquit - male

Grey kingbird

 Now the migrating shorebirds

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs (L) and a Willet (R)

A South American Migrant - Collared Plover

Our smallest shorebird - Least Sandpiper