St. Kitts Birds

This summer my family and I had a wonderful vacation on the West Indies island of St. Kitts. I kept an eye out for Caribbean birds and was not disappointed.  Several local species could be observed on the grounds of the big and beautiful Marriott resort where we stayed.  A dozen species are featured here with my brief descriptions.

A little scene-setting before we get to the birds. St. Kitts is very narrow in places as you see above. An Atlantic beach is on the left and a short distance to the right is the Caribbean Sea.

St. Kitts is a lovely island with lots to see and do.  We did the Sky Safaris zip line, visited the

impressive Brimstone Fort, swam, sunbtathed, snorkeled, jet skied, gambled, and ate many fine meals.

Love this sign at the Marriott Resort. The coconut was wet only one day during our eight days on St. Kitts.

BANANAQUIT

Little, cute, yellow, captured one with mouth open in high-pitched song!

LESSER ANTILLEAN BULLFINCH

Great name! Red on throat, bottom and between beak and eye. Female not so colorful.

GRAY KINGBIRD

Bird I saw most on St. Kitts! Like the black mask. Sociable, boisterous, not so skittish.

ZENAIDA DOVE

Very similar to the Mourning Dove seen at home. Can see my reflection in the Dove's eye in 2nd shot!

COMMON GROUND DOVE

                                  Smaller than the Zenaida Dove. Pinkish head. Unusual eyes.

 CATTLE EGRET

Saw these all over the island. Orange streaks. Big feet! Saw a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron one time.

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD

What a silhoutette! Swallow/forked tailed. My favorite St. Kitts bird. Prehistoric looking.

PEARLY-EYED THRASHER

 Piercing eyes. Saw only once, in rain forest near zip line starting place.

LEAST TERN

Recognized from coastal South Carolina. Cool mask and yellow bill.

SNOWY PLOVER
Lttle beachcomber. Cute eyes.

BROWN PELICAN

                         Took these between Rum Punch sips at one of the beachfront bars on "The Strip".

LAUGHING GULL
We have these back home too.  Taken at the Royal St. Kitts Golf Club across from the Marriott Resort.

OTHER CRITTERS
GREEN VELVET MONKEY

One day I saw one on our second floor balcony and on the wall behind our villa. We also spotted some around the island too.  Only saw a couple mongoose which are abundant also.

GOATS

Came upon this herd while driving along the nothern part of St. Kitts on the Atlantic Ocean side.

HORSES

Bathtime in the Atlantic near the Marriott Resort...but not for everyone!

GREEN LIZARD

Had this up close enounter right outside our villa door.

RED REEF HERMIT CRAB

There's a garden along one of the Marriott Resort's perimeter walls that is home to these colorful crabs.

CAT

The Marriott Resort is home to lots of "wild" cats.  They keep their distance but will gladly accept any handouts.

I definitely recommend St. Kitts as a vacation- and birding- destination!

Backyard Birds

I'll be adding to this posting through the summer....

At the suggestion of a bird artist I met at Spoleto this year I've started putting out Parakeet food in hopes of attracting Painted Buntings.  I may have seen a female at my feeder a couple times.  But it's also attracted what my birding friends Tammy and Tom say is a juvenile Brown-Headed Cowbird (above left with a Carolina Chickadee at the suet).

My backyard buffet has been doing brisk business among our avian friends. The warmer weather has birds such as this Carolina Chickadee hitting the birdbaths more and more.

A Tufted Titmouse (below) is feeling the heat. I saw this bird and a Chickadee also with its mouth open.  The

temperatures here have been in the mid-90s.

A Northern Cardinal with a billfull of seed. I never tire of this bird's brilliant red.

 The black around its face and black eyes do give the Cardinal a pretty fierce look.

In recent weeks, Eastern Bluebirds have been visiting our feeders. This bird's blue is as brilliant as the Cardinal's red!

Yesterday two Bluebirds came to my birdbath, just feet from where I was sitting.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera.  But I'll try to be ready should it happen again!

A Carolina Wren (top) and Downy Woodpecker share some suet.

A Carolina Chickadee has its turn with the suet.

A Canada Goose couple had five babies this spring.  They hang around the pond behind our house.

Aren't they cute?

There were five little ones, but sadly one of them must have died because there are only four now.

The family stops by several times a day to feed on seeds that have fallen from our bird feeders. After just a few weeks, look how big the "babies" are already!

In just a matter of weeks, the young ones are almost as large as their parents.

This is a photo I really like with a Northern Cardinal and an Eastern Bluebird on my hammock at the same time.  Only thing missing is me on the hammock!

A backyard visitor we would like to see less of is...guess who???

Red-Shouldered Hawk

I recently had a neat experience with a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks at what used to be a golf course near where I live.  The golf course (Kings Grant) shut down years ago and there has yet to be major redevelopment.  It's all in the courts I think. Meantime, nature is taking over, making a cool site for birders. 

I can't recall ever coming upon a pair of Hawks together like this.  What a handsome couple they make!  And so cute, sharing a perch like they are.

A little Hawk affection?

In the past I've had trouble telling the difference between the Red-Shouldered and Red-Tailed Hawks. But now I know the key to look for is the underparts/chest area.  The Red-Shouldered has the rust-red barring while the Red-Tailed has much more of a white belly (see my Red-Tailed Hawk posting)- and of course the distinctive red tail feathers. The Red-Shouldered Hawks rust coloration is more visible in this next photo.

These lovebirds found the perfect perch.

I have run a few times along North Charleston's new section of the Palmetto Commerce Parkway which includes a biker/hiker path.  Good job local planners!  Anyway, I've seen Red-Shouldered Hawks on each visit.  The next two photos were taken along that route. Always bring the camera cuz you never know...

Red-Shouldered and Red-Tailed Hawks-- both beautiful raptors and always a treat to see and, better yet, photograph. 

Red-Tailed Hawk

 Stopped and got out of my car when I spotted this magnificent hawk atop a utility pole.  Fortunately the highway wasn't too busy and I was able to manuever around and get a few decent shots of a gorgeous bird with a with a brilliant blue sky behind it.

Red-Tailed Hawk- its distinctive red tail feathers visible in these photos taken in August 2010 at the Point Reyes National Seashore near San Francisco.

Closer to home...

Went back to September 2010 for these photos I took of a Red-Tailed Hawk at Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery.

Hawks are rare to come across at the cemetery. I've seen a few fly over but to encounter one on a fairly low branch was very exciting.

And this one didn't seem to mind the human attention.

I wasn't able to get a real good shot of its distinctive red tail feathers but you can see them a little bit in the shot below.

 Recently at the wonderful Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, I saw this Red-Tailed in the petting zoo.

A little sad to see it in captivity like this.

But it does give the public a unique chance to see--and better appreciate- such a beautiful and majestic creature.

A little fuzzy, but here's a Red-Tailed in flight. Shot this along the new part of the Palmetto Commerce Parkway in North Charleston.