TILLOO CAY ABACO: UPDATE & IMAGES POST HURRICANE IRENE

September 29, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

Click me! ©Brigitte Bower Carey

I have been in touch with Brigitte Bower Carey from Tilloo Cay, whose cheerful painting of a Sergeant Major graces the usual rh Logo space above. She has kindly sent an update on the post-Irene situation on Tilloo, and a couple of images showing the effects of the storm on foliage. Luckily, it sounds as though the birdlife is ok in the aftermath. But no phone, a month after…

“Everything is good here – the house and we weathered the storm just fine. The dock is a mess, but is repairable. Nothing at all like most of the south facing docks on our island and our neighbouring island, Lubber’s Quarters – only the poles survived there. So we are grateful. Still cleaning up, the yard was in bad shape, but it is coming along… Communications are a weak point here after the storms – we still don’t have our phone back.

Abaco is starting to look like in spring time now, because a lot of the foliage got burned in the 140 mph gusts of Irene. So now all of the surviving trees are pushing out new leaves, plus all the rain has helped revive things. But nothing at all like after Floyd – when we came home in November ’99 there was not a leaf on any tree, and no birds at all. So we are considering ourselves very lucky now”.

BAHAMIAN MAHOGANY REGENERATING AFTER IRENE

A WIND-BURNED SEA GRAPE PLANT PRODUCING NEW LEAVES

Both images © Brigitte Bower Carey
www.islandwatercolors.com
www.abacoislandartists.blogspot.com

BAHAMAS WORLD CUP DARTS 2011 TEAM RESULTS

September 28, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

Click Board for World Cup Darts 2011 Results

The World Cup is over, with England cleaning up in almost every arrows category. The Bahamas teams were up against the cream of world’s oche-meisters, and although none progressed to the final stages both Robin Albury and his partner got through to the last 32 in the men’s pairs; and Trudy Johnson made the last 32 in the women’s singles.

Overall, the Bahamas men finished at 29 out of 38 participating countries; and the Bahamas women at 18 out of 30. A moment spent looking at the competing countries and simply comparing populations indicates that the Bahamas teams made an excellent showing on the world stage. And let’s hope they all enjoyed the craic while they were in Ireland…

And if you are getting a weird ad for some kind of cosmetic witchery here, apologies. I’ve no idea what it’s doing, and it’s not the usual Google-based blurb… I’m hoping it will just vanish suddenly. Or the whole blog will.

ABACO BARBS – THE LATEST NEWS OF THEIR PLIGHT Sept 2011

September 28, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

Normal(-ish) service is resumed after a break… Before I went away I posted about the Abaco Barbs and the precariousness of their continued existence as a species. I have just heard from Milanne Rehor of ARKWILD with a completely up-to-date report on the current situation. From her account it is clear that these rare wild horses really are on the brink of extinction

“Currently, we have the three mares in a reduced area of the Preserve. We have had limited sightings of one stallion outside the Preserve. The second outside stallion hasn’t been seen in over a year so we don’t know if he still is alive.

The mares’ physical condition is “OK” but because of the smaller size of the Preserve (due to financial cut backs) they are in need of a blacksmith’s attention, veterinary attention to their dental condition and veterinary investigation of their reproductive capabilities.

We are in immediate need of funding to provide grain for the horses, (to supplement the smaller forage area), wages for our men (currently reduced to part time) in their work of feeding the horses, providing security for them and maintaining the electric fence and other chores.

The Bahamian Government has been helpful to a point with an expressed interest and indirect support of the horses , for example the President of our Board of Directors is also the Chief Warden for the Northern Bahamas for the Bahamas National Trust. A number of other board members are equally well placed, but the government has not yet directly contributed financially.

I hope this information helps, I’ll be happy to answer any other questions you may have. Your patience is deeply appreciated and thank you for following our story on your site. Best regards, Mim”

PHOTO CREDITS: ARKWILD CLICK LINK====>>> ARKWILD

DELPHI CLUB, ABACO, BAHAMAS – NEW SEASON / RH TAKES A BREAK

September 16, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

The Delphi Club reopens for the 2011 – 12 season on October 1st. For details please go to the Club’s website CLICK===>>> DCB

Meanwhile, in the rollingharbour household a quick break is imminent and there will be no further posts until near the end of the month. I notice from my stats that there is still plenty of interest in Hurricane Irene and the after-effects on the Island, its Cays and the wildlife. I have not added to my original posts during 10 days or so before, during and after the storm. There is a great deal more information available online from other sources, so I hope people are finding the information they need.

Finally, here is an interesting map of South Abaco from Parrots International (see sidebar for direct link). It was prepared for use during research a while ago into predation of Abaco Parrot nesting sites.

©Parrots International

ABACO BARBS: HURRICANE IRENE VIDEO & NEWS UPDATE

September 16, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

I have been in touch with Mim at ARKWILD to find out the latest news on the Abaco Barbs, and in particular how things are after Hurricane Irene. She has kindly sent a brief update which speaks for itself – not very optimistic-sounding, I’m afraid:

“Horses did fine, but we are down to the three mares inside, and one, possibly still two, stallions outside, we’re still fighting but it’s hard to paint this picture in pretty colors right now . . .”

Mim has also sent the link to a dramatic 4 minute video which includes vivid footage of Hurricane Irene’s power as it passes over on August 25; and the aftermath on August 26 with graphic footage of damage, debris and flooding. Luckily the mares in the compound and her dogs were ok. Her boat home, well secured before Irene struck, still had various parts including its solar panels blown off, which she was fortunately able to recover by diving for them!

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEO===>>>

BMMRO WHALE & DOLPHIN NEWSLETTER JULY 2011: 1st BAHAMAS FIN WHALE SIGHTING, ABACO

September 15, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

Click logo!

BAHAMAS MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION NEWSLETTER JULY 2011

The BMMRO, based at Sandy Point, Abaco, has published its latest newsletter: 4 pages of lavishly illustrated news and info about recent research and other cetacean-related matters. Thanks as ever to Charlotte Dunn for permission to link to / use material from the BMMRO website. To see the newsletter CLICK LINK===>>> BMMRO Newsletter_Jul11

If you want to immerse yourself in the extremely interesting details of past and ongoing research, with wonderful whale and dolphin photos and past sightings and stranding details, go to the main BMMRO website CLICK LOGO===>>>

WORLD DARTS FEDERATION WORLD CUP: SUPPORT BAHAMAS!

September 13, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

GOOD LUCK TO ROBIN AND THE TEAM

This post has little – ok, nothing at all – to do with wildlife on Abaco. It’s just a reminder of an imminent international event I posted about a while ago. Robin Albury (renowned and excellent Abaco and Delphi Club fishing guide) and his team-mates will be battling it out at Castlebar, Rep. of Ireland from behind the OCHE for the Darts World Cup between Sept 20 – 24 For web-link & team details CLICK LOGO===>>> Continue reading →

AN EXPEDITION TO SEE THE ENDANGERED ABACO BARBS

September 9, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

RICKY JOHNSON leads wonderful birding and natural history outings, taking small parties to the prime hotspots for Abaco Parrots and much else besides – see RICKY JOHNSON’S ECO-TOUR for a detailed account. He also takes small groups to see the Abaco Barbs in their protected forest surroundings near Treasure Cay. These photos were taken there in March 2011. The horses are free to roam in the pine forest, but the compound is their HQ, where they can be sure of a feed. There are 4 mares and 1 stallion remaining: even with the best efforts of those concerned, the preservation of this unique breed seems sadly doomed.

ARKWILD is the website to go to for information. There’s a link to the website in the Sidebar Blogroll and also a Twitter link in the Sidebar. Here is the direct link to the latest summary (dated July 2010, but in sequence it should be 2011, I think) and donation page – it is also the portal to the rest of the site with information, photographs and videos CLICK LOGO ===>>>

(Photo credits – all photos – Mrs rh)

ABACO BARBS – THE ISLAND’S ENDANGERED WILD HORSES

September 6, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

In the rollingharbour tradition of encouraging easy access to online material, here is a selection of 8 videos about Abaco Barbs, the near-extinct wild horses of Abaco. In due course I’ll add some links to the most informative websites and also some photos. The first 3 videos derive from the origins and subsequent conservation work by the charity Arkwild. There’s a link to the Arkwild site in the sidebar Blogroll. The struggle to try to preserve the breed is extremely well documented on the internet, and needs no repetition from me. It’s worth saying, however, that the situation is now worse than ever: in March 2011, there were only 5 horses left, of which only one is a stallion…

The remaining videos are mostly collections of stills, some accompanied by music that you may want to turn down. Or off, in one case. There’s a degree of repetition, but I have left them there in case there is an image that strikes you as special or a nugget of information that is of interest…

THE ARKWILD VIDEOS

Thumbnail 1:49

ABACO BARB TRAILER

Horses in the Pines, the story of the Abaco Barbs. Only 8 left on the planet, their story is both tragic and beautiful. by photogchic1 | 3 years ago |

9:47

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WILD HORSES OF ABACO

This compelling video is an introduction to the story of the Wild Horses Of Abaco. Only a few are left now, we’re fighting hard to save them from … by arkwild | 2 years ago |

2:17

THE ABACO WILD MARES GET SUPPLEMENTAL SNACKS

Because the forest is in a dry cycle, new grasses are not growing fast enough we decided to supplement each mare with a measure of mixed grain and … by arkwild | 1 year ago

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SUPPLEMENTARY VIDEOS