Top bird sightings in St Lucia: Autumn brings rare and exciting species to the region

The Citizen

2 days ago

Top bird sightings in St Lucia: Autumn brings rare and exciting species to the region
Wam, dry, sunny autumnal days provided some excellent bird sightings in and around St Lucia during May, with the full complement of winter visitors to the region.
This is according to St Lucia bird guide Ian Ferreira, who noted that, while the tar road to Cape Vidal was once again usable for sedans after much flooding earlier in the year, a large herd of elephant was responsible for some major traffic jams.
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'Flooded areas have dried and it is possible to reach Cape Vidal in a sedan car once again.
'The Pan and Vlei loops on the Eastern Shores, and uMphate and uMdoni loops on the Western shores, however, are still not passable owing to deep sections of water over the road,' said Ferreira on his birding blog.
Bird sightings enjoyed by Ferreira and his guests last month include the winter visitors: white-starred robin, chorister robin chat, spotted ground thrush, black cuckooshrike and olive bush shrike, as well as the many forest residents, including Narina trogon, green malkoha, Rudd's apalis, Woodward's batis, black-throated wattle-eye, eastern nicator, gorgeous bush shrike, green twinspot, grey waxbill and Livingstone's turaco.
'The Narina trogon have – quite strangely – been very vocal in the forest this month.
'Very unusual to hear them calling this time of year as they usually call only during the spring and summer breeding months,' noted Ferreira.
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He said much of the forest action is centred around the fruiting Natal fig trees, attracting 'noisy flocks of over 30 trumpeter hornbill' at times, as well as other species.
In the wetlands, African pygmy goose are becoming more abundant, while other notable sightings include red- and blue-billed teal, white-backed duck, common squacco heron, black crake, and rufous-bellied heron on the Eastern Shores.
The mangrove kingfisher has been spotted at the St Lucia estuary, as well as a variety of species of tern and other coastal varieties.
The palm-nut vulture has put in a few appearances on the beach, while the rare and endangered southern-banded snake eagle has been seen on the Eastern Shores.
An unusual and special sighting recorded by Ferreira on the Eastern Shores last month was the African cuckoo-finch.
Source: www.stluciabirdingtours.co.za/birding-blog-stlucia
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