West Indies Cruise - 03 Mar 2010
We arrived in the port around 8 am. A hot, dry breeze produced a bit of a chop on the water. There were no birds along the shoreline or near the island. This morning we were going to take a tour of the British Airway’s Concord (or Super-sonic Jet).
We boarded a bus and drove through town, with the driver pointing out the numerous KFC’s along most street corners. Barbados is known for consuming the most chickens in the world. McDonald’s lasted only 8 months on the island due to its lack of chicken on the menu…
As we drove along the shoreline I scanned the fences for Carib Grackles, and found a single Grassland Yellow-Finch, a small yellow bird with light streaks on the breast and a greenish-yellow rump. Lesser Antillean Bull-Finches (Barbados Bullfinch) were a bit more numerous, and I managed to see a couple of all-black males and brown females as we drove.
After a really cool tour of the Concord, I walked outside the building and found a cooperative Gray Kingbird roosting in a small tree.
Zenaida Dove and Carib Grackles were taking advantage of some shade to avoid the drought-producing heat. One small Black-faced Grassquit was perched in the fence nearby.
We made a stop at a small bar near a plantation, and had nice views of the surrounding hillside from the comfort of a shady terrace. As we sipped Rum Punch I scanned the edges of the sugar cane plantation for Black-faced Grassquits (olive-green finches with black heads and chest). An Eared Dove flew by and provided nice views of its rusty-edged tail feathers to distinguish it from its close cousin the Mourning Dove. A Scaley-naped Pigeon flew by just long enough for me to make out its dark gray body and reddish-brown head.
Our return bus trip to the ship yielded only Red Jungle-Fowl and a couple of Caribbean Martins.
Bridgetown Port, Barbados, Saint Michael, BB
Mar 3, 2010 8:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
Checklist Comments: NCL Cruise
9 species
Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa) 1 dark gray body and reddish-brown head
Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita) 2
Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) 1
Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) 1
Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis) 2
Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris) 2
Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola) 1
Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis) 6
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Mar 3, 2010 8:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
Checklist Comments: NCL Cruise
9 species
Scaly-naped Pigeon (Patagioenas squamosa) 1 dark gray body and reddish-brown head
Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita) 2
Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) 1
Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) 1
Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis) 2
Carib Grackle (Quiscalus lugubris) 2
Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola) 1
Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis) 6
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
