SOUTH EASTERN CARIBBEAN BIRD ALERT (2002- 43) for 7th November 2002 Sponsored by the T&T Field Naturalist Club, our aim is to promote birding and ornithology in the southeastern Caribbean by fostering communication among resident and visiting birders regarding the study of birds in the region. The SCBA and information about the TTFNC, T&T Rare Birds Committee and Photo Gallery are accessible at http://www.wow.net/ttfnc. Reports should be sent to Martyn Kenefick by phone at 674-7609 or by Email at "martynkenefick@hotmail.com" The TTRBC requests details for species indicated with an asterisk (see website above and RARE BIRD REPORTING below).
RECENT BIRD SIGHTINGS :- On the west coast of Trinidad, belated news from Orange Valley of 2 GREATER FLAMINGOES feeding on the mudflats on 20th August. More recently, on 1st November, a male GREEN THROATED MANGO was seen in a garden in Carapichaima and a grey phase HOOK BILLED KITE was reported from the mangrove edge at Brickfield, together with about 15 YELLOW WARBLERS. On 3rd Nov, a group of 3 colour banded RUDDY TURNSTONES seen near the floating temple at Waterloo originated from the New Jersey shore of Delaware Bay, USA where they were banded during the period 19th - 26th May 2001.
In the Caroni plain, at Caroni ricefields on 4th Nov, the star bird was undoubtedly a second SNAIL KITE *, this time a sub adult male. Also present on the ricefields were long stayers such as 2 PIED BILLED GREBES, 2 MASKED DUCKS * and at least 6 BOBOLINKS *; the first GREAT BLUE HERON and MERLIN at this site for the winter, and a late AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER.
In northern Trinidad, at the Saut D'eau lookout a census of the nearby forest on 6th Nov produced a total of 53 species including the long drawn out wail of what was obviously a GREAT BLACK- HAWK calling, from a concealed perch.
In south Trinidad on 6th Nov, an adult WHITE TAILED HAWK was seen flying north over San Francique.
In north east Trinidad, at Galera Pt on 7th Nov, the feeding group of MANX SHEARWATERS * has increased to 5 birds. Also present were 15 BROWN NODDIES, 4 BROWN BOOBIES, 8 COMMON TERNS and a CAYENNE TERN. At 11.00 a large SKUA sp * (either GREAT or SOUTH POLAR SKUA) was seen at great distance flying north west, very low over the surface. Also at Galera, a kettle of raptors drifting westwards at 10.30 included ( amongst the many BLACK VULTURES) 20 BROAD WINGED HAWKS and a SHORT TAILED HAWK. Landbirds included both SQUIRREL and STRIPED CUCKOOS, 4 LILAC TAILED PARROTLETS a BRAN COLOURED FLYCATCHER and 2 BLUE DACNIS (unusual at this site).
In Tobago, at Speyside 4 BLACKPOLL WARBLERS were found on 29th Oct and 2 BLACK NECKED STILTS * and 4 GREY BREASTED MARTINS * were seen at Lowlands on 4th Nov.
From the British Virgin Is We received a late report from the Virgin Islands of an apparently exhausted CONNECTICUT WARBLER (2nd for Virgin Islands) landing on the cruise ship MV Century as it cruised eastward through the Caribbean about halfway between Virgin Gorda and St. Croix at 11:12 pm EST on 8 October. It was one of a flock of several similar warblers (presumably the same species) videotaped as they flew just above the ship for a half hour.
In St. John, US Virgin Islands, sightings on 5 November include: a WHITE-WINGED DOVE at Coral Bay; a NORTHERN PARULA and a PRAIRIE WARBLER seen during a half-hour hike along the Bordeaux Mountain Road on 5 November; and two BLACKPOLL WARBLERS, a YELLOW WARBLER and a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at one of the Annaberg Salt Ponds.
In St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, a WHITE-CHEEKED PINTAIL with a square plastic nare tags (blue on left, yellow on right) and an aluminum band on the right leg was found in a flock of 35 at Sapphire Bay on 3 November. Season high counts of five GREATER YELLOWLEGS and seven WILSON'S SNIPE were tallied at Turpentine Run on 3 November. An adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON dropped in at Sugar Bay on 3 November. At Compass Point Pond, three BLUE-WINGED TEAL and 19 STILT SANDPIPERS were seen on 1 November. A BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER was at Cabrita Point on 31 October. Finally, a MAGNOLIA WARBLER was photographed at Charlotte Amalia on 8 October.
NEW PUBLICATION IN T&T ORNITHOLOGY: A 209-page book, titled "Studies in Trinidad and Tobago Ornithology Honouring Richard ffrench" and edited by F. E. Hayes and S. A. Temple, is now available as Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Occasional Paper #11. The book contains 26 papers covering a wide range of subjects, written by 32 authors. For the convenience of our readers, abstracts will be summarised in the next series of Ornithological Tidbits. Further information on contents, abstracts (English and Spanish) and information for purchasing the book are available at: http://www.geocities.com/secaribbirds.
ORNITHOLOGICAL TIDBIT: The following abstract is from: Hayes, F. E., C. L. Ramjohn, and N. Jones. 2002. The ffrench connection: contributions of Richard ffrench to Trinidad and Tobago ornithology. Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Occasional Paper 11:4-10. Richard ffrench resided in Trinidad and Tobago from 1958-1985, and has continued to be actively involved in the country''s ornithology. During 1961-2000, Richard published 96 books, chapters, articles or notes, almost exclusively on the birds of Trinidad and Tobago. Two editions of A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (1973 and 1991) comprise his major ornithological contributions, which account for 60% of his citations in the Science Citation Index. His 63 technical publications, which included 1267 pages, on Trinidad and Tobago ornithology comprised 26% of all publications and 37% of all pages published on the country''s ornithology during this period. Other major contributions include his initiation of the annual Christmas Bird Count in Trinidad and the formation of the Trinidad and Tobago Rare Bird Committee.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION :- The Forestry Dept in St Vincent recently took into care a BLUE WINGED TEAL which subsequently died. It was banded No 975-79216. If anyone knows the originator of the band, could they kindly contact Email "forestrysvg@vincysurf.com" or Fitzgerald Providence on "fitzgp@hotmail.com".
CHANGES IN TAXONOMY :- As a result of recent decisions by the American Ornithologists Union, the Common Snipes which breed in the northern United States and Canada, and who's wintering grounds include Trinidad and Tobago have been assessed as a separate species WILSON's SNIPE; Gallinago delicata. However the picture regarding snipes in Trinidad is still very confusing as there are very occasional sightings in summer. These birds are the race "paraguaiae"; have also been reassessed specific species status and are known as SOUTH AMERICAN SNIPE. Unfortunately these two species are almost impossible to separate in the field. We would be very interested to hear of any summer, or even more importantly, suspected breeding observations.
TTFNC OUTING :- the rescheduled bird club outing to the north coast road will now take place on Sunday 10th November. We will meet either at 6.15am on the western side of CIC in Port of Spain or alternatively at 6.30am just north of the pillars on the saddle on North Coast Road. Persons wishing to participate should contact Martyn Kenefick either by Email or phone - details above.
RARE BIRD REPORTING:- Do we believe what you see ? We want to ! Many of the identifications reported in the SCBA are tentative. The T&T Rare Birds Committee, formed in 1995, requests details for all rare birds observed (see Species Review List at our website). Please submit details to the TTRBC Secretary : Martyn Kenefick, 36 Newalloville Ave, San Juan, Trinidad & Tobago - email :- martynkenefick@hotmail.com