4 December 2022
Good Morning Everyone,
I hope that this finds you well wherever you are.
The plan was for today, Saturday in Grenada, to be a full day of birding. Up at 0400 and off for the drive north getting there right before sunrise at 0600. If it rained, we would not go. So packed and ready to go — and the rain starts! We look at one another and decide to take a chance that the rain would stop and, it did! It was a glorious day. Cloudy initially which helped to see some birds and then hot and clear blue skies later. The best real estate on the island are those properties that have not only a beautiful view but also, lots of windows to open and wind to go with them!
The stairs down to the boardwalk at Levere National Park were slippery with the sticky clay. Some of the places between the wooden stairs had washed away. By the time we got to the bottom, the boardwalk was flooded. Those gum boots really came in handy. However, the water was higher than they were tall!!!!!! Still we made it to the little dock and the look out tower for birds.
Imagine silence. Not a human sound at all save for us. Just birds.
Mangroves. To me, these are very special places that I only see in the tropical areas where I have visited or lived. The trees – there are 80 varieties -that grow there only need low-oxygen soil and slow moving water. The soil will accumulate around their tangled roots. In fact, these enormous tangled roots make the trees look like they are being pushed out of the water. These wild looking trees stabilise the land and are home to fish, birds, and other aquatic life.
This is an aerial photo of Laverne National Forest where I spent the morning. The pond and surrounding mangrove area is ‘landlocked’. This is the very north of Grenada looking out to the Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the Caribbean Sea which is in the South.
St George’s is at the very tip of the island close to True Blue and The Lime. Because Grenada is an island created by a volcano, there is hardly a flat spot anywhere. The roads are narrow, windy, often with a straight drop into the sea and lots of pot holes. It takes about an hour, depending on traffic, to go from the southern tip to the most northern.
I am not an expert on bird vocalisations but, I am getting better with the help of Merlin ID. The ‘Sound ID’ function works much better than the ‘Photo ID’ and it helped me to pin point the first sounds at Leverne National Park. It was a Green Heron. The Green Herons actually flew back and forth in front of me, too close and too quick and unannounced to capture their image. But, what a marvellous quiet place – the only sound was birds!!!!!! Just think about it. Noise cancelling headphones with only sounds from a mangrove would take you to this place.
It has rained a lot. The images below are looking back to a small wooden boardwalk. The top photo is when it was dry last spring. The bottom one, covered with leaves, is from yesterday. In the distance the boardwalk was under water — the reason that I brought my gum boots. It was deeper than the boots were high. That was rather interesting. Have you ever been in a mangrove? They smell – lots of decomposition and sulphur.
The lake and mangrove are absolutely still. Not a ripple in the water except for when the Tarpons come up for air. I sat and watched the Green Herons fly into this area. The foliage is so thick you cannot see them once they are perched.
I missed the opportunity to record the vocalisations of the birds from the mangrove when we first arrived. A huge mistake because they became mostly silent as the hours progressed. You would catch glimpses of them flitting about. There is one flying across the grove.
This is a Great Blue Heron. There were several of them flying across the water. In the spring they made their nests about 1 metre or 36 inches above the water in the mangrove thickets. They lay from 4-6 very light blue-green eggs from March to July. Despite it being a well known area, my son tells me that the herons hatched their eggs near to the boardwalk without any problem – no human interference with their nests and their habitat is protected. It is a lovely safe spot for them.
Great Blue Herons are the largest of the ‘dark’ heron family in Grenada. They are approximately 106-132 cm or 42-52 inches in length
They have such beautiful form and are absolutely silent when they are flying.
There were Great Egrets, Green Herons, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, a Black crowned Night Heron, an American Woodcock, and a Smooth Billed Ani.
About 10 minutes away, there was a small pond at Mt Hartman. It has not been levelled and the area is so beautiful. The Chinese own the land and are saying they are turning it into a luxury resort, I hope it takes a zillion years. There is something so wonderful about places just being left!
Cows was tethered along the road. There is where you see the Cattle Egret. They get their name because they hang around the cows waiting for the insects and grasshoppers to be kicked up.
Notice how small these egrets are.
Did you know that until the 1930s Cattle Egrets were only seen on the continent of Africa?
They have a very stout yellow beak with beautiful white plumage, and yellow-green eggs.
There were a pair of Common Moorhens or Gallinules swimming in the pond near to the Cattle Egrets.
A Great Egret flew in and landed on the other side of the pond.
This is a Great Egret. We know this because of its size but, more clearly, its distinctive yellow bill and black legs. And the pure white plumage.
Talk about graceful.
The Great Egrets are large, measuring 85-107 cm or 34 to 42 inches. The Cattle Egret is only 48-64 cm or 19-25 inches. You can see the size difference in the image below.
On the off chance there were some shore birds around, we headed to the most northern tip of the island. No birds but fascinating flowers growing up out of the sandy soil.
The sea is very rough and it is not safe to swim here like it is in the South in the Caribbean Sea.
At the end of the day, a Broad Shouldered Hawk circled my son’s property. A perfect ending to a perfect day!
Tomorrow is a break – a wee one – from the birds. To kick off the Christmas Season, there is a huge event featuring carolling, a walk through light show, food and drinks. One of the things that I like best is that in December there is sorrel and you can make your own sorrel juice. In addition, following the idea of ‘no waste’, the simmer flowers of the plant are then used in Christmas cakes. They are delicious. I hope there are some tomorrow to take home!
A Quick Check at a ‘few’ of the nests we are watching.
Elain made a lovely compilation video of events of 3 December 2022 at the Orange scrape of Diamond and Xavier. Some bonding, some family time. Quite enjoyable. Thanks Elain!
These are the Day 3 highlights from the nest of Royal Albatross GLY. The rangers are keeping a close eye on all the albatross, especially GLY as he is waiting for L to re-appear and let him go and feed. Did I say that the albatross are easy to watch? Not when their mate does not return like it did to the Royal Cam family last year, YRK and OGK. OGK went missing in May after hatch. The Rangers will help – and that is what you need to know. They supplemental feed every chick and parent if necessary. How kind, how forward thinking. I really support their efforts!
This is the most recent announcement on Rita that I could find. Continue to send your positive wishes. Rita did so well with the surgery. Now let’s see if a miracle will happen and she will get some circulation in that wing.
Samson and Alden have not returned. I am starting to accept that Samson may not be with us. It is sad but, it is a reality that we might have to accept.
‘J’ sent me the most recent posting from the AEF on Gabby at he nest she shares with Samson who has now been missing 9 cays. Thank you ‘J’.
“Today at 12:19 AM
AEF~NEFL Nest Cam~Gabby was perched on Sunset and V2 came to the nest, Gabby went to the nest to join. I didn’t edit much as I wanted to show the entire interaction between Gabby and V2. At first she seemed very tolerant. But after about 3 mins Gabby seemed less tolerant and there was a short tussle. V2 didn’t push it with Gabby. Gabby seemed to have enough and went off to roost. V2 stayed in the nest awhile and went to LOP where V2 is perched (not in video). I suspect they will both spend the night.”
V2 has extremely light eyes and a tint to his white head.
Meanwhile, Harriet and M15 are tending to their two previous eggs while continuing to work on their nest on the Pritchett Property in Fort Myers, Florida.
Jackie and Shadow were back in their nest at Big Bear Lake in California today. They are really getting those side rails nice and strong and high!
Jackie is gorgeous. And formidable. I would not want to be a person trying to get too close to her nest with an eaglet in it. No, not ever.
Anna and Louis have their second egg at the E-1 Bald Eagle nest in the Kisatchie National Park. Congratulations to everyone at KNF! This is fantastic news. For the past two years, Anna and Louis have fledged one eaglet each year. In 2020, it was the first time that a Bald Eagle family had used this nest and raised a fantastic eaglet – Kisatchie!
Our beautiful feathered friends, no matter what species, understand, care deeply, and grieve. The latest on a Moli Mum who has been ever so faithful to her chick that died in 2020. Hob Osterlund writes that she has chosen for a second time to lay her egg on top of that of her dead little one. Oh, how I hope that this year she is successful in raising a family.
Zoe had fish yesterday – Dad brought in 3 and Mum 1. thanks, ‘A’. You can check on Zoe’s day under the streaming cam. Click on the observation board. She has been flying about exploring her territory.
Both of the Australian fledglings, Indigo and Zoe, are doing well. We can relax!
Thank you so much for joining me today. It is always a pleasure to have you hear and to receive your comments and letters via e-mail. Always. I am a little late in responding but, please, do not hesitate to write. Take care of yourselves. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their streaming cam, videos, and postings which make up my screen captures: Hob Osterlund, Tonya Irwin and KNF Bald Eagle Nest, FOBBV, NEFL-AEF, Ron and Rita’s Nest Watchers, NZ-DOC and Cornell Bird Lab, and Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Elain. Thank you to ‘J’ who reached out to me with the latest announcement on Rita! And to ‘A’ who sent me all the time stamps and a review of what was happening. Much appreciated.
