halftwo
Wird Batcher
Just a quick one.
Just finished ten days in Mauritius. Just a few points of note.
There are only a handful of endemics, all to be found in the Black River Gorge NP. Plenty of info on BF & ebird, etc.
Mauritius Olive White-Eye & Mauritius Cuckooshrike were the most difficult, though I think I was lucky to have a Mauritius Kestrel fly over me when I was at the entrance to the Ebony Forest. It was the only one of the trip.
The White-Eye I saw at each visit to the Basin Blanc - probably the same one or two each time. Lay by / car park viewpoint of the crater lake).
The Cuckooshrike has been seen there, too, but I drew a blank. The only day I saw them was on an early morning (before the walkers/joggers, etc) walk along the Petrin loop. I saw two males, briefly.
A commercial catamaran trip out from Grande Baie was useless, with no new birds for me, though close views of Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Lesser Noddies were had.
I found a report about seawatching from land, which gave promise, so I spent the remaining time scoping the sea.
Masked Booby & Red-footed Booby, Bridled & Sooty Terns seen. But I also had a Whiskered Tern & a Gull-billed Tern - both rare, according to available data.
And, each day, I saw at least two Cory's Shearwaters with the abundant Wedge-tailed Shearwaters - a species that has hardly, if ever, been recorded that far north in the Indian Ocean.
If anyone wants any further info, ask away.
Just finished ten days in Mauritius. Just a few points of note.
There are only a handful of endemics, all to be found in the Black River Gorge NP. Plenty of info on BF & ebird, etc.
Mauritius Olive White-Eye & Mauritius Cuckooshrike were the most difficult, though I think I was lucky to have a Mauritius Kestrel fly over me when I was at the entrance to the Ebony Forest. It was the only one of the trip.
The White-Eye I saw at each visit to the Basin Blanc - probably the same one or two each time. Lay by / car park viewpoint of the crater lake).
The Cuckooshrike has been seen there, too, but I drew a blank. The only day I saw them was on an early morning (before the walkers/joggers, etc) walk along the Petrin loop. I saw two males, briefly.
A commercial catamaran trip out from Grande Baie was useless, with no new birds for me, though close views of Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Lesser Noddies were had.
I found a report about seawatching from land, which gave promise, so I spent the remaining time scoping the sea.
Masked Booby & Red-footed Booby, Bridled & Sooty Terns seen. But I also had a Whiskered Tern & a Gull-billed Tern - both rare, according to available data.
And, each day, I saw at least two Cory's Shearwaters with the abundant Wedge-tailed Shearwaters - a species that has hardly, if ever, been recorded that far north in the Indian Ocean.
If anyone wants any further info, ask away.
