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SueO's St. Lucia Wish List (1 Viewer)

SueO

Well-known member
Monday the 8th, Peregrine sets sail for the Caribbean. I have nervous energy and insomnia so last night (morning) I went through my West Indies book and wrote out a list of possibilities for St. Lucia in the Lesser Antillies, our first landfall. I don’t know how long we’ll have once we get there and I know I won’t get everything, but here’s the list:
St. Lucia Parrot—endangered
Masked Duck—uncommon—threatened
Little Blue Heron—(This one would be nice as the only other one I saw was pointed out to me on a tour in Arkansas. Gene and I went to a bird fair to hear the Ivorybill group speak and a guided bird tour was offered. It was my first, and so far last, guided trip. One of the birds the guide pointed out was a Little Blue Heron. I saw a blob fly overhead and decided I couldn’t list it.)
Scaly-naped Pigeon
Eared Dove
Bridled Quail Dove—uncommon to rare
Zenaida Dove
Mangrove Cuckoo—(fingers crossed)
Rufous Nightjar—endangered
Lesser Antillean Swift—fairly common
Ant. Crested Hummer—common
Purple Throated Carib—common
Green Throated Carib—common
Lesser Ant. Flycatcher—common
Gray Kingbird—common
Caribbean Elaenia—fairly common
St. Lucia Pewee—fairly common
Caribbean Martin
House Wren—endemic race—rare & local
Brown Trembler—uncommon
Grey Trembler—fairly common
White-breasted Thrasher—rare-critically endangered
Tropical Mockingbird—fairly common
Scaly-breasted Thrasher—fairly common
Pearly-eyed Robin—fairly common
Rufous-throated Solitaire—fairly common
Bare-eyed Robin—fairly common
Black-whiskered Vireo—common
Northern Waterthrush—fairly common
Yellow Warbler
St. Lucia Warbler—common
Semper’s Warbler—possibly extinct
Bananaquit
St. Lucia Oriole—uncommon
Carib Grackle—common
Grassland Yellow finch
Lesser Ant. Saltator—common
St. Lucia Black Finch—uncommon-local
Lesser Ant. Bullfinch—common (maybe I’ll finally see a Bullfinch)
 
I just read Scott Wiedensaul's epic on cryptozoology and extinction "the ghost with trembling wings" which opens with him questing for a semper's warbler on St. L.

Hope you get it!
 
A few comments: the official policy on St Lucia is that you have to have a local guide in national parks etc. I might be worth it to try to contact Donald Anthony (do a google search on the name combined with St Lucia and bird guide); he showed me White-breasted Thrasher and Black-Finch, two of the more difficult species.

Semper's Warbler is in the Probably extinct group, not possibly. There has been several discussions as to whether the Brown Trembler actually exist on St Lucia. However, it is fairly easy on St Vincent and Dominica as well as on islands north of there. The form from Guadeloupe and north might be a third species.

I have not seen/heard the nightjar on St Lucia, and was told that they are mostly inactive/absent? in winter (I visited around christmas).

I think the Raffaele book is the only source that has ever believed that the Pewee on St Lucia is specifically distinct from the Lesser Antillean Pewee on e.g., Dominica. The wren may even be a better candidate! I did not see the wren but was told it should be quite numerous on the Pitons.

Good luck with the Quail-Dove. As far as I can see, your list lacks the shiny cowbird, but you may have that from elsewhere. Are you visiting other islands around here?

Niels
 
I just read Scott Wiedensaul's epic on cryptozoology and extinction "the ghost with trembling wings" which opens with him questing for a semper's warbler on St. L.

Hope you get it!
Hi Isurus,
I seriously doubt I'll get it, especially after reading njlarsen's post. I only added it because it was in the book as being possible. As I typed it, I figured I'd have as much chance with it as I would an Ivory-billed Woodie. (The book does show them on Cuba. Maybe our new President will make it legal to go. I could do a small detour and get a truly fantastic tick!;))
The Scott Wiedensaul book sounds like a good read.
Sue
 
We arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia on the 29th. We are still in Rodney Bay and I have only birded walking distance from the marina; still, the birding has been great.
St. Lucia List as of January 10, 2008
Brown Boobies—Flying in Rodney Bay as we sailed in.
Royal Terns
Little Blue Herons Lifer#619
Cattle Egrets
Great Egrets
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron #626
Spotted Sandpipers
Ruddy Turnstones
American Kestrels
Osprey
Common Ground Dove
Zenaida Dove #617
Mangrove Cuckoo #632
Antillean Crested Hummingbirds #623
Green-throated Caribs #624
Gray Kingbirds #620
Caribbean Elaenia #629
Tropical Mockingbirds #622
Scaly-breasted Thrashers #628 Mark Sutton of Surfbirds Id for me. I didn’t think the illustration in my book looked enough like the bird so was unsure of what I was seeing.
St. Lucia Warbler #630
Bananaquits #625
Shiny Cowbirds #631
Carib Grackles #616
Black-faced Grassquits #618
Lesser Antillean Saltator #627
Lesser Antillean Bullfinches #621

On the trip from the Canaries, I got a Madeiran Petrel #614 at 26degrees39minN 16degrees37minW. Red Phalarope #615 at 24degrees51minN 17degrees56minW
 
A few comments: the official policy on St Lucia is that you have to have a local guide in national parks etc. I might be worth it to try to contact Donald Anthony (do a google search on the name combined with St Lucia and bird guide); he showed me White-breasted Thrasher and Black-Finch, two of the more difficult species.

Semper's Warbler is in the Probably extinct group, not possibly. There has been several discussions as to whether the Brown Trembler actually exist on St Lucia. However, it is fairly easy on St Vincent and Dominica as well as on islands north of there. The form from Guadeloupe and north might be a third species.

I have not seen/heard the nightjar on St Lucia, and was told that they are mostly inactive/absent? in winter (I visited around christmas).

I think the Raffaele book is the only source that has ever believed that the Pewee on St Lucia is specifically distinct from the Lesser Antillean Pewee on e.g., Dominica. The wren may even be a better candidate! I did not see the wren but was told it should be quite numerous on the Pitons.

Good luck with the Quail-Dove. As far as I can see, your list lacks the shiny cowbird, but you may have that from elsewhere. Are you visiting other islands around here?

Niels
Hi Niels,
I recently discovered what you pointed out-- I have to have a guide to go into the National Forest. I'm not too happy about this. I really don’t want to have a guide. With the exception of maybe ten, the birds on my life list were found by me. My husband has pointed out a few, my daughter one, two were heads up by birders I met along a trail in Australia and I got another heads up to look for a Brandt’s Goose by a birder leaving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in California as I was going in. To me, birding is something I do by myself. I wander at my own pace and check out sounds and movements and possible good spots. I often retrace my steps, so I can be out for hours just meandering. There is an anticipation of what I might find. It just seems that having a guide will take most of the fun out of it. I know I’ll do it anyway because I want to go into the forests, so thanks very much for your advice.

We will head south from St. Lucia, probably stopping in St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Granada and on to the ABC’s. The goal is to be through the Panama Canal by April.

You were right about the Shiny Cowbird; I missed it. I saw some here just south of the marina so they did get on the list eventually. I'm sorry not to have answered you and Isurus sooner. I was already underway when you guys wrote and I just now came back to this thread to list what I've found of my Wish List.
Sue
 
Hi Sue,
I like to mix up doing most of my birding on my own and using guides sometimes. I actually went to some of the forest without a guide, was found by someone who allowed us to join in, and was conveniently "forgotten" at the far end of the trail, so that we could stay longer watching the parrots, and make the way back at our own pace. It all depends on who discovers you. At the pitons, there were maybe 20 guys sitting around all wanting to be "our guide", and that was one of the reasons I actually never went into that area, it just seemed too congested.

Regarding the wren, there was a comment in the Taxonomy forum by Alvaro Jaramillo that he had data strongly indicating that each of the wrens of the Lesser Antilles that he had seen (four islands) really were different species.

Try go down to the south end of the island next to the large airport and walk around at the wetlands near the end of the runway. I had swallows mid winter in that area, and an Ani which is supposed to be a local rarity.

Niels

Niels
 
We will head south from St. Lucia, probably stopping in St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Granada and on to the ABC’s. The goal is to be through the Panama Canal by April.


If you are headed to St Vincent, I would heartily recommend having a bash at finding St. Vincent Parrot (and the tiny local warbler (whistling is it?)) in the forest there - I realy enjoyed checking out that forest (although parrot sightings are probably much likelier with a guide (I got a couple of glimpses but am sure I missed some birds too).
 
In St. Vincent, the place to be is Vermont Nature Trail, for parrots, Lesser Antillean Tanager, Rufous-throated Solitaire, Whistling Warbler, their version of the wren, Cocoa Thrush, Common Black Hawk, and a few more. If views are unsatisfactory in the morning, the thing to do is to come back in the afternoon. You can also go to the exhibition in the Botanical Gardens in Kingston, where you will get close if untickable views. May be worth it for some of the other species present there such as easy Bare-eyed Robin, and if you do it before going to the forest, to have the sound of the parrots in your ears. More difficult is the local Barn Owl (should become Lesser Antillean), but at night near New Montrose Hotel worked for us. In total, about 34 species in a few days, one of which was spent diving.

The waters near St Vincent had both Red-footed and Brown boobies, and Masked should be possible somewhere in the Grenadines.

Niels
 
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