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.