West Indies & Bermuda
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West Indies/ Bermuda Robert L. Norton 8960 NFWaldo Road Gainesville,Florida 32609 t •,.o•, eran•' .• : ATLANTIC ([email protected]) mo•e• œahama l. •v , * F•-•/NewProvidencel. OCEAN , • '•El•utheral. AnthonyWhite .... Androsl•• N•sau• Cat ,•SanL Salvador Havana • • • LongL 6540Walhonding Road 5"• • :• Acklih•I. • Bethesda,Maryland 20816 Youth • •• Greatlnagua (spindaliserizon.net) Gra• it* ½.•.• St.KiRs ...... ;i•on ' Domingo '• •Antigua • Swan..........ls. • ...........•- Montserrat,•G•deloupe Andrew Dobson •• • •DomJnJca • • • Martinique • C•IBBEANSEA Cura9ao g WarwickAcademy ,Providencel. Aruba• St.Vincent• •Ba•ados 'St.Andrewl. • •Bonaire Grenade•' 117Middle Road WarwickPG 01 Bermuda ([email protected]) *t nnus horribilis.Six named storms cern, too, for the endemic-richmontane verely stressedthe White-crownedPi- (Bonnie,Charley, Earl, Frances, habitatsin the adjacentDominican Re- geon population,delayed opening the • Ivan, andJeanne) ripped through public,where refugeesare increasingly huntingseason by nearlya month(until the Region,bringing about 65 daysof numerous. 29 October),in orderto givethe pigeons tropical-storm-forceand hurricane-force In August,Paul Dean remarkedthat time to recover. As more information on winds,ranging from 45 to 165 mfiesper the late-summer wet season in the Ba- the impactof the fall 2004 stormsar- hour (72-264 k.p.h). Four hurricanes hamasmeant that migrantswould find rives, we will continue to include it in reachedCategory 4 or 5. It wasonly the "spring"when they arrived in September this column. fourth time in modernhistory that so and October. Hurricanes Frances (3-4 Althoughbird populationsin theWest manystorms were recorded. Some areas, September, winds 145 m.p.h.) and Indiesare resilientand typicallyrecover such as the northern Bahamas,western Jeanne(24 September,120 m.p.h.) wiped over time, after even severestorms, there Cuba, and the southernLesser Antilles, out that scenario.Instead, both resident are limits to their resilience. Ihe bur- werehit repeatedly.Grenada took a direct andmigrant birds found plants stripped geoninghuman populations in poorerna- hit fromIvanon 7 September;the storm bare from wind, sand, and salt-burn. tions bode ill for the needs of dozens of devastatedhabitats of endangeredspecies Nectivorousbirds such as humming- imperiledbird speciesin the Caribbean. and damagedor destroyedalmost every birdsand Bananaquitsbecame notewor- National economiesdependent upon buildingon the island.Southern Jamaica thy rarities,while frugivorousbirds like both ecotourism and natural resources (10 September)and the low-lyingCay- parrotsand pigeons behaved abnormally havebeen badly shaken by thestorms of manIslands (11-12 September)also were in theirsearch for food.Many other res- 2004, but the future looks bleaker still: hit verybadly by Ivan.Haiti's lack of veg- ldentspecies were probably also affected, large-scaleclimatological models portend etative cover resulted in some of the but reportingfrom badly hit islandssuch risingsea levels and more frequent pow- worst human and natural-resource losses as SanSalvador, Great Abaco, and Grand erful hurricanes. Ihe confluence of hurri- in the Region:over 1900 peopledied Bahamastopped temporarily as people canes,human-related stressors, and loss from floodingand mudslidescaused by put theirlives back together. On theoth- of lowlandhabitats to the oceanmay TropicalStorm Jeanne 18-19 September; er hand, Great Exuma had a terrible proveto be a "perfectstorm" from which almosthalf a million peoplewere left drought, and its prime birding spot, somespecies never recover to pastlev- completelyhomeless. With any storm, GrogPond, nearly dried up. The flow of eN---andto whichsome spedes may well damageto micro-habitatsand to local migrantsafter the stormswas normal or be lost in the near future. In the current birdpopulations can have long-lasting ef- evenabove average, though the effectof ornithologicaldimate, which often favors fects,and the lossof shelterfor hundreds the storm on resourcesfor wintering recognitiono[ allopatrictaxa as full of thousandsof peoplewill surelyhave a birds (such as Kirtland's Warblers) re- species,West Indian islands stand to lose negativeimpact on whatlittle remainsof mainsto be seen.The Bahamiangovern- morethan the current field guides imply: bird habitat in Haiti. There is much con- ment, recognizingthat the storms se- the taxonomicrelationships of dozensof NORTH AMERICAN BIRD "subspecies"remain to be investigatedcare- madeat Trou Caiman,Haiti 28 Aug-2 Oct son,two pairs raised 2 fledglingseach, and fully--from columbidsto tyrannids to ORC). four pairseach raised one (I.S.S.G.).Four icterids. In that vein, readersshould take WestIndian Whistling-Ducks were much Ospreys(of the migratoryNorth American note that subspeciesbarbadensis of Lesser in evidencein early Aug in the Turks& race) circledover West End, Grand Bahama Antillean Bullfinch is now elevated to status CaicosIs. On 2 Aug,a half-dozenor soflew 13 Oct (TW). Two Northern Harriers were asa full species,Barbados Bullfinch Loxig- over Kew Settlement,North Caicos after in NorthAndros 3-6 Oct (EBS),and one was ilia barbadensis(see Buckley, P A, andE G. dark (NMa). In the sameweek, a pair was in s. Eleuthera 27 Oct (DC). Bermudag 2 Buckley.2004. Rapid speciation by a Lesser photographedat Frenchman'sCreek, Provi- residentRed-tailed Hawks were present un- Antillean endemic, Barbados Bullfinch denciales(MJ), and5 werephotographed at til at least 21 Nov, when seennear Paradise Loxigillabarbadensis. Bulletin B. O_C. 124: EastBay Cay, North Caicos. A CanadaGoose Lakes (NB). Northern Harrier and American 108-123). seen over St. David's, Bermuda 4 Oct (GA) Kestrelwere recordedat Southside,Bermuda settledat OuterleaDairy. An imm.Brant was 20 Aug(EA). Merlins staged a strongmigra- Abbreviations:B.A.R.C. (BahamasA.R.C.); seenat nights. of CapeEleuthera 15 Nov: tionin earlyOct: 2 at NorthAndros 3-6 Oct H.W.EN.E (Harrold and Wilson PondsN.E, thebird actually swam up to Purdy,who was (EBS),2 at Adelaideand one at LyfordCay, New Providence,Bahamas); ET.N.R. (Petite- snorkelingat the time (p.a. by B.AALC.). New Providence9 Oct (PD TW), 3 on Grand TerreNature Reserve, Guadeloupe). The onlyother report for the Bahamasis of Bahama13-14 Oct (TW), and one on Rose one shot at Twin Lakes,Andros at least 35 Island 23 Oct (NM). Raptorsin Oct at PETRELSTHROUGH TERNS yearsago (DL). A male EurasianWigeon Bermudaincluded 4-5 PeregrineFalcons. The first Bermuda Petrel of the season re- joinedAmerican Wigeons at SpittalPond, Two Northern Bobwhite visited Villa Ca- turned 14 Oct OM), after which about 16 Bermuda 25 Oct (EA). More than 50 Blue- pulet,Montague Foreshore, New Providence wereseen from a seawatchat Cooper'sPt. 3 wingedTeal were counted 2 OctatJobos Bay, 6-8 Sepand fed among the debris of an up- Nov(AD, PH). A Cory'sShearwater was near Salinas,Puerto Rico (JS), with numbersin- rootedRoyal Poinciana (SB). A VirginiaRail "thewall" off CapeEleuthera, Bahamas 16 creasingduring the week to 300, and 4 was takeninto captivityat BermudaZoo 8 Nov (BP). A Wilson'sStorm-Petrel was seen Northern Shovelers were noted at the same Nov (JG) and laterreleased. 13 OctoffET. N.R., Guadeloupe (ALv). In 14 site 10 Oct (JS,SC et al.). NorthernShovel- An AmericanGolden-Plover was reported hoursof Nov seawatchingfrom ET.N.R., er numbersat H.W.PN.E peakedat 6 on l fromCarlo Tiburones 13-14 Sep(SC), while Guadeloupe,Levesque counted a totalof 3 Nov (NM). Over 80 White-cheekedPintails 2 were nearbyat Las Palmas,Barceloneta, Manx,2 Audubon's,a Greater, and 42 Cory's at a small,unnamed pond on LittleExuma PuertoRico 13 Sep (SC, JS). A PipingPlover, Shearwaters,a Long-tailed a decliningvisitor to Bermuda, Jaeger, and 2 Pomafine wasseen 6 Augon Nonsuch I. Jaegers.A subad. Masked Boo- (PW).Pipings in theBahamas by found on Queen'sHwy,, included 2 on Little Whale GrandBahama 9 Sepwas re- Cay,Berry Islands 7 Aug(PD), habilitated and released 10 6 at SandbankCays, Abaco 27 Oct at Peterson Cay N.P, Aug (EBHP), and20 at Som- where it remained for three serset Beach, Andros 6 Oct days(ph. EG). A subad.dark- (ELLS).Single American Avo- morphRed-looted Booby was cets were at SomersetBeach, photographedperched on the NorthAndros 5 Oct (ph. EBS) AUTEC buoy8 kme. of An- and at H.W. EN.E 1-9 Nov dros30 Jul (TA). (ph. NM). The shorebirdpas- An American Bittern was sageon Bermudawas not as heard at H.W. PN.P 11 Oct dramaticas in someyears, al- (PD, TW). Single Gray thougha big falloutof shore- Herons were found 27 Oct at birds8 Augprovided impres- FostersSwamp and 14 Nov at sivenumbers for somespecies Hope Parrish,both Barbados (recordhighs in boldface):40 (EM); this Eurasianspecies SemipalmatedPlovers at the hasbeen reported breeding at MaskedBoobies are rare in the Bahamas,and this subadult was found ashore on the airport(PW), 142 LesserYel- GraemeHall Swamp,not far QueensHighway, Grand Bahama. It was rehabilitated fora monthand then released lowlegs,100 SolitarySand- a PetersonCay N.R off the southern shore of Grand Bahama. It remained inthe away.The long-stayingLittle areafor three days (here 9 October2004), then flew off. Photograph byfrika 6ares. pipers,4 Willets,300+ Semi- Egret on Bermudawas pres- palmatedSandpipers, 300+ ent throughoutthe period(AD). An ad. 30 Oct and 6 Nov was a good count LeastSandpipers, and 133 PectoralSand- ReddishEgret was seen I Novat Jobos Bay, (,J&BM).Two hundred Ring-necked Ducks pipers,94 of thoseat oneairport rain pool. Salinas,Puerto Rico (JS). On 16 Sep,a flock on Great lnagua23