The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Birdwatching in St Lucia October 23rd to November 6th 2005[/b]

I stayed at the Sandals Halcyon Beach Hotel in the northern suburbs of Castries on the the above dates. This is an excellent smallish hotel with beautiful grounds situated in Choc Bay. Its sister hotels the Regency and the Grand are also worth looking at if you are thinking of St Lucia for a holiday

My birdwatching took place generally from 06:00 (which was dawn) to about 08:15 each morning and occassionally in the late afternoon. The area I covered was the half mile between the Halcyon Beach and the St James Club Hotel . A deep narrow inlet below the St James Club (this hotel is being renovated) stopped me gettineg any further. There are also some sandpits surrounded by trees at the St James end of the walk. These are between the palms at the beachside and the busy main road that runs from Castries to Rodney Bay

The weather was generally hot and humid with some some torrential (and I do mean torrential) showers on all but one day. Luckily these tended to last only a few minutes

37 species were identifed with only Cattle Egret, Osprey, Turnstone, Moorhen and Rock Dove not being lifers

It was strange to arrive home to hear of a Magnificent Frigatebird being found in Shropshire, Green Herons in various places and a big influx of Laughing Gulls (something I couldn't find) blown over to this country by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.

BROWN BOOBY These birds could been seen fairly regularly off the beach in small numbers with the aid of a telescope or binnoculars or on a boat trip

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD 7 or 8 could be spotted most days well off-shore by my accomodation. Also seen closely at the Grand which is just below Pigeon Point and at the beautiful Pitons on a catamaran trip

ROYAL TERN Upto 38 seen on 28 October and 5 November sat on posts close to Sandals Grand Hotel. Amazingly confiding

ROSEATE TERN Every day fishing in Choc Bay in small numbers

LITTLE BLUE HERON 1 or 2 could be seen most days in the inlet by the St James Club Hotel. Very confiding

SNOWY EGRET Small numbers seen generally around the sandpits

CATTLE EGRET Everywhere on the island and very confiding. I was amazed to have one take bits of a burger out of my hand in the hotel grounds early in my holiday

GREEN HERON Seen every day in small numbers (1 to 4) either at the St James Club inlet or in the sandpits

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON 1 disturbed roosting in the beach side palms occaisionally by me or a dog that befriended me

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER Seen each day on the beach in small numbers (5 was the maximum count) and on odd occasion around the sand pits

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER One seen at the sandpits on the 24th of October and another on 4th of November

SPOTTED SANDPIPER Small numbers seen every day by the inlet below the St James Club or at the sandpits

GREATER YELLOWLEGS One seen on three or four occasions

RUDDY TURNSTONE Occasionally seen in small numbers foraging in the beach debris. Six were seen one afternoon

MOORHEN One was seen in the inlet on several occasions

OSPREY Still gives a thrill to see one. One seen on the 24th, 26th in the same tree and one flying in front of the hotel on the 31st of October. I then saw two fly over the sandpits on the 4th of November. One of these eventually landed giving stunning views. One of my travelling companions told me that she had seen two the day before this sighting but I had been somewhat sceptical!

BROAD-WINGED HAWK 2 seen in the hills on a jeep safari into the rainforest on the 29th

ROCK DOVE Large numbers in the grass at the side of the runway at Castries airport

PLAIN PIGEON Other reports say that this bird is supposed to be common in the area but I only saw them on one occasion. This is by the side of the Grand Hotel. This area which seemed good for birds if only I had a little more to explore seems destined for development

COMMON GROUND-DOVE 4 seen on the 1st of November at the sandpits

ZENAIDA DOVE Common and confiding around hotel grounds

MANGROVE CUCKOO Seen reasonably regularly around the sandpits but was somewhat secretive

ANTILLEAN CRESTED CARIB Common in the hotel grounds

PURPLE-THROATED CARIB The least common of the three caribs seen around plants

GREEN-THROATED CARIB Common in the hotel grounds

BELTED KINGFISHER Some nice views of this bird perched on branches in the inlet and the sandpits

GRAY KINGBIRD Common around the island

TROPICAL MOCKINGBIRD Seen reasonably regularly

BLACKPOLL WARBLER Only seen once in the trees between the beach and the saltpits

YELLOW WARBLER A pair seen twice in trees below the St James Club Hotel

BANANAQUIT Everywhere and beautiful with it

ST LUCIAN ORIEL One only seen in the rainforest where I answered a call of nature. A stunning bird

SHINY COWBIRD Several seen just once at Pigeon Point the day before we returned home

CARIB GRACKLE Abundant and extremely noisy with it. Fairly confiding

BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT Small numbers seen in the grassy areas of the sandpits

LESSER ANTILLEAN SALTATOR Only seen once and briefly at the sandpits on the 31st of October

LESSER ANTILLEAN BULLFINCH Common around the hotel grounds which would accept food out of the hand. Very pretty

Chris

Spent the last 10 days of November at the Regency and saw many of the birds you mentioned. Even saw over the site an American Kestrel pestering a Broad Winged Hawk (locally known as the Chicken Hawk,) which I'm assuming is the same bird I saw at least twice soaring over the golf course. Also on the golf course, numerous cattle egret and 2 purple heron. Shared breakfast every morning with the Zenaida doves and the numerous local blackbirds, which kept on pinching the sugar sachets for some reason! A pair of Frigate Birds glided over on most days.

Bryn