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ANTIGUA
(including day trips to Barbuda
& Monserrat)
14 - 21 March 2009
by Chris Spagnoli
After a good but tumultuous year in which I changed jobs and
changed cities, I felt the need for a vacation that was more
relaxation-oriented than my usual adventure/hardcore birding
excursions. I chose Antigua as a destination because it appeared
to combine a classic Caribbean beaches-and-perfect-weather venue with a
bird population which was interesting but low in diversity, reducing
the temptation to spend every morning and afternoon in the field.
As it turned out, I had chosen well for my purpose.
For preparation I read a few trip reports on the ‘Net and purchased A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies by
Rafaelle et al. Although the book
rarely shows alternate plumages, I found it perfectly sufficient for
identifying all the tropical birds I spotted during my visit.
Travelers not already familiar with North American migrants, especially
terns and shorebirds, would be well-advised to supplement Rafaelle with
something that addresses these families in more detail.
In the descriptions below life birds will be represented by all capital
letters. I generally mention a bird only the first time it is
seen on a trip, and then omit to list it in connection with later
appearances, thereby avoiding innumerable repetitions of such
unavoidable (if charming) birds as Bananaquit and Lesser Antillean
Bullfinch.
Saturday,
March 14:
Arriving at the airport in Antigua in the afternoon, while waiting in
line to go through Customs I spotted my second-in-life Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)- the first of many
to be seen on the islands. Upon reaching the Dickenson Bay
Cottages I saw numerous Bananaquits (probably the most common bird on
the islands) (Coereba flaveola).
A walk down to the McKinnon Salt Pond produced my life WHITE-CHEEKED
PINTAILS (Anas bahamensis) and
some diving Brown Pelicans (Pelicanus
occidentalis) in the fading light.
Sunday, March 15:
(Monserrat in the a.m.)
Returning to the V.C. Bird Airport to make the jump to Montserrat early
in the morning, I noted three CARIB GRACKLES (Quiscalis lugubris) getting an
early start as the sun peeked up. I had reserved a spot on the
6:30 a.m. flight and therefore showed up at the airport at 5:30
a.m. It turned out that Winair had cancelled the 6:30 flight and
the representative checked me in for the 8:00 flight instead. She
neglected, however, to tell me either of these things, and so I spent a
long time waiting in the gate area before another passenger arrived -
at nearly 7:15 - and mentioned that the 6:30 flight had been
cancelled. As it happened, the 8:00 flight also took off half an
hour late. Winair’s service is crap.
On Montserrat I met James “Scriber” Daley, who had been waiting, and we
got a late start on the morning’s birding, which definitely affected
our results. He took me up to a forest trail in the central hills
where we quickly turned up PEARLY-EYED THRASHERS (Margarops fuscatus), one of which
posed for study. Our initial try for the endemic oriole was
unsuccessful, but further down the trail Scriber heard one call and
managed to lure a male MONTSERRAT ORIOLE (Icterus oberi) in just above our
heads for long views. We found some good flowering trees where we
had repeated - and eventually good - views of GREEN-THROATED CARIB (Eulampis holosericeus) and
ANTILLEAN CRESTED HUMMINGBIRD (Orthorhyncus
cristatis). Scriber noted that the carib has recently
become very hard to find on Montserrat for unknown reasons, and he was
pleased the bird appeared.
On our return trip a Scaly-breasted Thrasher popped up right in front
of us, but Scriber was unable to get me on it - my old trouble with
distinguishing birds against complex backgrounds was rearing its head
again. Scriber spotted a Forest Thrush perched on a log, but it
was blocked from me; then Scriber lost it and I refound it on the
forest floor. Unfortunately it darted out of sight before I got
my binoculars on it and I never had a diagnostic look. We had
better luck with a PURPLE-THROATED CARIB (Eulampis jugularis) that we found
and briefly viewed attending a banana flower (a depending
teardrop-shaped purple affair). We also heard a Mangrove Cuckoo (Coccyzus minor) for a second life
“sighting.”
We returned to the road to wait for our taxi driver to pick us up, and
found LESSER ANTILLEAN BULLFINCH (Loxigilla
noctis), BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT (Tiaris
bicolor), and SCALY-NAPED PIGEON (Columba squamosa). I Heard
Scaly-breasted Thrashers calling from either side of the road but was
unable to find them before we needed to move on. While driving we
saw American Kestrel (Falco
sparverius)
and Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata
magnificens).
At Scriber’s nephew’s house we viewed several RED-BILLED TROPICBIRDS (Phaethon aethereus) sallying out
from rocky promontories and passing reasonably near shore. Back
on the road we picked up Cattle Egret (Bubulcus
ibis) and what may have been a Mourning Dove but was more likely
just another Zenaida Dove. Scriber took me to a place where the
road ran above a steep embankment and he spotted a Bridled Quail-Dove
below, and became understandably agitated when I proved unable to make
it out - a real hard miss. We tried to pick up lunch at a
barbecue restaurant but the place was packed and we had to give up, but
not before seeing a Brown Booby (Sula
leucogaster) flying out over the water.
I returned to Antigua and again visited the McKinnon pond in the
evening, finding Sandwich Terns (Sterna
sandvichensis), Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), Ruddy
Turnstones (Arenaria interpres),
Black-bellied Plovers (Pluvialis
Squatarola), Little Blue Herons (Egretta caerulea), Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula), Great Egrets (Ardea alba), the first of many Gray
Kingbirds (Tyrannus dominicensis),
possible Western Sandpiper (Calidris
mauri), Ruddy Duck (Oxyura
jamaicensis), Blue-winged Teal (Anas
discors), and Common Moorhens (Gallinula
chloropus). I met a couple there and helped them with
several shorebird and tern identifications; they mentioned they knew of
a spot for a hard-to-come-by Antiguan specialty and readily agreed to
show me.
We drove to Yepton Swamp and immediately found about forty WEST INDIAN
WHISTLING-DUCKS (Dendroycygna arborea).
Also present were Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus),
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax
nycticorax), CARIBBEAN COOTS (Fulica
caribaea), and Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia).
Monday,
March 16:
A morning walk down the road from the cottages to a restaurant that
served breakfast produced the first of many Common Ground-Doves (Columbina passerina). Back at
the hotel, I spotted a flying Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) of
the local subspecies. I spent most of the morning and part of the
afternoon sunbathing and swimming, but returned to the McKinnon pond to
find the following new birds: Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor), Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), and
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus
griseus). Also at the pond was a winter-plumaged
Bonaparte’s Gull (Larus philadelphia),
which was listed in my West Indies bird guide as only found as a
vagrant on Antigua.
Tuesday,
March 17:
Breakfast at another restaurant led to my noting several Royal Terns (Sterna maxima) on pilings in the
water. I then took a taxi to a ziplining outfit in the central
hills, there seeing another Green-throated Carib and some Helmeted
Guineafowl (Numida meleagris)
that were probably not completely feral. A short exploratory walk
down Fig Tree Drive from the ziplining station serendipitously turned
up the entrance to Wallings Preserve, which, as it happened, was one of
the premier birding spots on Antigua.
On the trails up to the summit I found CARIBBEAN ELAENIA (Elaenia martinica) fairly
quickly. Several dove-type birds flushed and overflew the trail
as I walked up past the reservoir, and eventually one landed in easy
sight just a few feet off the trail. I noted the dark back
coloration and assumed it was another Scaly-naped Pigeon, but since it
was so close I stopped to study it anyway - only to see, when it turned
its head, a white horizontal mark on the cheek. It was a BRIDLED
QUAIL-DOVE (Geotrygon mystacea)
affording an unprecedented long look at close range without any
obscuring foliage! I realized that I had been looking for a much
lighter bird and several of the doves that had crossed my trail
probably had also been quail-doves - they seem to be easy to get on the
stretch of trail running along the reservoir as long as you are alone
and quiet.
I made it to the top, took some pictures of the view, and then returned
to the bottom, hearing perhaps a couple of Pearly-eyed Thrashers but no
Scaly-breasted Thrashers although they are supposed to be at this
location. Just at the retaining wall of the reservoir I found my
life’s second Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo
altiloquus), which came in to inspect my spishing and showed
nicely.
I hitched a ride to English Harbour and looked around a bit. The
only new birdlife was a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) at Nelson’s
Dockyard.
Wednesday,
March 18:
I spent this day lying low for the most part as I had attained a
nascent sunburn on Monday and wanted to let it die down before it got
so bad as to interfere with my vacation. However, I did return to
the McKinnon pond, where I found Sanderling (Calidris alba), Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), and my
second-in-life group of about twelve Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis). Also
interesting was a juvenile Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) - another
bird supposed to be merely a vagrant in these isles. In the
morning I had checked out the margins of a weedy field and had a
stellar view of a perched Green-throated Carib, showing off the blue
band on its breast.
Thursday, March 19: (Day Trip to Barbuda)
I took the ferry to Barbuda, hoping to see some seabirds on the way,
but all that was seen was an eagle ray leaping out of the water several
times as we were leaving Antigua’s harbor. In Barbuda the only
taxi was quickly appropriated by a self-absorbed jackass of a guy who
wanted a tour of the island, and did not want to deviate even for the
five minutes it would take to drop me off at the airport. The
taxi driver eventually turned a deaf ear to his protests and took me
along. On the way we stopped at a small Spanish fort - really not
much more than a twenty-foot-high tower that looked like a brock - and
I spent a few moments looking at the nearby scrubby trees.
Movement caught my eye and I raised my binoculars only to find another
bullfinch, but then I realized there was another bird in the same tree
- and it was the endemic BARBUDA WARBLER (Dendroica subita)! Well, that
was easy, although I would get a number of even better views later in
the day.
Eventually I was dropped off at the airport and I followed directions I
had to a road which would lead to a good pond for birdwatching.
George Butler showed up and gave me a ride to the spot; he asked me to
let people know that he is the man for guiding birdwatchers on the
island. At the pond, I found more Barbuda Warblers, and when I
paused to sit down in the shade of a low tree, a LESSER ANTILLEAN
FLYCATCHER (Myiarchus oberi)
came in close to look me over. I also found a juvenile Great Blue
Heron (Ardea herodias)
visiting the pond. Other birds noted during the several hours I
spent here were Barn Swallows (Hirundo
rustica) and a Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto).
I started walking back to the airport so I could catch a ride back to
the ferry. It was a long walk and I hitchhiked, only to find that
the ferry was actually in the opposite direction on the road I was
on! The stop at the Spanish fort had turned me around on the way
out. Anyway, it was already 3:10 and the ferry would be leaving
in half an hour, but fortunately the people who picked me up kindly
turned around and took me right to the drive to the dock.
On the return trip we had a whale show well several times near the
ferry, and eventually pass behind us.
Friday,
March 20:
I returned to Wallings Reserve with a rented car but an early hike on
the trails produced American Redstart (Setophaga
ruticilla) as the only new bird. No scaly-breasted
thrashers seemed to be present at all. Driving away I saw a
White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
fly across the road. I tried Christian Valley that afternoon,
turning up a male Yellow Warbler (Dendroica
petechia) and not much else.
Saturday,
March 21:
A last-ditch early-morning effort at
Christian Valley proved futile. After returning the rental car, I
walked down the road to get in a last morning’s sunbath, and along the
way a White-crowned Pigeon (Columba
leucocephala) flew across the road
and perched in easy view - my second life sighting.
That afternoon I caught a flight back to Charlotte, was delayed in
Charlotte for several hours, but finally made it home.
Charles
Spagnoli