Island Hopping (Part 5 of 8) - Feb 2, 2014 (St. Lucia)
Feb 2 - St. Lucia
St. Lucia boasts a stellar 5 endemic birds (may vary depending on which taxonomy you use...), more than any other island we visited on this trip. Lucky for us, all of them occur at the Millet Sanctuary/Reserve, which is where we spent our entire time birding with our awesome local guide, Aloysius.
Our first endemic came in the form of a female ST. LUCIA BLACK FINCH...not exactly the most brilliant looking bird but we'll take it! This was soon followed by our first of several ST. LUCIA WARBLERS, as bright as the finch was drab. We had killer looks at a foraging and singing MANGROVE CUCKOO (strange to me to see this species at high elevation). After this quick success, we tried a different section of trail just as the skies opened up. Hiking in the slick conditions slowed us down, but the weather wasn't poor enough to keep us from finding a ST. LUCIA ORIOLE followed by the big prize of the day, a ST. LUCIA PARROT, expertly spotted by Aloysius. The weather kept us from doing the full hike, but we hit the most important areas. We would have to leave without seeing the fifth endemic though...St. Lucia Pewee. One calling bird just did not want to be seen.
- NB
St. Lucia boasts a stellar 5 endemic birds (may vary depending on which taxonomy you use...), more than any other island we visited on this trip. Lucky for us, all of them occur at the Millet Sanctuary/Reserve, which is where we spent our entire time birding with our awesome local guide, Aloysius.
Our first endemic came in the form of a female ST. LUCIA BLACK FINCH...not exactly the most brilliant looking bird but we'll take it! This was soon followed by our first of several ST. LUCIA WARBLERS, as bright as the finch was drab. We had killer looks at a foraging and singing MANGROVE CUCKOO (strange to me to see this species at high elevation). After this quick success, we tried a different section of trail just as the skies opened up. Hiking in the slick conditions slowed us down, but the weather wasn't poor enough to keep us from finding a ST. LUCIA ORIOLE followed by the big prize of the day, a ST. LUCIA PARROT, expertly spotted by Aloysius. The weather kept us from doing the full hike, but we hit the most important areas. We would have to leave without seeing the fifth endemic though...St. Lucia Pewee. One calling bird just did not want to be seen.
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| St. Lucia Oriole |
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| St. Lucia Parrot |
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| St. Lucia Warbler |
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| St. Lucia Warbler |
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| St. Lucia Black Finch |
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| male Lesser Antillean Bullfinch |
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| female Lesser Antillean Bullfinch |
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| Yours truly enjoying the local brew after a hard day's birding. It's a tough life but somebody's gotta do it... |
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| Land Crab! |
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| The Pitons |
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| flying fish |
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