Back Again!

It's been three long months since I last posted. While I wish I could say all of that time was spent birding, unfortunately I was in the States so even though I saw some amazing birds, I couldn't have counted those species anyway. When I got back to beautiful St. Croix, I immediately hit the ground running to catch up. During the past few days, I caught my count up to 55 species! Much of it was rain-induced, and some were just common species that I hadn't captured before.

Before I begin about the recent birding, I promised a few months ago to post a special surprise about some gulls which were rare to the island. One was a Lesser Back-blacked Gull and the other was a Ring-billed Gull. There had been only 4 other sightings of the LBB gulls on record per my birding expert friend at eBird.

Then when I got home, boy were there some treats waiting for me! As soon as the rain subsided, I drove to Cane Bay and captured a pair of Bridled Quail-Doves guarding a nest. The female was careful to sit on the nest while the male stood his ground nearby to keep it safe from Pearly-eyed Thrashers - also known locally as "Crucian Crows" who are known for disturbing and eating other birds' eggs. These little beautiful doves are endangered and extremely rare - only existing in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and scattered throughout the Lesser Antilles (Raffaele et al. 1998). They are also considered territorially endangered (Platenberg et al. 2005).

Then, I drove up the road to an area near Prosperity Ridge, by the Carambola Beach Resort where I was able to capture a pair of Lesser Antillean Bullfinches building a nest in a Saman Tree.

The next day in the rain, I was able to get a Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron and an American Oystercatcher near Cane Bay. Driving back through Salt River Bay, we noticed hundreds of crabs on the side of the road enjoying the fresh mud. It was wonderful to capture.

I finally got to see a Least Tern near the Great Pond, and boy was it different than I expected! Although the guides informed me how small their size is in comparison to the Royal Tern, I wasn't prepared for the tiny bird that kept flying over my head as I walked near its domain. I was careful not to disturb its breeding ground, but was close enough for it to make sure I didn't take any steps further. I also was able to catch a group of Wilson's Plovers eating the tiny crabs the rain brought forth.

Of course the House Sparrow is common throughout the island, but I thought it was cute shot and haven't included one before.Since I hadn't seen Laughing Gulls prior to my long trip, I thought I would include a picture of them as well. Enjoy!

                          

44 and Counting!

It's been a few weeks since my last post, and I am now up to 44 species!! I keep telling myself I have at least 100 to go for me to get to the Virgin Islands National Park figure - but most of that data that is listed is from St. John's park. Other sites mention that there have been 243 species spotted on all three islands in the Virgin Islands, but I am only observing St. Croix, so we shall see what happens. I still have a long way to go, but it's only February!

The past two weekends have brought me great joy. I have seen birds that are common here, and many migratory shore birds - but all of them are "new" to me, which is what makes birding so fun. I went to the Great Salt Pond and was finally able to spot several Yellow Warblers - you might remember that the last photo was too blurry to post, but this is much better thanks to my fellow photographer who has some pretty amazing bird shots as well as some other great photos from the island.  Check it out - http://dayinthelifeofaphoto.blogspot.com/  .

We also captured the Smooth-billed Ani and Mangrove Cuckoo. Now that I am starting to recognize their calls, it is much easier for me to be patient and wait to see a bird, rather than hurry on by which is what I did before.


I loved seeing the Plovers at the Great Salt Pond - they are so fun to watch, flitting in and out of the water to hunt for food. Of course, they never let you get too close and fly off in flocks if you disturb them. I found out from a local birder that the Wilson's Plover, Black-necked Stilts, and Least Terns will all be nesting on the mudflats during the breeding season between March and August, so I might not be able to visit the Pond during that time. Although I have a pretty great zoom lens and am hopeful I can capture the Least Tern at Sandy Point since they don't plan to close until May.

The most amazing bird from the weekend trips is the Whimbrel, which travels thousands of miles each year from the Artic Circle all the way to St. Croix. There is one pretty famous Whimbrel on the island - Hope - who has traveled more than 47,000 miles in the past 3 1/2 years. Her satellite tracker fell off in September, but she is still tagged. I am unsure if this photograph is her, but one can only "hope."  http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/hope-the-whimbrel-will-not-be-tracked-any-more-1.1414671

In the  next few days I will post about some gulls I saw over the weekend. I am still verifying which species they are, but I'm pretty sure they are considered a rare sight here.

Duck, Duck, Coot :)

The past two weeks have been great for birding! Believe it or not, I have lived here 2.5 years, and only in the last year, have I become fascinated with the birds of the island, but this has also caused me to look in places I never noticed prior to this challenge. Although I realized that many of the wetlands were important to the ecology of the island - it never occurred to me to actually visit them, until the past few months. So now, I am seeing birds that are actually considered common here for the first time, and it's wonderful! I spent the past few days shooting near the ponds of The Buccaneer Hotel and encountered 8 new species to add to my list, which brings me up to a great big 36 species on the island of STX. How great!

Another aspect of birding that is so fun for me, is the time involved in researching each species, (i.e., their scientific names, nesting breeding habits, etc.) but I've also found that birding is much more complicated than I originally thought. For example, in two cases since I started this blog - I named the wrong species - simply because I didn't know the subtle differences between them. Take for example, the American Coot. The bird looks very similar to the Caribbean Coot, with the exception of an all white frontal shield (as opposed to a white frontal shield with red extending into the crown). The white-shielded 'Caribbean' Coot has been spotted in several parts of North America, leading to questions about whether or not it is really a distinct species.

David Sibley makes a great point on his website about this debate, stating "Since white-shielded male coots occur throughout North America, the conclusion that these birds are merely variants of American Coot (and not visitors from the Caribbean) is inescapable."  Retrieved from:

http://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/03/the-caribbean-coot-in-north-america/

However, for the purpose of this blog, I have listed both versions since the red-shielded and white-shielded were both spotted. 

Next week, I hope to post some hummingbirds if I can get some good shots; otherwise, plan on some more fun facts and at least a shot or two of some of my favorite flying insects.

 

  

 

 

Some Locals...

These local birds make living on St. Croix wonderful. Throughout the day, the bright little Bananaquits - sometimes called "sugar birds"- come perch on one of our feeders to drink some sugar water. When we run out, they make sure to yell at us non-stop, until it's filled. These wonderful yellow-breasted beauties are also the official bird of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and can be seen taking nectar from flowers with their curved bills. Waking up to their chatter used to drive me insane when I first moved here, and now it is one of my favorite sounds.

The island is also abundant with various pigeons and doves. The Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons) can be seen roosting on the ledges of our grocery stores, or hanging out in small flocks by any food establishment.  Zenaida Doves  occasionally fly up to our railing, puffing out their breasts while calling out for a mate. Another of my favorite, calming sounds. It's wonderful to see a pair perched on a branch close together.

Little Blue Herons and Cattle Egrets are also a common sight - the Herons usually are seen near the shore or by ponds, and Cattle Egrets love to hang around when the lawn is being mowed. The shots below were taken when  more than a dozen were standing on top of a building waiting for the landscaper to stir up some insects.

I know I already included a few shorebirds, but this Ruddy Turnstone was taking a bath near the Frederiksted Pier yesterday - how cute!!

Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge

This past week has been amazing for birding!  I am now up to 27 species (not very many, but as a new birder, I guess it's not too bad either?). I haven't been able to photograph all of them, but it's fairly easy to catch the common birds of the USVI. I went on Saturday to the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge with a friend, and talked to the Ranger for quite a long time about birding and the possibility of volunteer opportunities.

One rarity for winter that we spotted was the Least Grebe! Also, according to my birding checklist on the Refuge it also isn't common to see Greater Yellowlegs during winter, but the Ranger pointed out several. I forgot to ask if they are still considered rare or if they are now more common. The checklist hasn't been updated since 2006, so I'm sure things may have changed.


I still haven't been able to photograph a Belted Kingfisher even though I'm pretty sure I've heard him, and last week at the Great Pond I got a Yellow Warbler, but the photo is too blurry to post. Soon, I will figure out how to attach the checklist for birds I have seen; for now, here is the link to where I input my data: http://ebird.org - this is a great website!  It is a co-creation of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, and contains all sorts of fascinating information, as well as database for individual users to input their birding experience.

Now here are the photos of the birds from last week; most from Sandy Point. Enjoy!!

"I'm Watching You"

 

 

This Osprey hangs out behind my building on a palm tree that has recently died. He/She sits there sometimes for hours just cleaning his feathers, or watching the waters for a fish to catch. I'm told that this one may not be a year-round resident here, and migrates for the winter. However, there are a few resident Ospreys that live here on the island full-time. The coloring is different for the resident race (P.h. ridgwayi) according to "Birds of the West Indies" by Herbert Raffaele, et al.

I have hundreds if not over a thousand photographs of this bird, but I have made myself promise only to use photos taken this year - that way I don't "cheat" myself out of a day trip around the island!

While driving around today near the UVI Wetlands, I saw two birds that looked like doves with a white stripe on their wings, but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture. If they were "White-winged doves" they are RARE here, so it would have made my day! BUT, most likely it was my eyes playing tricks on me as they tend to when I get excited about something :)

Maybe in the next week I can add a few more species to my STX list. For now, I will just be glad I've got Mr. or Mrs. Osprey to watch.


Fun Facts:
-Ospreys are found on every continent with the exception of Antartica, and are one of the largest birds of prey, and although often called a "sea-eagle" because it nests near water, it is not, but instead is a fish-eating raptor.

- Ospreys are known to mate for life and once a male and female have built their nest, they will return to the same nest year after year, continuously building upon it. I guess they are creatures of habit in this sense.

-When diving, Ospreys plunge completely into the water, submerging under to catch their prey, and can dive from as high as 200 feet to catch their fish!

2013 Birding on St. Croix

Good morning,

I am beginning this blog as part of a New Year's resolution - to document and photograph all the birds that inhabit and visit the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in a one year period. There is scant published research of the birds on St. Croix - and while I am an amateur birder, I am hoping to create a new list of all the species found in 2013, as well as photograph the butterflies, flora fauna, and other wildlife to fill in the spaces on days where new birds have not been photographed.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy this blog!

Birds from the first weeked birding are listed below: