Lesser Antilles Day 10: St Lucia

So off we went, at 6:30 a.m., across the island, to see the white breated thrasher and St Lucia oriole. 

First, the thrasher, in some dry forest on the east side of the island.

And then the oriole, up in the interior, a pretty awful shot, but enough to document the sighting.

And we did see the St Lucia parrots, from a distance, in the center of the island. We also saw a lesser antillean flycatcher...

...and here's an Antillean Crested Hummingbird. Black-whiskered Vireos, Gray Tremblers, Shiny Cowbirds, Carib Grackles, Bananaquits, Lesser Antillean Bullfinches, and a Lesser Antillean Saltator

Also....Scaly-named pigeon, (setting out) Lesser Antillean Swifts, Green-throated Carib.

Then we went to a wetland, where we saw Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaups, Pied-billed Grebes, Common Gallinules, American Coots, Greater Yellowlegs, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Little Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, a Green Heron, Western Cattle Egrets, Great Egrets, a Great Blue Heron, an Osprey, a Gray Kingbird, Barn Swallows, Carib Grackles,  and a Yellow Warbler.Yawn! 

Lesser Antilles Day 8: Grenada

We went to the Hartman plantation (lower track) to search for the national bird of Grenada, the Grenada Dove, which is going extinct, completely unnoticed by the government of Grenada.

And we didn't see it. Well, one of us says he saw it, and some of us claim we heard it, but all in all, pretty disappointing. We did see a Grenada flycatcher.

and a Mangrove Cuckoo

and an Eared Dove

and a Grenada tree anole.

...but the dove was a bust. Also, ground doves, yellow-bellied elaenia, and the usual shite.

So, it was off to the big pond, the Grand Etang, up on the mountain, the long upper track on the map, which we mostly drove. There we saw the non-indigeous Mona Monkey, which is beyond-all-your-personal-boundaries friendly.

And bats. Pallas's Mastiff Bat. Roosting under the eaves of the visitor center.

And a rufous bellied hummingbird.

..and I bought some killer curry powder, and nutmegs and huge slabs of cinnamon bark.

There were no birds I could see on the Grand Etang.

But we did see: Scaly-naped Pigeon, Mangrove Cuckoo, Green-throated Carib, Gray Kingbird, Cocoa Thrush, Lesser Antillean Tanager, Bananaquit, and Lesser Antillean Bullfinch.

LesserAntilles Day 7: St Vincent Day 2

Next morning, we were back out, in search of the elusive Whistling Warbler. And so we drove 'round what looked like an old caldera, and then hiked up onto the mountain.

We goit a few glimpese of the Lesser Antillean Tanager at the parking lot, and then it was up into the cloud-forest.

We had a dickens of a time finding the Whistling Warbler, but it finally appeared just before we were about to give up and turn back, too briefly to be photogrpahed, but it whistled at us very obligingly. We did see a Brown Trembler and a Purple Throated Carib. 

(I have to figure out how to filter out that greenish forest light.)

We wasted an afternoon back at the Beachcomber, though I did see both a St Vincent Bush Anole, which fell off the roof;  and a St Vincent Tree Anole, on a conch shell.

...and the obligatory Brown Booby, cruising the narrow strait between our beach and the rich people's island (York Island). 

Also seen: Eared Dove, Laughing Gull, Brown Noddy, Magnificent Frigatebird, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Caribbean Elaenia, Tropical Mockingbird, Shiny Cowbird, Bananaquit, Black-faced Grassquit.

Then off to Grenada, the Spice Island of the Caribbean!

Lesser Antilles Day 6: Saint Vincent Day 1

 Exhausted by our 10-line day airport adventures, I slept, notwithstanding my sunburned face. woke up, and had breakfast, at our very nice but bossy-staffed Bridgetown hotel, and then a walk on the beach, eying the tiny translucent crabs but unable to get as picture of one. We weren't long in Barbados. 

Early  we were back to the airport and off to St Vincent. Short hop, small 'plane. We drove around the back of the airport, to a small creek flowing into the Caribbean. to eat a bag lunch.

The coastline was pretty, though the beach was trashy. 

A spotted sandpiper was poking through the garbage on the beach. And here's a smooth-billed ani, looking like a tiny dinosaur.

...also saw Greater Yellowlegs, Magnificent Frigatebird, Little Blue Heron,Green Heron,Gray Kingbird, Caribbean Martin and Carib Grackle.

After lunch, we pushed on to the interior.

..where there were broadwing hawks, some drying themselves from the rain, and scaly-necked pigeons, and the St Vincent parrots, close enough to get lots of very poor shots.

And the odd black bananaquits.

Alos on this wing of the trip: Short-tailed Swift, Green-throated Carib, Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Little Blue Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Common Black Hawk, and Gray Kingbird.

...and back to a huge, run-lubricated meal at the Beachcombers hotel. 

Lesser Antilles Day 5

At 7:15 a.m. we were on the waterfront of St. Johns, boarding a fast speedboat trip to Barbuda, the smaller bit of Antigua and Barbuda. 

The crossing was fun but rough; with great relish, Ryan, our guide, noticed we had left the official ferry, the Barbuda Express, far behind. After landing, we drove to a Martello Tower on the south side of the island. The tower, dating to the Napoleonic war, is still the largest building on Barbuda, which says more about Barbuda than about Martello towers.

We wandered the dusty roads near tthe tower to find our second Antillean endemic, the Barbuda warbler, which makes its exclusive abode on this tiny, dry, dusty island. And although there were also plenty of 'golden warblers', the local subspecies of the Yellow Warbler, around...

...we had little difficulty locating our unique quarry.

...and here's another!

A Madagascar periwinkle, not native, of course, but transported around the world as a supposed diabetes cure.

Donkeys are feral on Barbuda, and at an estimated population of 6,000, outnumber people.

So, the warbler recorded for posterity, we piled back into the bus and headed for the old slavers' capital of Codrington, noticing the still obvious devastation left by cat 5 Hurrican Irman, nearly 7 years previously. Codrington itself isn't much of a place, apparently with only one show/snack bar. The town's toilets were locked. 

There, we all boarded onto one tiny skiff (the other promised to Ryan had taken off) and proceded across the lagoon to the frigatebird colony.

The colony was impressive, and stinky, bneing home to a few brown boobies and 5,000 frigatebirds. Here's a fine looking male.

And here's junior, posing photogenically in front of a couple of camera-shy mommies.

Lots and lots of frigatebirds.

I mean, one has to ask, does the world need all these aerial pirates, seabirds that can't land on the water because they can't get their feathers wet, and so spend their lives harassing other birds until they throw up, and the frigatebird eats the puke. This is what happens when you escape Noah's triage, and just float above the ark, unaffected by the global flood.

(No, I don't believe any of this)

The trip back to Codrington was miserable. Cramped, and the combination of a stiff breeze and waves threw up enough spray that sitting in the port stern of the boat, I got soaked. Still, the nice thing about the tropics is you dry out quickly. We ate a box lunch at the Martello Tower and then shiped back to Antigua, for a van transfer to the airport.

In addition, thanks to Peg Abbott

At/on the way to the frigatebird colony

• Spotted sandpiper
• Barn Swallow

On the way to Codrington

• Green-throated Carib
• Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Lesser Antilles)
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Brown Pelican
• Green Heron
• American Kestrel
• Caribbean Elaenia
• Gray Kingbird
• Caribbean Martin
• Carib Grackle
• Lesser Antillean Bullfinch
• Black-faced Grassquit

The rest of the day was hell. We got to the airport about 2 p.m.. Then we stood in a line to check in. Then we stood in a long-long line for the security check. Then we stood in a line to check our passports. Then we stood in a line for a bag check. Then we stood in a line waiting to board, and another couple of lines, and then finally we took off, over five hours later.

And this was just to get out of Antigua! 

Our sunset, 45 minute flight down to Barbados was quite beautiful, as were the admission procedures, which were fast and efficient. What a contrast. Our hotel, the Blue Horizon, was OK, and there was food. 

Lesser Antilles Day 9; St Lucia Day 1

So here's a map. How would you get from Grenada to St Lucia? Not this way? Well, thanks to the great minds at InterCaribbean Airways, this is how we did it.

Oddly, it wasn't that painful, probably because we didn't have to endure immigration, except at Castries in St Lucia. St Lucia, notoriously, will sell you citizenship and a diplomatic passprt for $75,000, so they're not that picky. We were there in time for lunch. And beer. Petra's café, on the beachfront, had both.

Then it was off, in a van, to the central dry region of northern St Lucia. First the drive..., and then the hike (it's the little red track).

The St Lucia warbler didn't make it easy, but eventually it came out, and I got some good shots.

You can see it's related to, but not identical with, the Barbuda warbler. They're probably either relic species, or regular warblers that just give up the migration thang. Also, here's an Antillean Crested Hummingbird.

After prying Ryan away from the area with some difficulty, we drove back to our 'mini-hotel', the Tropical Paradise, in Au Tabor, Anse La Raye, which was really quite lovely, not least for the view.