ROLLING + TROLLING

November 12, 2020 by Rolling Harbour

Reddish Egret (white morph)

TROLLING

The hot news hereabouts is that my troll friend is back. I mention it not because it remotely bothers me but so that he? she? they? they all? will know that I have noticed. That must be the point. If I didn’t notice, all that effort working through my posts of the last 3 months would be wasted. Where’s the joy in that? So it’s kindest to let you know that I know that you know that I know. And well done you – it’s your second outing this year. It’s been twice a year for about 4 years, so it may be that the medication periodically wears off. Time for a top up, you may think. Meanwhile, you are more than welcome to comment on any post you find disagreeable or offensive. Natural History can be so aggravating, can it not?

Reddish Egret (white morph)

Reddish egret credits: white morphs – Danny Sauvageau and Phil Lanoue; standard version in full breeding plumage at Crossing Rocks Abaco – Keith Salvesen / Rolling Harbour

Reddish Egret, Crossing Rocks, Abaco, Bahamas - Keith Salvesen / Rolling Harbour

Reddish Egret dark morph (breeding plumage)

THE ABACO BALD EAGLE(S): AWOL IN 2018

November 27, 2018 by Rolling Harbour

THE ABACO BALD EAGLE(S): AWOL IN 2018

It is a year since I last wrote about the Abaco Bald Eagle(s) of 2017. The bracketed ‘s’ signifies the absence of firm evidence that there was just the one. Equally, there was no indication that there were ever two. All reported sightings were of a single bird, seen at a distance. The likelihood is that it was a lone visitor. The bald eagle is classified as a very rare vagrant on Abaco, and I gathered together as many reports since 2000 as I could find (see below). Not many, in summary, and never two.

Last year, a bald eagle was sighted around to coast of Abaco over a period of several months. There were 8 sightings in all, and I had hoped that the bird might stay around for 2018. Sadly, not so. The photos featured here come from a sequence by photographer Phil Lanoue. They were not taken on Abaco of course, so don’t be confused. But they illustrate the magnificence of this iconic bird as it prepares for its landing in a pine tree. We do have wonderful ospreys of course, but the occasional eagle makes for a rare treat.

As I said last year, the 2017 sightings were most likely all of the same lone bird that had somehow strayed over to Abaco and found the available prey good, and the location congenial. As undisputed king of the skies, its daily hunting range was a wide one which would explain the varied sighting locations. I ended: “I’m sticking with this theory unless and until 2 eagles are seen together”.

BALD EAGLE SIGHTINGS REPORTED ON ABACO SINCE c1950 (= ‘ever’)

Here is the list of sightings. They start in 2000, because there are no known reports for Abaco prior to that from when they started to be kept in the 1950s. If anyone has others, I’d be pleased to hear from you.

2000 December, location unknown – info from Woody Bracey
2001 December – Chicken Farm area – Betsy Bracey
2002 December – over Marls opposite Treasure Cay – Woody Bracey
2004 Autumn – south of Lynard Cay (after hurricane) – Cheryl Noice
2014 Date unknown – circling the power plant – LC
===================================
2017 March – Big Pine Point, Marls – James Cheesewright
2017 Early May – Power plant area – LC
2017 May – Marls – Danny Sawyer
2017 May – Lubbers / Tahiti Beach area – ‘Kelly’s mom’
2017 September – Cross Harbour – Carol Rivard Roberts (with photo)
2017 November – Cherokee Road – Howard Pitts
2017 November – Bahama Palm Shores / 8-mile beach – Steve Roessler
2017 November – Tilloo Bank – Laurie Schreiner (with photo)

Italics = report in comments on Danny Sawyer’s FB page; Blue = added reports to me

The first-ever bald eagle photo on Abaco Sept 2017

Carol Rivard Roberts

The last bald eagle photo on Abaco Nov 2017

Laurie Schreiner

Credits: all brilliant ‘eagle landing’ photos, Phil Lanoue with many thanks for use permission; Abaco eagles by Carol Rivard Roberts and Laurie Schreiner; amusing cartoon, Birdorable; thanks to all spotters and reporters.

BROWN PELICANS: CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF & LANDING

November 5, 2018 by Rolling Harbour

BROWN PELICANS: CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF & LANDING

Brown Pelicans are permanent breeding residents on Abaco, and not uncommon in certain areas though not be any means throughout the island and the cays. If you come across a pair of them – or preferably a group – it’s well worth spending some time watching them in action. These are magnificent birds, unafraid of humans and happy to carry on fishing / plunge diving with an audience.

The most reliable place I know of to watch the pelicans on Abaco is Sandy Point. You may find them on the dock, drying their wings on the pilings or diving off it for fish. At other times, they will be further out to sea where the sandbars stretch out into the ocean, taking off and gaining height before smashing straight down into the water.

These wonderful images of pelicans taking off and landing are the work of professional photographer Phil Lanoue, whose work I am always excited to feature. He has the skills, the equipment and the eye to produce outstanding photographs, freezing birds in motion with complete clarity.

If anyone reading this knows of other locations on Abaco where pelicans can reliably be found, I’d be very pleased to hear more!

All great photos: © Phil Lanoue, with thanks as ever for use permission

COOTS FIGHTING & THE CARIBBEAN COOT DEFEATED

September 11, 2018 by Rolling Harbour

COOTS FIGHTING & THE CARIBBEAN COOT DEFEATED

These coot fight images are from Phil Lanoue, whom I have featured before. He is a master of bird sequences, magicking a whole avian story or drama in a few clear, sharp photos. These types of image are well beyond my skills and my camera limitations. Here are 2 males battling over a female which, by the final aggressive image in which dominance is asserted, has disappeared for the picture…

The other battle in Coot World occurred in 2016 when the endemic Caribbean Coot (formerly Fulica caribaea) was defeated by the combined forces of the American Coot (Fulica americana) and the all-powerful AOU, official arbiter of bird categorisation. They are now joined as a single species, the differences between the two types being considered insufficient to warrant separate species status. The familiar American version looks like this (note the red area on the shield above the beak):

The ex-Caribbean Coot, has white frontal shield that extends to the top of the head. When I was compiling ‘Birds of Abaco‘ in 2013, there was already a question mark over the separate species status, with many regarding it as a sub-species of the American Coot. I wrote: “There is an intriguing debate, a small book in itself, about the existence as a distinct species of the Caribbean Coot, with its white frontal shield. Many field guides include it separately, some with the rider that it is ‘unrecorded in the Bahamas’. The Bahamas Bird Records Committee does not recognise it, and Hallett, among other experts, views it simply as an American Coot variant. The image below of the two coots together is included to illustrate the visible difference between the birds. The genetic debate is fortunately outside the scope of this book”. That said, I pigheadedly went ahead and included it as a separate species anyway…

An ex-Caribbean coot, with its white frontal shield. Since 2016, just another coot 'Caribbean' (now American' Coot - white frontal shield - Abaco, Bahamas. Woody Bracey

The research that led to the reclassification was based on the fact that breeding biology suggests that different species favour their own species for breeding. Research by Douglas McNair and Carol Cramer-Burke indicated that there is little or no ‘reproductive isolation’ of the sort to be expected in different species. The coots had no particular preference in their choice of mate. Also, they sound alike.

American Coot (Keith Salvesen)

COOT AND GALLINULE FEET: THE (BIG) DIFFERENCES

HOW THE MOORHEN (= GALLINULE) GOT ITS NAME

American Coot.Treasure Cay, Abaco Bahamas.Tom Sheley

Credits: Phil Lanoue (1 – 4); Gerlinde Taurer (5); Woody Bracey (6); Keith Salvesen (7); Tom Sheley (8). Research inc. eBird Caribbean – an excellent resource to check out

‘CASTING ABOUT’: A TRICOLORED HERON HUNTING

July 31, 2018 by Rolling Harbour

‘CASTING ABOUT’: A TRICOLORED HERON HUNTING

‘Casting’ is one of those words with multiple meanings, some archaic but most in use today. You can probably think of half-a-dozen straight off *. ‘Casting about’ is one of the specific usages and derives from hunting, eg hounds casting about for a scent. By extension, it has come to mean something like searching intently or thoroughly for something you need, or want, or are having difficulty in finding. Which is where this tricolored heron comes into the picture.

It’s always entertaining to watch a heron or egret fishing. Their methods range from standing stock still and suddenly stabbing downwards to slowly wading to the crazy dash that reddish egrets sometimes do on the edge of the mangroves. This one is hooding its wings, sometimes called ‘canopy feeding’. The theory is that this attracts small fish by providing shade. I also wonder if this method is used to reduce glare from the surface of the water.

The bird in this sequence is a juvenile, and not yet the lethal hunter that it will soon become. It has seen a fish moving but has temporarily lost it (fishermen will be familiar with the mild feeling of annoyance when this happens). So it is casting about, slowly zig-zagging through the water, looking from a height, crouching down, trying to get a good view of its elusive snack. I can’t say that this little episode ended in success. Sometimes, the fish you sight and then lose has gone for good. But as fishermen often say when they lose one (and by extension the phrase is now applied to other areas of human life), there are always plenty more fish in the sea.

* Even without considering Mr Weinstein and his allegedly unusual casting methods

Photo credit: Phil Lanoue, a photographer who specialises in patiently taking sequences of bird activity

TRICOLORED HERON: A SPECTACULAR CATCH…

December 4, 2017 by Rolling Harbour

TRICOLORED HERON: A SPECTACULAR CATCH…

The photograph, I mean. The heron’s catch is rather modest, I think even it would agree. I’d been going to write about something else today but I’ve run out of time, and anyway this astonishing photo from bird photographer Danny Sauvageau ‘flew in’ over the weekend. It deserves a wider audience.

You can read plenty more about these wonderful birds – common, permanent breeding residents on Abaco – by simply clicking TRICOLORED HERONS. Meanwhile, Danny’s outstanding image deserves an equally stunning partner; a similarly spectacular ‘catch’ by photographer Phil Lanoue that appears in the linked post.

RELATED POSTS

GREEN HERON

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON

SNOWY EGRET

REDDISH EGRET

Credits: Danny Sauvageau; Phil Lanoue – with thanks to both for use permission for their terrific camerawork

BELTED KINGFISHERS: PROFICIENT PISCATORS

November 14, 2017 by Rolling Harbour

BELTED KINGFISHERS: PROFICIENT PISCATORS

The belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) is an unmistakable winter visitor to Abaco. With its impressive crest and an adult wingspan approaching 2 ft, these fine birds are far larger than the irridescent kingfisher species found in Europe.

CARL LINNAEUS himself first documented the belted kingfisher in the mid c18, giving the specific name ‘alcyon’, a word of both Latin & Greek origin. The familiar phrase ‘Halcyon days‘, meaning a time of calm, is used more than once by Shakespeare; it references a calm period of weather supposedly occurring at kingfisher nesting time.

The breeding grounds of the belted kingfisher are in Canada and the northern US, on coasts or near inland waters. They migrate further south in winter, to the southern US, Central America and West Indies. However vagrants have been found as far afield as the UK.

WHERE CAN I FIND THEM ON ABACO?

I have seen BKs when fishing out on the Marls, either perched on dead branches looking for fish, or in the mangroves, or in flight. There’s quite often one to be seen at Gilpin Pond, but always – for me, anyway – on the far side and out of practical range of my somewhat modest camera… Sandy Point is another place I have seen them. But these are common birds in winter, so anywhere near water where there are good perches to prospect for fish could be promising for a sighting. Sadly I’ve never actually seen a kingfisher on Abaco plunge-dive for fish, let alone eating a fish. And NB they are exceedingly hard to photograph at the best of times, especially in flight. Which is why I am very pleased to feature some more wonderful shots by photographer Phil Lanoue.

GENDER IDENTIFICATION

The kingfishers shown so far are all males, and basically blue and white. The (slightly) larger adult females can easily be identified by their very visible russet chest band. This colouring in fact extends under the wings, where it is harder to see in a perched bird.

AUDUBON: A GUIDE TO THE BELTED KINGFISHER

Birding folk are familiar with the excellent presentations of individual bird species in the go-to guides such a Sibley and Peterson. However it always interests me that the images in my small and incredibly cheapo book of Audubon illustrations often give a very good depiction of a particular bird. He was the first naturalist to portray birds in action as opposed to rather stiff poses. Check out the plate below with the photos here.

BIRDORABLE’S TAKE*

* BIRDORABLE cartoons are seriously good at reducing birds to their essentials. Try out their many warblers and you’ll see what I mean.

Photo Credits: Phil Lanoue (1 – 6), with thanks as ever for use permission; Teddy Lovatt (7); Michael L Baird (8); Audubon (9); Bruce Miller (10); Birdorable – Cartoon

SNOWY EGRETS: A FUSS ABOUT (ALMOST) NOTHING…

April 3, 2017 by Rolling Harbour

SNOWY EGRETS: A FUSS ABOUT (ALMOST) NOTHING…

Well, what’s all the fuss about here? One snowy egret is striding confidently forward. The other has gone into full-scale feather-frenzy melt-down. Something is clearly up…

…something that seems on close inspection to be a very small fish

After pausing to check what’s going on, the cool, calm and collected snowy continues on his way. His friend however seems to have lost all sense of decorum as a result of a successful stalk and the catch of a light snack…

Sensible part: the dishevelled bird is displaying so-called ‘bridal plumage’. And for ID enthusiasts, note the diagnostic yellow feet (header image), black legs, and black beak with a yellow / orange ‘bit’ (*technical word alert*) at the blunt end.

Credits: these fantastic photos are the work of Phil Lanoue who specialises in sequential photography, to whom many thanks for use permission; cartoon, Birdorable

BROWN PELICANS ON ABACO & BEYOND

March 6, 2017 by Rolling Harbour

BROWN PELICANS ON ABACO & BEYOND

Six more sleeps. That’s all. Suddenly, a trip that seemed ages away is rushing towards us. Or, to put it more plausibly science-wise, we are rushing towards it. Abaco beckons, with bonefish, rays, sharks, reef fishes, whales, dolphins, birds and butterflies to investigate. Plus Kaliks to consume.

Idly thinking along those lines and vaguely plotting the first few days, took me to Sandy Point, home of the BMMRO (Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation) and of course the legendary Nancy’s, the restaurant at the end of the road. From where it is a short step to the dock on which the pelicans gather and use as a launch pad for their fishing dives.

I photographed this bird at the end of the SP dock, looking rather bedraggled after a dive

Note the significant plumage differences between the male (above) & this female

I recently read somewhere that the brown pelican is (or has become) quite uncommon in the Bahamas. On Abaco it is a permanent resident breeding species, so a drop in numbers equals fewer nests, fewer chicks and… fewer numbers. It’s a classic cycle towards serious population decline and all that is implied. Has anyone noticed an apparent reduction in numbers, I wonder? Comments welcome.

The pelicans above were all photographed on Abaco. The two below were not, but are both by exceptional photographers. One, Phil Lanoue, specialises in dramatic sequences, and his work features elsewhere in this blog. The final image was sportingly uploaded by Alan Schmierer from Flickr into the ‘public domain’.

Coming in to land…

While we are on Abaco, I plan to keep posting as and when, subject to connectivity (always a proviso in the Bahamas). My big hope is that the piping plovers that were on the beach last year and returned this season, will have resisted the increasingly insistent call to fly north to the breeding grounds. If they could just hang on for just a few more days…

Credits: Tom Sheley (1); Tony Hepburn (2); Keith Salvesen (3, 4, 6); Woody Bracey (5); Phil Lanoue (7); Alan Schmierer (8); Birdorable (cartoon)

TRICOLORED HERON: AN ELEGANT & PATIENT FISHER

December 19, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

TRICOLORED HERON: AN ELEGANT & PATIENT FISHER

The Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor is one of 6 heron species found on Abaco, and is a permanent breeding resident. To which can be added 4 sorts of egret to complete a line up of expert fishers, all equally at home hunting in the water or from the shore, or surveying the scene from nearby vantage points like bushes and trees.

A distance shot… and it was 20′ up, above the pond

The heron and egret species of Abaco

A long neck, a long bill and long legs make this heron species ideally adapted for wading. Like other herons and egrets, it will stand stock-still waiting for the perfect fish to swim into range. However they are also active hunters, and will stalk prey or chase it by striding quickly through the water in pursuit. They eat fish, crustaceans, reptiles, and insects.

On a mission…

The tricolor has a wide resident breeding range, shown in green on the map

Coming in to land…

Breeding plumage: smart blue bill and a fish to put in it

A silver prize…

GREEN HERON

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON

SNOWY EGRET

Credits: Phil Lanoue (1, 6, 8, 9, 10); Dan Pancamo (2, 7); Keith Salvesen (3); Woody Bracey (4); Bruce Hallett (5)

THINK PINK: A RUNCIBLE OF SPOONBILLS

September 20, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

THINK PINK: A RUNCIBLE OF SPOONBILLS

Healthy happy hungry birds ‘in the pink’. Always a pleasure to see. And when there is a group of them, how often one reaches for the correct collective noun: a murder of crows, an exultation of larks, a murmuration of starlings, a parliament of owls and so forth. Many are historical terms, dating back to medieval times in Europe, and often linked to hunting and falconry. As a rule of thumb, the more recent the term, the more likely to have been invented – especially if there is a comedy undertone.

The trouble with spoonies is that there is no historic or traditional name for a group of them. In such circumstances, using the term ‘flock’ is generally the safest bet. A quick glance online suggests that modern suggestions are mainly jocularly cutlery-based: a canteen, a measurement, a service, and… a ‘runcible’ (a neat nod to Lewis Carroll). That’s the one I prefer.**

One thing is beyond dispute: Phil Lanoue takes some of the best bird action shots around, and I’m proud to be permitted to showcase them from time to time. Spoonbills are rare enough these days in the northern Bahamas, so it is good to know that they are thriving not so very far away to the west. Abaco still has occasional spoonbills dropping in – you can see the latest one, found at Gilpin Pond, HERE.

What are you guys looking at?

Got to get every feather just right…

**The slightly ill-tempered-sounding baldmonkeyseenabird suggests ‘a repugnance of spoonbills’ but I think he / she may have been having a difficult day…

All photos by Phil Lanoue. Check out his awesome website https://phillanoue.com

I must fly now… see ya!

BIRDS: BIG MOUTHFULS, VARIED DIETS & PLAYING WITH FOOD…

June 30, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

BIRDS: BIG MOUTHFULS, VARIED DIETS & PLAYING WITH FOOD…

Anhingas are so-called ‘darters’. You won’t have seen one on Abaco. Or else, if you have, you’ve had a rare avian treat. These cormorant-like birds are far from unusual in Florida, all round the Gulf of Mexico, on Cuba and generally in the West Indies, and throughout the northern parts of South America. But somehow they have only very rarely bothered to wing their way across the relatively short expanse of water that separates their usual stamping ground in Florida and the northern Bahamas. I very rarely post about non-Abaco birds, unless for comparison. However, on the slender basis that one or two anhinga sightings have been made on Abaco since 1950 (they are classified as V5, i.e. vanishingly rare vagrants) , I am including PHIL LANOUE’S wonderful photo of one trying to get a gob-stoppingly large spiny fish down its throat. And making that an excuse to show more of his wonderful bird photos, including one of his renowned sequences.

BIG MOUTHFULS

By way of contrast to the anhinga above, this brown pelican has opened wide, but has disappointingly little to show for his huge gulp. Just a tiddler, and it really doesn’t look like it will manage to jump out of that capacious gullet…

Brown Pelican fishing (Phil Lanoue)

Here’s a better meal: a great egret has got hold of a massive shrimp. It won’t have any trouble getting it down… Great Egret eating fish (Phil Lanoue)

VARIED DIETS

As the great egret above demonstrates, fish are not the only prey species for the ‘fish-eating’ birds. These cormorants are happily mixing up their diet. Cormorant - varied diet 1 (Phil Lanoue) Cormorant - varied diet 3 (Phil Lanoue)

I’ll take a side-order of salad with that… Cormorant feeding (Phil Lanoue) Cormorant - varied diet 5 (Phil Lanoue)

PLAYING WITH FOOD

Regrettably, the cormorant with the eel, above, decided to play with its food before eventually swallowing it. Here are three more images from Phil’s sequence of the Eel Meal.

Chucking my dinner around a bit Cormorant - varied diet 4 (Phil Lanoue)