CRYSTAL CATHEDRALS: ABACO’S ASTOUNDING UNDERGROUND CAVES (6)

January 19, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

CRYSTAL CATHEDRALS: ABACO’S ASTOUNDING UNDERGROUND CAVES (6)

The photos you see in this post were all taken by Hitoshi Miho during an amazing 3 days of diving with Brian Kakuk deep in the pine forests of South Abaco. It’s not the first time they have explored together the wonders that lie beneath those hundreds of acres of pines and scrub; I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Abaco's Underground Caves (Hitoshi Miho, with Brian Kakuk)

The most spectacular cave systems are the adjacent Ralph’s and Dan’s Caves. These systems are believed to be linked, and I know Brian has been trying to find where they meet – a difficult and dangerous task carried out underwater many metres below the forest floor, and requiring sophisticated diving equipment and great expertise.

Abaco's Underground Caves (Hitoshi Miho, with Brian Kakuk)

The latest 3-day exploration involved 12 dives and nearly 30 hours underwater in Ralph’s Cave. Narrow passages open out into massive caverns filled with wonderful and complex crystal stalagtites and stalagmites formed over eons. I hope you enjoy examples from the ‘Rooms’ and passages, many with exotic names (Glass Factory, Ninja Passage, Erabor); some more prosaic (Fred’s Room). Then try to imagine that you are actually swimming there.

Abaco's Underground Caves (Hitoshi Miho, with Brian Kakuk)

I shall be posting some more photos in due course showing some of the details of the cave formations – intricate patterns, delicate tracery, irridescent colouring, pencil-thin rods, ‘rock’ folds that look like the finest linen. As always I am immensely grateful to both intrepid divers for use permission. I won’t pretend that these thrilling caves are easily accessible – this is emphatically not an adventure to try unguided with a snorkel and flippers. But as you drive along the highway past miles of forest, it’s worth reflecting that far below you are some of the most magnificent cave systems anywhere in the world – right there, on your very own island…

Abaco's Underground Caves (Hitoshi Miho, with Brian Kakuk)

As it happens, the Delphi Club is very close to these caves, which lie within the boundaries of the newly created ‘South Abaco Blue Holes Conservation Area (see map). This is one of several such conservation areas on Abaco and in the wider Bahamas that are designed to protect the natural resources of the islands from development and exploitation. The second map shows how tantalisingly close Dan’s and Ralph’s caves are… and suggests that further exploration may lead to the missing link.

abaco-caves-map-jpg Abaco Caves Ralph & Dan jpg

Finally, here is a 4-minute video of one small part of the exploration, which gives a very good idea of what is entailed in investigating the narrow passages and huge cathedral-like caverns. Welcome to the Fangon Forest…

Hitoshi Miho, Ralph's Cave, Abaco

STIRRING TALES OF NORTHERN SHOVELERS

January 15, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

STIRRING TALES OF NORTHERN SHOVELERS

I’m broadly in favour of self-identifying bird names. You know where you are with a Spoonbill. If its bill is spoon-shaped, it is one. Conversely if it isn’t, it isn’t. True, you might waste a lot of time looking for a brownish duck gadding about near a wall, but the general principle of WYCIIWYG (what you call it is what you get) is a useful one.

Northern Shoveler 2.Abaco Bahamas.2.12.Tom Sheley

Thus with shovelers. Their beaks are shovel-shaped. They shovel about in the water to feed. It’s that simple. Being dabbling ducks, they are dab hands (wings?) at upending themselves to get that sturdy beak down in the water. These are highly specialist gadgets too, edged with ‘combs’ (lamellae) that strain out the water from a diet that includes aquatic vegetation and invertebrates. You can see this arrangement in the male shoveler in the header image.

Northern Shoveler.Abaco Bahamas.2.12.Tom Sheley

The male shoveler has striking plumage, with one of those ‘mallard drake’-coloured heads that is green except when the light catches it and it looks blue. I say ‘looks’, because the blue shades apparent in bird plumage do not result from pigments (which absorb most colours but reflect the visible colours) but from so-called ‘structural colouration’ resulting from scattered light, with the blue wavelength dominant. So even the bluest of blue birds – a bluebird, say, or an indigo bunting – is not blue but appears blue. But the bright red pigmentation of a male Northern cardinal is ‘real’ colour.

This male shoveler does not have a blue head… Northen Shovelers Foraging (Keith Salvesen) 5

Northern Shoveler (m & f) Abaco (Tony Hepburn) Northern Shoveler, Abaco (Woody Bracey)

The shovelers shown above (except for the ‘blue’-headed one which comes from the set below) were all photographed on Abaco. I mentioned the familiar dabbling method of feeding earlier. However a few days ago in Central Park NYC on The Lake near Bow Bridge, I witnessed shoveler feeding behaviour that was new to me. It’s probably perfectly well-known and documented, but that’s amateurs for you**. A flock of about 30 male and female shovelers had split into smaller groups of between 2 and 10. They formed circles – sometimes very tight – and swam round each other with their heads underwater, stirring up the water as they paddled round, so that their bills were always immersed in freshly disturbed food possibilities. The effect was hypnotic, as you can see from the 15 sec video I took. Although in the clip it looks as though the birds are rapidly progressing to the right, they in fact stayed in much the same place. They were not very close to me, so these are illustrative images rather than ‘Audubon shots’.

Northen Shovelers Foraging (Keith Salvesen) 7

** Of course as soon as I looked I discovered that “Large groups of northern shovelers swim rapidly in circles to collect food from the surface by creating a funnel effect” (cheers to Wiki) Spinus-northern-shoveler-2015-01-n025006-w

Credits: Tom Sheley (1, 2, 3); Tony Hepburn (4); Woody Bracey (5); Keith Salvesen (the rest)

AVIAN PISCAVORES CAUGHT IN THE ACT…

January 13, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

AVIAN PISCAVORES CAUGHT IN THE ACT…

There’s something enjoyable about watching a wild creature having a good meal, even if the meal consists of an item that, all things considered, you personally would prefer not to eat. While I am temporarily parted from my computer for a few days, I am able to publish blog posts from my phone. I could write one too, but that’s a bothersome and fiddly process, best avoided. So I thought you might enjoy a gallery of gorgeous birds doing what they like to do best – eat fish. Many thanks as ever to Phil Lanoue and Danny Sauvageau for use permission for their truly exceptional photos.

Great Blue Heron & Fish (Phil Lanoue) Cormorant with fish (Phil Lanoue) Anhingha with fish (Phil Lanoue) White Egret with fish (Phil Lanoue) Green Heron with fish (Phil Lanoue) Osprey with fish (Phil Lanoue) Tern with fish Reddish Egret (white morph) with fish (Phil Lanoue) green-heron-gilpin-point-abaco-keith-salvesen Osprey, Florida (Danny Sauvageau)

Birds featured are tri-colored heron in breeding plumage, great blue heron, cormorant, anhinga, white egret, green heron, osprey, tern and reddish egret (white morph).

All photos by Phil Lanoue except penultimate (Keith Salvesen) and last (Danny Sauvageau)

WTF? (WHAT’S THAT FISH) (6): THE SAND DIVER

January 8, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

WTF? (WHAT’S THAT FISH) (6): THE SAND DIVER

Time for another in the WTF? series, featuring weird (begging their pardons) or not very fish-like fish. The Sand Diver Synodus intermedius is a type of lizardfish found in subtropical waters and often around coral reefs. They can grow up to about 18 inches long and a prime specimen might weigh a couple of pounds. The markings are quite variable but one common characteristic seems to be a tendency to look somewhat down in the mouth; and to possess jaws full of tiny sharp teeth.

Sand Diver - ©Melinda Riger @ GB Scuba

Sand divers have two rows of teeth on their upper jaw and three rows on their lower jaw. Not content with that, they also have rows of teeth on the palate and tongue. Were they 50 times the size, they would be truly awesome.

Sand Diver ©Melinda Riger @ G B Scuba

The rather primitive appearance of the sand diver is explicable from fossils, which show that their forbears were active in the Jurassic / Cretacean periods.

Sand Diver ©Melinda Riger @ GB Scuba

HOW DO THEY GET THEIR NAME?

Sand divers often bury themselves in the sand with only their head showing. They are so-called ‘ambush predators’, and burial is one method they use. Another is simply to lie on the sandy bottom, or on reef surfaces and wait for passing prey. Their colouring provides very good camouflage. Sand Diver Fish

WHAT’S ON A SAND DIVER MENU?

A good mix of small reef fishes. Bar jacks, blue chromis, wrasses, fairy basslets, small grunts and so forth. At their own level they are quite fearsome predators.

Sand Diver © Melinda Riger @ Grand Bahama Scuba

ARE THEY ON THE HUMAN MENU?

Well, I knew someone would ask that, so I carried out a search. The answer seems to be no. I have found nothing to suggest that they are edible, or that anyone has tried (or if they have, survived to tell the tale). Incidentally, the best way to find out if something is edible by humans is to search for a recipe. There are no sand diver recipes.

STOP PRESS Jason Knight has drawn my attention to a comment in WhatsThatFish.com (no relation) by one ‘Jenny’, who commends Sand Divers as food (“they cook up just as good as hogfish!”). So yes, they are edible and there is one recipe…

All photos: Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba

BIG APPLE BIRDS YOU CAN’T SEE ON ABACO…

January 8, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

BIG APPLE BIRDS YOU CAN’T SEE ON ABACO…

This post is the converse of my LAST POST, as we prepare to visit the City of the Trump Tower for a few days. There are some birds found in NYC that have never been recorded for Abaco – some not even for the Bahamas at all. A few of these are surprising absences.

Northern Cardinal, Central Park NYC Northern Cardinal NYC

The Northern Cardinal, to take one example, is a common and widespread bird in many States. It is the emblem of many sporting teams and *FUN FACT ALERT* it is the state bird of more states than any other species – 7 in all! Sorry, what did you say? Oh, OK, they are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. [It is said, rather bathetically that “it was also a candidate to become the state bird of Delaware, but lost to the Delaware Blue Hen.“]

Downy Woodpecker, Prospect Park Brooklyn Downy Woodpecker 2 NYC

On eBird the east coast of Florida is positively flaming with Cardinal hotspots. The birds smother the state that is just across the water from the Bahamas. Yet the only recorded sighting for the entire Bahamas is a single bird on South Cat Cay, Bimini. Anyway, here are some nice birds to look at, mostly from Central Park NYC and Prospect Park Brooklyn. If anyone sees the last bird in the series on Abaco or indeed anywhere else, can you kindly let me know?

Cygnet, Prospect Park Brooklyn Cygnet NYC

Brown Creeper, The Ramble, Central Park NYC Brown Creeper NYC

Blue Jays, Central Park NYC Blue Jays NYC

Black-capped Chickadee, The Ramble, Central Park Black-capped Chickadee NYC Apologetic note: I find these little flickery birds very hard to photograph. They are specially trained to move at all times and to get behind twigs & branches the minute they see a camera

Tufted Titmouse Central Park NYC Tufted Titmouse 3 NYC

White-throated Sparrow, Prospect Park Brooklyn White-throated Sparrow NYC

Mute Swan, Prospect Park Brooklyn

Raphus cucullatus (Dodo), American Museum of Natural History Dodo NYC

There’s one of these in the Natural History Museum in London; also in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (parts of one, anyway). Where else in the world, I wonder?

Normal Abaco Service will be restored in a few days… RH

ABACO BIRDS YOU CAN SEE IN THE BIG APPLE…

January 6, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

ABACO BIRDS YOU CAN SEE IN THE BIG APPLE…

Big Apple, here we come! Mrs RH has business there next week. Sometimes, if I have behaved particularly well for an extended period – 2 years on average – I am invited to go along on her US trips. Providing I can grab a cheap fare as well. Well, sorted! NYC is my absolutely favourite capital city. Along with Marsh Harbour, obvs. And maybe Paris. Not London, we live there. Too close to home.

Northern Mockingbird, High Line, NYC Northern Mockingbird NYC High Line

I never go shopping, but I have specific must-dos. Route 66 on 9th for the best breakfast ever. Walking the wonderful new High Line park, extended since we were last there. The Staten Island Ferry out and straight back for the best free ‘Manhattan view plus water ride’ experience. The Tramway cable car to Roosevelt Island to visit the beautifully restored Blackwell Farmhouse which dates from 1796 and is arguably NYC’s oldest surviving residential building (not many people know this). Then a brisk walk to Lighthouse Point for a winter picnic. This is where, one day, I plan to catch a fish – any fish – on the fly in the East River. I’ve debated packing a small travel rod & reel this time but it is not an ideal time of year, frankly, and I don’t want to set myself up for failure in what will anyway be a hard task…

A Herring Gull provides irrefutable proof that there is piscine life in the East River even in winter
Life in the East River NY

Mallards in Central park: a male and a LEUCISTIC female Mallard (m) NYC Central Park Mallard (f) - leucistic NYC Central Park

And to people’s complete bemusement (sample comment: “Are you quite mad?”) I go birding. NYC is a great place for it, being on a major migration flyway. Central Park is fantastic, especially the Ramble, the Reservoir, and the lesser known wild areas at the top end – the Loch, the Ravine, Harlem Meer. Prospect Park Brooklyn is another great place, with wild woodland and lakes for many water bird species. There’s a wildlife refuge at Jamaica Bay which looks worth exploring too, though it’s a bit of a trek. Anyway, here are a few Big Apple birds that are found on – or at least recorded for – Abaco (some very rarely, it has to be said).

Ring-billed and Herring Gulls on the Staten Island Ferry Ring-billed Gull NYC Staten Island Ferry Ring-billed Gull NYC 2 Staten Island Ferry Herring Gull NYC 2 Staten Island Ferry Herring Gull NYC Staten Island Ferry

Male & female Hooded Mergansers on the JKO Reservoir, Central Park Hooded Merganser (m) NYC JKO Reservoir Hooded Merganser (f) 2 NYC JKO Reservoir

Male House Sparrow (Central Park) & female (Prospect Park, Brooklyn) House Sparrow NYC Central Park House Sparrow (f) NYC Prospect Park

Rock Pigeon, Central Park Rock Pigeon NYC

Eurasian Starling (High Line Park) Starling NYC High Line Park

Canada Goose on ice (Prospect Park, Brooklyn) Canada Goose NYC Prospect Park

American Robin (Prospect Park, Brooklyn) American Robin NYC Prospect Park

Poor photo of a Coot (Harlem Meer, Central park) Coot NYC Central Park Harlem Meer

Ultra-shy Red-winged Blackbird (Prospect Park, Brooklyn) Red-winged Blackbird NYC Prospect Park I can only get away with crap photos like this because it’s my blog & your decision to put up with it

Bufflehead, JKO Reservoir Central Park Bufflehead NYC JKO Reservoir Central Park A bird recorded once or perhaps twice for Abaco in the last 60 years. I have better photos than this, but this one best illustrates your chance of seeing one on Abaco – vanishing…

~~Hairy~~** Red-bellied Woodpecker (The Ramble, Central Park)

Red-tailed Hawk NYC (Prospect Park Brooklyn) Red-tailed Hawk NYC Prospect Park Brooklyn The RTH header image was taken in the Ramble, Central Park

** As Woody Bracey has been quick to point out, this is in fact a Red-bellied Woodpecker, not a Hairy Woodpecker. Unlike the HWP, the RBW is not recorded for Abaco. HOWEVER I do have a HWP photo from Central Park somewhere, and if I can find it I’ll substitute it and make it right!

All photos, good, bad and indifferent: The Author

THE BAHAMA WOODSTAR NEST: A CHRISTMAS STORY FOR A NEW YEAR

January 4, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

THE BAHAMA WOODSTAR NEST: A CHRISTMAS STORY FOR THE NEW YEAR

And it came to pass that on the first day of December in the Year of Our Lord 2015, the time came upon a mother hummingbird; and she laid her tiny egg in a small nest in the place that is called Man-o-war, which is to say ‘The Island of Pretty Birds”. And on the next day, she laid a second tiny egg in that nest also. For this was in the time of the first Woodstar nesting of the season.

Bahama Woodstar nest with eggs, Abaco (Charmaine Albury)

And the days passed, even as the mother hummingbird sat upon the nest whereat she had laid her eggs. And verily was she patient, for it was known to her that the eggs would not hatch until certain days were past

Bahama Woodstar nest with eggs, Abaco (Charmaine Albury)

Yet still the eggs hatched not, though their colour became paler… Bahama Woodstar nest with eggs, Abaco (Charmaine Albury)

But on the 19th day hatched the first egg; and likewise the second egg upon the 21st day. And two (mostly) naked hatchlings were made visible. Bahama Woodstar nest with hatchlings, Abaco (Charmaine Albury)

On the 25th day, which is to say the day of Christ’s Mass, the hatchlings had grown; and their raiment of feathers was coming upon them to clothe their nakedness Bahama Woodstar nest with hatchlings, Abaco (Charmaine Albury)

And as they grew the chicks (for thus were they named) were snug and safe in their small nest, even as their mother and their father, who did build it together and furnish it with soft materials, had ordained

1170953_10207164189916859_1353675663828625458_n

By the 31st and final day of the old year, which is to say the day before Earth’s renewal in another year, the chicks had greatly grown; and feathers were about their persons. And their appearance was of small birds which would soon fly from that place and live happily in a New Year at Man-o-war Bahama Woodstar nest with chicks, Abaco (Charmaine Albury)-1

Thanks for all fabulous photos to Charmaine Albury, who is lucky enough to be a Woodstar magnet on Man-o-War Cay. With her family, she watches these events unfold every year at her house, and manages to record them without ever disturbing these wonderful little birds

YELLOW BIRDS ON ABACO: A ‘TWIXTMAS’ COLOUR SCHEME

December 28, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

Bahamas-Great Abaco_4846_Bahama Yellowthroat_Gerlinde Taurer copy

YELLOW BIRDS ON ABACO: A ‘TWIXTMAS’ COLOUR SCHEME

Red. Green. A splash of blue. The shimmer of gold and silver. Those Christmas colours are so passé. OVAH! So ‘last year’ (or very nearly). In the hope and expectation that people are not too bilious from Xmas Xcess, or too jaundiced by seasonal overload, I feel it’s time to change the colour scheme. Let’s go for bright yellow. Specifically, a mix of endemic Bahama Yellowthroats and Common Yellowthroats. I love these cheerful little birds, and the challenge of trying to lure them into the open with my rather unconvincing approximations of their ‘wichity’ call. Such sunny little creatures, and always such a joy to watch.

Bahamas-Great Abaco_5267_Bahama Yellowthroat_Gerlinde Taurer copy Bahama Yellowthroat (M) Bruce Hallett Bahama Yellowthroat 3 Tom Reed

ALL ABOVE – BAHAMA YELLOWTHROATS; ALL BELOW – COMMON YELLOWTHROATS

Common Yellowthroat.Gilpin Pond.Abaco Bahamas.Tom Sheley copy Common Yellowthroat (m) Bruce Hallett IMG_4232 Common Yellowthroat, Gilpin Pond, Abaco Bahamas (Tom Sheley) Common-yellowthroat, Abaco (Erik Gauger)

Credits: Gerlinde Taurer (1,2); Bruce Hallett (3, 6); Tom Reed (4); Tom Sheley (5, 7); Erik Gauger (8)

“FOUR CALLING BIRDS…” CAN YOU FIND ONE ON ABACO?

December 21, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

“FOUR CALLING BIRDS…” CAN YOU FIND ONE ON ABACO?

The Winter Solstice arrives today. The shortest day followed by the longest night of the year… then the serious business of Christmas. And some quality frivolity with it. So this will probably be my last post before then and possibly until next year, depending on available time, relative sobriety and other seasonal variables too numerous to mention…

CALLING BIRDS? WHAT ARE THEY, EXACTLY?

“The Twelve Days of Christmas “is an old, old song, supposedly written in 1780, and popular ever since. Over time, the words have altered somewhat from the original. The ‘Calling Birds’ were originally ‘Colly (or Collie) Birds’, meaning, black birds. The word derives from the word ‘coal’. The change to ‘calling birds’ wasn’t noted until the early c20. One version I learnt as a child a few ~~years~~ decades later used ‘colly birds’. However the quaint usage quickly died out during the pernicious excesses of the 1960s which I obviously don’t remember because I wasn’t there…

European Blackbird European Blackbird (wiki)

Colly birds were – are – European blackbirds, song birds that bring joy. There are other black birds of course, but crows, ravens and the like have from medieval times been viewed as birds of ill-omen (lots of examples in Shakespeare). Hardly a Christmassy gesture to give one of them to your True Love, far less four.

WHAT ABACO BIRD SHOULD I GIVE MY TRUE LOVE AFTER 5 GOLD RINGS?

Undoubtedly red-winged blackbirds. They are undeniably black birds. They have festively flashy markings. True, their ‘metal-gate-with-very-rusty-hinges’ grating call is not exactly melodious (and 4 red-legged thrushes on vocals would suit the occasion much better). But what a handsome present to give someone already trying to cope with the burden and general commotion of sundry Lords a’Leaping, Maids a’Milking, Drummers Drumming and so on. Much easier to deal with.

Red-winged Blackbird male 2 .Abaco Bahamas.6.13.Tom Sheley

HOW MANY GIFTS WILL MY TRUE LOVE EXPECT FROM ME?

I’m afraid it will be 364 in total, with some items on the list becoming increasingly difficult to source. The breakdown (note in passing the mathematical symmetry of the increasing and correspondingly diminishing numbers) is as follows:

12 partridges in pear trees
22 turtle doves
30 french hens
36 calling birds
40 golden rings
42 geese a laying
42 swans a swimming
40 maids a milking
36 ladies dancing
30 lords a leaping
22 pipers piping
12 drummers drumming

But with any luck your TL would be happy to share a Kalik in the sunset instead of having all that palaver…

Red-winged Blackbird Abaco Bahamas (Keith Salvesen)

Happy Christmas** to all people kind enough to follow this blog or read it from time to time, and – why not – all the people who don’t and / or have no idea of its existence… Time to let Kermit & Elmo to take over.

Photo credits, Tom Sheley (2, 3), Keith Salvesen / RH (1, 4), Wiki for the Eurasian blackbird

**The term ‘Christmas’ is used as a broad term to cover the midwinter holiday period – or indeed non-holidays for many – and is intended to include in a benign way those of any faith or none. I don’t ‘do’ Winterval, sorry…

ABACO PARROTS: BRIGHT GREEN, RED & BLUE = HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU

December 18, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

ABACO PARROTS: BRIGHT GREEN, RED & BLUE = HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU

Painted buntings in the last post. And now some Abaco parrots. To adopt the joyous strangled yell of Noddy Holder (Slade, 1973, “Merry Christmas Everybody”)** “It’s….. CHRISTMASSSSSSS“. Abaco’s famous and unique ground-nesting parrots are about as seasonally festive as you could wish for. Bright, colourful, noisy and impossible to ignore. The run-up to Christmas is the perfect moment for a gallery of these fine birds that are making a very promising recovery from near-extinction thanks to intensive conservation measures over the last few years. There’s a caption competition at the end, too. Post your idea as a comment and there even may be something it it for the winner…

Abaco (Cuban) Parrot Pair (Melissa Maura) Abaco Parrots (Peter Mantle) Abaco Parrot (Keith Salvesen) Abaco (Cuban) Parrot (Craig Nash)

INTERMISSION

Abaco / Cuban Parrot (Bruce Hallett) Abaco Parrot eating Gumbo Limbo fruit. Abaco Bahamas (Tom Sheley) Abaco (Cuban) Parrot (Keith Salvesen)

CAPTION COMPETITION

It’s Christmas. Season of Good Will. But what on earth is going on here…? Abaco (Cuban) Parrot Pair (Melissa Maura)

Credits: Melissa Maura (1, 2, 9), Peter Mantle (3), Keith Salvesen / RH (4, 8), Craig Nash (5), Bruce Hallett (6), Tom Sheley (7); Audio recorded by RH & Mrs RH at Bahamas Palm Shores

** FESTIVE MUSICAL DIGRESSION (OPTIONAL)

[youtube https://youtu.be/0A8KT365wlA]

BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL BUNTING FOR AN ABACO CHRISTMAS

December 16, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL BUNTING FOR AN ABACO CHRISTMAS

BUNTING /ˈbʌntɪŋ/ (Noun)

[Yay! A Christmas gift of a puntastic avian / festive double-meaning]

A small New World songbird of the cardinal subfamily
Flags and other colourful festive decorations

PAINTED BUNTING Painted Bunting, Abaco (Erik Gauger)
Painted Bunting, Abaco (Tara Lavallee)

It’s hard to imagine a more Christmasy little bird than the Painted Bunting. Bright blue, red, green primary colours make for a spectacular small bird to grace any garden or feeder. There are other bunting species and close relations – e.g. grosbeaks – on Abaco. A common factor is the little fat beak and voracious seed greed…

Feeders at the Delphi Club. The first is of a female & a male PABU feeding together (RH). The second is a male PABU with a pair of black-faced grassquits (Sandy Walker) Painted Buntings (M & F), Delphi, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) Painted Bunting, Delphi, Abaco (Sandy Walker)

The next two wonderful photos are by Tom Sheley, a major photographic contributor to THE BIRDS OF ABACO. They were taken in Texas, not on Abaco, but I include them because of Tom’s strong connection with the birdlife of Abaco; and because on any view they are fantastic shots…
Painted Bunting reflection LR.Laguna Seca.South TX. 4.16.13.Tom Sheley Painted Bunting dip reflection LR.Laguna Seca.South TX. 4.16.13.Tom Sheley

Credits: Tom Sheley (1, 7, 8), Erik Gauger (2), Tara Lavallee (3, 4), Keith Salvesen (5) Sandy Walker (6); Birdorable Cartoons

TRI-COLORED HERON HUFFS SNOWY EGRET: GILPIN POND, ABACO

December 14, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

TRI-COLORED HERON HUFFS SNOWY EGRET: GILPIN POND, ABACO

We were at Gilpin Pond to watch for Herons and Egrets. Bahama Pintails were a given, Black-necked Stilts were likely – but one never quite knows what Ardeidae will turn up. There was a snowy egret fishing peacefully at the north end of the pond. We were a little way off, on a small wooden jetty. Slowly and rather deliberately a tri-colored wandered right through the Egret’s hunting area. It wasn’t looking for food, and it certainly wasn’t in a hurry.

Heron wading through my fishing spot? Like I care? [Yes. You really do] Snowy Egret with Tri-colored Heron, Gilpin Pond Abaco 1 (Keith Salvesen)

I regret to say that Snowy threw a bit of a strop. Having been hunched and intent on his hunting, he became distracted and palpably upset. It was just… the heron’s meander right past his beak was a bit to much for any self-respecting egret to tolerate. This is how it went, as the heron moved very slowly forwards…

A bad hair day – but gradually regaining composure… Snowy Egret, Gilpin Pond Abaco 1 (Keith Salvesen)

Then the heron got out of the water… out of the way. You’d think. Tri-colored Heron, Gilpin Pond Abaco 2 (Keith Salvesen)

Not to be outdone, the egret followed behind, no doubt muttering crossly… Snowy Egret, Gilpin Pond Abaco 6 (Keith Salvesen)

…and hopped up onto a dead tree stump, where it stood rather forlornly Snowy Egret, Gilpin Pond Abaco 9 (Keith Salvesen)

At which point the heron flew off and perched high up on a dead branch. I swear I heard it laugh. Tri-colored Heron, Gilpin Pond Abaco 4 (Keith Salvesen)

All photos RH. All anthropomorphic interpretations, too.

BAHAMAS REEF CORAL: A COLOURFUL GALLERY

December 11, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

BAHAMAS REEF CORAL: A COLOURFUL GALLERY

The reefs of the northern Bahamas, as elsewhere in the world, are affected by two significant factors: climate change and pollution. Stepping carefully over the sharp pointy rocks of controversy, I’ve avoided the term ‘global warming’ and any associated implication that humans (oh, and methane from cows) are largely to blame for the first factor; but on any view, ocean pollution is the responsibility of mankind (and not even the cows).

That said, an exploration of the reefs of Abaco or Grand Bahama will reveal not just the astounding variety of mobile marine life but also the plentiful and colourful static marine life – for example the beautiful and Christmassy orange cup coral in the header image. Here are some more corals from the reefs, with a mix of sponges added in.

Corals ©Melinda Riger @ G B Scuba copy 2 Corals ©Melinda Riger @ GB Scuba copy Sea Fans & other corals ©Melinda Riger @ Grand Bahama Scuba copy

This rather intriguing photo shows a hermit crab’s conch home that presumably the occupant grew out of and left behind in the delicate coral branches as it went search of a more spacious shell dwelling. Coral & conch ex crab home 1380179_645156602172399_300806994_n copy

Credits: All these wonderful photos are by Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba; tendentious reef health observations are mine own…

“HARRY POTTER & THE MAGIC BAND” (A PIPING PLOVER STORY)

December 8, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

“HARRY POTTER & THE MAGIC BAND” (A PIPING PLOVER STORY)

by ROWLING HARBOUR

It was a bright sunny morning and the sand on the beach was warm under Harry Potter’s bare feet. Although by now a very experienced flyer, his recent adventures during his epic 1000-mile journey had left him very tired. All his friends that had undertaken the same long flight were tired too. Now they were enjoying a quiet, peaceful time away from all the dangers they had somehow survived during their scary expedition (see Harry Potter and the Migration of Fear). It would be a long time, Harry said to himself – maybe as long as 6 months – before he wanted to have another experience like that. He wondered when Ron Piper and Hermione Plover would arrive. He hadn’t even found them yet…

_Piping_Plover_on_the_Fly (USFWS Mountain-Prairie wiki)

But the little group on a remote shoreline on Abaco were not as safe as they thought. Unknown to the happy, sleepy plovers on the beach, they were already being stalked by two creatures. This determined pair had one sole aim – to find plovers, to catch them and to carry out scientific experiments on them. That’s three aims, in fact. The editor would surely fix that error later (No – ed.). Would Harry and his friends soon find themselves in mortal peril from these formidable adversaries, these beasts with huge brains, armed with the latest technology? What magical powers would be needed to combat the imminent danger creeping stealthily towards them? The male definitely had a spine-chilling look about him; the female appeared less daunting – but might therefore be all the more dangerous…

TOPO & STEG PIC JPG piping-plover

Suddenly, Harry felt a sense of danger. Fear ruffled his neck feathers and his little left foot started drumming impatiently on the sand. He’d felt like this several times before, like that time the Dark Lord had driven a SUV straight at him on that nesting beach many miles away, the one where he cracked out (see Harry Potter and the Vehicle of Dread). And when the massive dog came and sniffed round the nest when he was a tiny chick (see Harry Potter and the Hound of Horror). Instinctively, he grabbed a magic meat-string from the damp sand, ate it, and took to the air… only to be caught up in some sort of fearsome spider’s web (a mist net – ed.). He was trapped. He struggled bravely, peeping out his anger at this cruel trick. But it was no good – he was caught fast, and wriggling only seemed to make it even worse. The massive creatures were running towards him fast, shouting in triumph – they had got Harry exactly where they wanted him – at their mercy…

A Mist Net (if unsuccessful, A Missed Net) Mist Net jpg

Just as Harry had started to believe that his last moment had arrived, an amazing thing happened. Instead of dispatching him with a swift blow to head, as the Dark Lord might have done, he was gently removed from the net and softly held in the female’s hands. His instant fear that she might crush him to a horrible mangled pulp rapidly lessened. Why, she was even talking to him. And those voices. They sounded not so much fearsome as friendly. But were they lulling him into false sense of security, only to wreak an evil vengeance upon him? (*Spoiler Alert* No – ed.).

The Steph of Egger with captive Harry Potter, & wearing the cap of the mysterious ‘Delphi Club’ 1484646_10205144305680789_2528266936610237451_n

Then suddenly things got worse. Much worse. Harry was slowly wrapped in a large white blanket and laid on something that wasn’t sand. Something hard. What were they planning to do with him now. He heard the male – Harry had now concluded that he must be dealing with the Avian Overlord himself, the infamous Todd of Pover, first cousin of Severus Snipe – mutter an incantation: “54 grams. Pretty good. 54 grams. Have you got that”. Yes, they’d taken his dignity and his weight but there had been no pain. Yet. Harry began to relax a little.

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Meanwhile, Steph the Egger was making a strange rattling sound. As Harry was unwound from his shroud he suddenly saw a box filled to the brim with exotic jewels of the most opulent colours glistening in the sunlight. At once, he knew he had to have one of them. A beautiful pink one. One to wear on his leg. One that he could keep for ever. One that would always mean ‘Harry Potter’. That very one on the top. Just there. With the magic number 22 on it in black writing. And Harry started to breathe a special silent Piping Spell: ‘Please pick me up… in your hand… and fit the Magic Two-Two Band…’

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And, miraculously, the spell began to work. First, Harry was gently held as the Magic Band was put round his right leg. At the top, just where he wanted it. Harry shut one eye and repeated the spell. 18265_10205144276640063_342488571243728001_n

Then despite an awful wound from an earlier battle, the Todd of Pover made sure the band was secure and would never come off. It would be there forever – the Harry Potter ID band. By this time Harry didn’t even mind the indignity of being turned upside down. 1688061_10205144276200052_1782966976770605282_n

Finally, it was done. Really, the jewel was more like a flag than a band. But Harry knew instinctively that it would take a massive effort for his story to be rewritten to make this clear from the start, so he decided to let it pass. Band. Flag. What did it matter. It was his prize, gloriously his.

And then he was passed to Steph the Egger. Harry presumed she got her name for her ability to find nesting birds in that other place he had flown South from. And now, here she was, holding him tenderly, talking to him and telling him how cool he looked. Even her bright red claws did not seem so frightening now. Except… WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM NOW?

10169303_10205144274240003_5908333687210042239_n

Suddenly, Steph the Egger stood up and Harry found himself several feet above the safe warm sand. Steph held him out in front of her and then, in an instant, he was free… Free to fly away with his beautiful pink jewel band, his special number, and an intuition that wherever he might be, and whoever saw him, they would always know that he was Harry Potter for as long as he lived. Against all odds he had gained… THE MAGIC BAND.

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piping-plover

POSTSCRIPT

No one knows when Harry Potter left Abaco last spring, nor where he spent his Summer. All that can be said with certainty is that 12 months later he was found again on the same beach, Long Beach Abaco, in the same place. 5 other PIPL were pink-banded with him last year by the National Audubon, Virginia Tech, BNT, and CWFNJ team (pink being the colour used for Bahamas birds). Of those 6, 5 have been resighted on the same beach in the last few days. They migrated north last Spring, spent the Summer probably in different locations yet found their way back to the same place on Abaco to overwinter together again.

GENDER NOTE In fact it isn’t clear if HP is male or female (see below). He might be Harriet Potter. But I have played safe and stuck with the gender implied by his given name…

Harry Potter Pink 22 UR on Long Beach Abaco, 3 Dec 2015, a year after he was banded there PIPL PINK22 Dec 3 2015 Long Beach Abaco 1 (Stephanie Egger) copy

STEPH THE EGGER EXPLAINS THE NAME, NUMBER & QUIDDITCH PIC

“I helped band this piping plover last winter, and called him “Harry Potter.” I know 22 isn’t Harry’s quidditch number (07), but 22 is for my birthday when I mostly seem to be down in Abaco. We don’t know where Harry Potter bred this year as no reports came in for him (or her). Maybe next season!

DISCLAIMER RE HEADER IMAGE I don’t suggest making silly photos of all “named” birds as this is an endangered species that we should certainly take very seriously. That said, I do think that names help people connect to the species and it also aids the researchers in id’ing (my personal opinion)”.

piping-plover

Credits: Stephanie Egger, Todd Pover, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey & co-banding teams, USFWS Mountain-Prairie (PIPL in flight), Birdorable, Rowling Harbour, and star of the show Harry Potter Pink 22 UR. Apologies to JKR for feeble pastiche.

“CATCHING THE EYE”: OYSTERCATCHERS (+ BONUS ID TIPS)

December 7, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

“CATCHING THE EYE”: OYSTERCATCHERS (+ BONUS ID TIP)

I’m focusing (ha!) on oystercatcher eyes today. Like the extraordinary one in the header image. Notice the bright orangey-red ‘orbital ring’, the egg-yolk-reminiscent eye and the pitch black iris. An eye-catching and unmistakeable feature of this handsome black and white shorebird, the American Oystercatcher.

Here’s another AMOY eye, with a different smudge of black by the iris. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that AMOY specialists are able to ID individual birds at least in part by their different eye markings. And you can see that the eye-ring smartly matches the beak into the bargain.

American Oystercatcher AMOY eye close-up (Todd Pover / CWFNJ)

This wonderful photograph of a loving AMOY pair with their precious egg safely encircled by a rocky nest was taken on LBI, NJ by Northside Jim, whose amazing photos I sometimes include. See how brightly the eyes of each bird stand out, like tiny archery targets. american-oystercatcher-t2-eggs (Northside Jim : Exit 63)

“The World is Mine Oyster”

The AMOY shot below was generously put on Wiki by Dan Pancamo. He captioned it perfectly. The world's mine oyster - American Oystercatcher AMOY (Dan Pancamo Wiki)

OYSTERCATCHER ID TIPS

A while ago, when I was choosing AMOY photographs for publication, I idly wondered what was the difference between them and Eurasian Oystercatchers (yes, yes, I hear you – apart from geographical, I mean…). At a first comparative glance, to me they looked remarkably similar in coloration and size. Assuming both species were to be discovered on the same shoreline, how best might one distinguish them? The main differences seemed to be:

Leg colouring differs, AMOY legs being generally pale pink as opposed to the stronger coloured legs of the EUROY (if they can be called that). However there are considerable EUROY variations (see below), from pink to orange to reddish, that are presumably seasonal. The leg colour, assuming they are visible to the watcher, is not quite a definitive identifier.
Both species have black heads and necks, but the AMOY’s back plumage shades to dark brown. But how distinctive would that be in low light or indifferent weather?
Mrs RH, looking over my shoulder, saw it at once: the eyes. If you can see the eyes, you can tell instantly what make of OY you are looking at*. Here are a some Eurasian Oystercatchers showing their own distinctively red eyes and orbital rings.

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Elis Simpson) Eurasian Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus (Elis Simpson) Haematopus_ostralegus_-Scotland_(Snowmanradio / wiki)

As so often, I have since found that the excellent Birdorable site has nailed the differences clearly and simply. Eye colour, leg colour and – less obviously – the AMOY’s brownish back as opposed to the EUROY’s entirely black and white body. Sorted.

american-oystercatcher (Birdorable) eurasian-oystercatcher (Birdorable)

RECOMMENDED SHOREBIRD SITE WADER QUEST

*I realise there are a number of other oystercatcher species around the world, but for obvious reasons they don’t really come into consideration for present purposes…

Credits: Todd Pover / CWFNJ (1, 2); Northside Jim EXIT63 (3); Dan Pancamo (4); Elis Simpson / Wader Quest (5, 6); snowmanradio / wiki (7); Wader Quest, Birdorable, magpie pickings and Mrs RH for sharp… er… eyes

WTF? (WHAT’S THAT FISH) (5): THE FILEFISH

December 4, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

WTF? (WHAT’S THAT FISH) 5: THE FILEFISH

The jocularly-named WTF? series is designed to shed an underwater spotlight on some of the odder denizens of the coral reefs and surrounding waters. I don’t want to earn a reputation for being ‘lookist’, but frankly the appearance of some of these creatures – I give you BATFISH or FROGFISH or REMORAS as examples – is baffling. The filefish group is not as extreme as some in the downright weird category, but if you see one you might just find yourself muttering into your facemask “wtf?”

Scrawled Filefish ©Melinda Riger @ G B Scuba

Filefish (Monacanthidae) are found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. They are related to triggerfish, trunkfish and pufferfish, and have regional names that include leatherjacket, foolfish, and shingle. There are more than 100 species of filefish, of which only a few are found in Bahamian waters. The species featured here are a mix of scrawled, white-spotted and orange-spotted filefish.

Filefish White-spotted ©Melinda Riger @G B Scuba

HOW DID THEY GET THE NAME?

In the image above, you can just see a flattened spine on top, above the eye and pointing backwards. This is the ‘retracted’ state. There is a small secondary spine that serves to prop up the main spine when it is in the upright position. This is it seems, the file – although the Greek-derived family name Monacanthidae literally means ‘one thorn’. So why isn’t it a thornfish, you may well ask. And I may well not respond.

This filefish’s ‘spine’ seems to have flopped over to one side White Spotted File fish

These fish have snouts with small mouths and specialized teeth with an inner and outer set on each jaw. They are to an extent shapeshifters, and can quickly make themselves appear larger for defensive purposes. In some individual species, there are marked differences in body shape and coloration.

An orange-spotted filefish with its spine erect, making for a cave – a place of safety Filefish, Orange Spotted ©Melinda Riger @ GB Scuba

The fins of a filefish are small, and they are rather sedate swimmers. Sometimes they simply like to drift with their heads pointed downwards, eyeing patches of seagrass or seaweed for prey. Some species are largely vegetarian. Others eat small invertebrates. Some even feed on corals. Their predators – especially the juveniles – include tuna and dolphins (mahi-mahi).

ADDITION Capt Rick Guest has helpfully expanded on juvenile filefish: “The juveniles hang under sea weed and flotsam eating small shrimps and crabs there. They, in turn become food for Mahi and other pelagic fish. The main thing with these guys is that the bigger they are, the more likely they are to be Ciguateric”.

At his suggestion I will write a post about the problem of the Ciguatera disease when I have had some time to do the research.

Scrawled File Fish

ARE THEY EDIBLE?

Good question. The answer, broadly is yes, though I don’t know if that applies to all species of filefish. They are certainly eaten in large quantities in the Far East. I don’t know about the Bahamas or the wider Caribbean. If anyone does, could you very kindly add a comment to this post. Recipes welcome!

Scrawled Filefish

All photos: Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG… WITH A COUPLE OF HERRING GULLS

December 2, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG… WITH A COUPLE OF HERRING GULLS

Well this is most annoying. What we have here can only only be called a wifi crisis… Since Sunday, I have described the situation in a healthy variety of colourful ways, some of them down the telephone line. Now I know that Abaconians are inured to the inconveniences of outages on a regular basis. But where I am right now, the wifi is usually dependable. Except when it’s not. Then things get complicated – blogging, buying stuff on @m@z@n etc, soshul meeja and so on. There’s the iphone, but they can be fiddly for all that sort of thing, and anyway I can’t upload images that I want to use.

So, having at last found an ethernet cable at the back of a drawer, I have a degree of connectivity. And a whole mass of stuff to catch up with. Wednesday is a usual day for a me to post – it has a nice mid-week-ish feel to it (even if one doesn’t refer to it as ‘hump day’). So I am deploying a couple of herring gulls just because, with my inconveniently short length of yellow cable, I can.

See you with something from my post queue once the signal thing on my desktop has turned from grey to black…

Herring Gull 1 (Keith Salvesen)

Images: moi

HAWKSBILL TURTLES: WONDERFUL… & CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

November 30, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

HAWKSBILL TURTLES: WONDERFUL… & CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Hawksbill turtles are found throughout the tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They avoid deep waters, preferring coastlines where sponges are abundant and sandy nesting sites are within reach. They are normally found near reefs rich in the sponges they like to feed on. Hawksbills are omnivorous and will also eat molluscs, marine algae, crustaceans, sea urchins, fish, and jellyfish.

Hawksbill Turtle Range (Nat Geo) map-hawksbill-turtle-160-cb1447865323

WHY ARE HAWKSBILLS CRITICALLY ENDANGERED?

Despite the protection of their shells, turtles are predated on by large fish, sharks, octopuses, and (unlawfully) humans.
Hawksbills are slow breeders, mating only every 2 or 3 years, which is the first drawback to species survival.
Having laid the resulting eggs on a beach, the female returns to the sea. The eggs hatch after a couple of months. Unless, of course, some creature – and that includes humans – has got to them first…
Hatchlings are hugely vulnerable as they make their way from the nest site to the sea. However fast they scurry along, crabs and in particular flocks of gulls are faster. Also, they may have to negotiate impossible obstacles washed up onto the beach (see below). The attrition rate of tiny turtles at this stage is very considerable.

SO, HUMANS ARE BASICALLY IN THE CLEAR, RIGHT?

Humans can take most of the credit for the turtles plight leading to their IUCN ‘critically endangered’ listing, in these mostly illegal ways:

Killing adult turtles for food or…
…for their beautiful shells
Digging up turtle nesting sites to take the eggs as food
Catching turtles in fishing nets as unintended but often inevitable BYCATCH
Providing a rich stew of plastic, styrofoam & other dietary or physical hazards in the ocean
Degrading or destroying the nesting sites, & indeed the reefs on which turtles depend

A hatchling tries to clamber over beach rubbish to get to the sea

A straw is extracted from a turtle’s nostril (small pics on purpose – I spared you the long video) Turtle & straw 1 (Nathan Robinson : Chris Figgener) Turtle & straw 2 (Nathan Robinson : Chris Figgener) Turtle & straw 3 (Nathan Robinson : Chris Figgener)

This poor creature was found just in time Hawkbill Turtle Plastic breathecostarica copy

Assorted plastic effects (the turtle trapped in the beach chair was off Man-o-War Cay) Sea Turtle tied up in balloon string (Blair Witherington : NOAA) copy photo copy 7 This turtle, which was found floating in North Man-O-War Channel, died as a direct result of being entangled in human trash(in this case, a lawn chair) copy IMG_1346 copy

PLEASE CAN WE GO BACK TO HAPPY PICTURES?

Healthy hawksbills happily living the northern Bahamas reef life Hawksbill Turtle (m) (Melinda Riger @ G B Scuba) Hawksbill Turtle (flipper damage) ©Melinda Riger @ GB Scuba

TURTLEY AMAZING

SEA TURTLE THREATS

BABY TURTLES WITH PHIL LANOUE

Credits: Melinda Riger & Virginia Cooper of Grand Bahama Scuba for the main photos; Melissa Maura, Nathan Robinson, Friends of the Environment and other FB sharers for the small images; National Geographic for range chart and information

SAYING NO TO BEAUTIFUL BAHAMAS BIRDS…

November 27, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

Pied Imperial Pigeon 1, Nassau (Woody Bracey)

Pied Imperial Pigeon, Nassau

SAYING NO TO BEAUTIFUL BAHAMAS BIRDS…

Flamingos & Chicks, Inagua

Writing a bird book involves defining parameters at an early stage. Best to avoid working them out 6 months into the project; or (worse) letting them evolve gradually as each obstacle along the stony track to the printers is encountered. Far better to decide the general rules of engagement at the outset, and be able to tweak them later if need be.

Brown Booby + egg, San Salvador (Woody Bracey)

Brown Booby on its nest, San Salvador

And so it was that we stayed for a convivial weekend with Peter and Jane Mantle to discuss the pros and the cons, the whys and the wherefores, the format and the style of a book to showcase the birds of Abaco. And how on earth to get started on the project…

Pied Imperial Pigeon 2, Nassau (Woody Bracey).JPG

Pied Imperial Pigeon, Nassau

Black-headed Gull imm, New Providence (Bruce Hallett)

Black-headed Gull (immature), New Providence

One thing was clear at the outset. It was essential that every photograph in the book would have to be taken on Abaco. It wasn’t to be ‘The Birds of Abaco including Birds from Grand Bahama, New Providence, Eleuthera and Inagua that You Might also Find on Abaco’. Or ‘The Birds of Abaco, Mostly’. And there was to be no cheating.

Burrowing owl, Great Inagua

The project involved the work of some 30 photographers in all, from the prolific to a couple of people who offered a single excellent photo. I amassed a large archive, though only a percentage could be used. For example many fine photos fell by the wayside because resolution was inadequate for high-quality print purposes.

American Avocet, Bahamas 1 (Tony Hepburn)

American Avocet, Nassau

I also collected plenty of folders containing images of birds we desperately wanted to include, that were not all taken on Abaco but were part of a wider field trip. These were ruthlessly (but painfully) excluded from consideration. In fact, to stick within the (self-imposed) guidelines, I set aside all photos that I was not certain had been taken on Abaco. Where there was doubt, they were out.

Key West Quail-Dove, Nassau

This post contains a selection of photos from the Aviary des Refusés. We would have loved to have included the peregrine falcon and burrowing owl, for example, but had no Abaco images to use then. Other bird species were in any event disqualified for being unknown on Abaco. A Pearly-eyed Thrasher recently found its way to Treasure Cay, this first recorded for Abaco; yet could be found elsewhere in the Bahamas two years ago.

Peregrine Falcon, New Providence

Pearly-eyed Thrasher, San Salvador

Horned Lark, Nassau

Boat-tailed Grackle (f), Nassau

Roseate Spoonbill WB 58_IMG_6230 copy 3
Roseate Spoonbill, Great Inagua

Cuban Grassquit, Nassau

Brown-headed Nuthatch, Grand Bahama

American Avocet, San Salvador

Flamingo Chicks, Inagua

Credits: Woody Bracey for taking / supplying a most of these great images, with Tony Hepburn, Bruce Hallett, Melissa Maura (the wonderful Flamingos) and all those involved in the joint field trips from which some of these photos originate. And Peter Mantle for having the idea for the book and for being wholeheartedly supportive through thick and thin…

GILPIN POINT, ABACO: A ‘2 HOURS, 40 SPECIES’ BIRDING HOTSPOT

November 25, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

Black-necked Stilt, Abaco (Alex Hughes) copy

GILPIN POINT, ABACO: A ‘2 HOURS, 40 SPECIES’ BIRDING HOTSPOT

Got a spare couple of hours? Reluctant to go birding on the bird-reliable yet ambience-lite town dumps, where careful cropping will be needed to avoid including post-apocalyptic scenery in your hard-won photos of a Little Mulligatawny Owl? Then read on. I have mentioned Gilpin Point before as a great place for birding, and listed many of the species to be found there. It benefits from a large pond, a pristine shoreline, and a coppice environment with some pine forest thrown in. All the makings of an excellent birding location, with suitable habitat for a wide variety of species. Blue-winged Teal, Abaco (Keith Salvesen)

On November 21st Reg Patterson, well-known Abaco birder and guide, was up early, and by 07.00 he was at Gilpin Pond where he spent a couple of hours . He recorded 40 species in that time, from very large to very small. His checklist reveals a great cross-section of the birdlife to be found on Abaco. There might easily have been parrots there too, since Gilpin has become one of their daily chattering spots for a frank exchange of news and views. Sadly it seems that the beautiful and (now) rare SPOONBILL recorded there in early October has moved on.

Willet, Abaco

Here is Reg’s checklist, which I have illustrated with a variety of photos of the species he found, all taken on Abaco and many actually taken at Gilpin Point. There are plenty of other species that might easily have been seen there then – or perhaps later in the day (e.g. snowy egret, yellowlegs, kestrel, turkey vulture, red-legged thrush, cuban emerald, not to mention shorebirds and seabirds if some time was spent on the shore).

CHECKLIST

Blue-winged Teal (16) (see above)

White-cheeked Pintail (20)

White-cheeked Pintail, Abaco 1 (Keith Salvesen)

Green-winged Teal (1)

Great Blue Heron (1) Great_Blue_Heron_Wading_2

Great Egret (1)

Little Blue Heron (2)

Tricolored Heron (2)

Green Heron (2) Green Heron, Gilpin Point, Abaco (Keith Salvesen)05

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (1)

Turkey Vulture (7)

Common Gallinule (1)

Black-necked Stilt (1) (and header)

Black-necked Stilt, Gilpin Point, Abaco (Keith Salvesen)

Spotted Sandpiper (1)

Willett (1) (see above)

Common Ground-Dove (1)

Smooth-billed Ani (8)

Bahama Woodstar (1) Bahama Woodstar (m), Abaco (Bruce Hallett)

Belted Kingfisher (1)

West Indian Woodpecker (7)

Hairy Woodpecker (1) Hairy Woodpecker, Abaco (Tony Hepburn)

Peregrine Falcon (1)

Loggerhead Kingbird (4) Loggerhead Kingbird, Abaco - Tom Reed

Thick-billed Vireo (7)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Abaco, Bahamas (Keith Salvesen)

Red-legged Thrush (1)

Gray Catbird (4)

Northern Mockingbird (2) Northern Mockingbird, Abaco (Keith Salvesen)

Ovenbird (1)

Northern Waterthrush (6)

Bahama Yellowthroat (1)

Bahama Yellowthroat, Abaco (Charles Skinner)

Common Yellowthroat (1)

Cape May Warbler (3)

Black-throated Blue Warbler (1) Black-throated Blue Warbler (m), Abaco (Bruce Hallett)

Palm Warbler (2)

Prairie Warbler (2)

Bananaquit (1) Bananaquit & palm, Delphi, Abaco, Bahamas (Keith Salvesen)

Black-faced Grassquit (6)

Greater Antillean Bullfinch (4)

Western Spindalis (7)

Red-winged Blackbird (X) Red-winged Blackbird Abaco Bahamas (Keith Salvesen)

Gilpin Map 1 Gilpin Map 2 Gilpin Map 3

Credits: Alex Hughes (1 / header); Keith Salvesen (2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 , 16); TBC (3, 5); Bruce Hallett (8, 14); Tony Hepburn (9); Tom Reed (10); Charles Skinner (13)