By Michael Ryan

Unfortunately, none of the sightings were made by me!

While I have been struggling with cutting the overgrown bush on the mountain road up in the hills in the Wingfield area, it appears that several visiting birders were having a field day with interesting bird observations.

As I often do, I checked the E-Bird website for St. Kitts-Nevis https://ebird.org/region/KN to determine if any interesting birds have recently been spotted and was very pleasantly surprised! There were reports of 7 different rare birds over the past few days! I was amazed!

The first sighting was on November 5, when Matt Hafner, an experienced birder from Maryland in the USA, reported seeing 7 Cliff Swallows on the South Side of St. Kitts. Initially, E-bird treated the sighting as UNCONFIRMED. However, over the next two days November 6 and 7, Harry Witts, an experienced birder from UK reported seeing a total of 8 Cliff Swallows on three separate occasions. E-bird has now officially accepted the Cliff Swallow as being spotted in St. Kitts- Nevis. This is the first sighting of a Cliff Swallow in St. Kitts & Nevis.

 Caleb Putnam eBird S68136553 Macaulay Library ML 230787451

On November 8, Harry Witts was hiking the Nevis Peak trail and reported seeing a Yellow-throated Vireo. This would be the first sighting of that bird in Nevis, but E-bird has classified the sighting as UNCONFIRMED as there was only one sighting by one person, with no photographic evidence. However, this bird has been sighted on several of our neighboring islands!

Todd Fellenbaum eBird S36652605 Macaulay Library ML 130575411

A day later, on November 9, Sandi Wheeler, a birder from Texas, USA, reported seeing a Bank Swallow in Nevis. A bank swallow was first spotted in St. Kitts in 2008 and would be considered a rare sighting. This sighting has been accepted by e-bird.

Darlene Friedman eBird S72022083 Macaulay Library ML 252886281

On that same day, Jennifer Weber observed a Masked Booby some distance off Basseterre. These Booby’s are difficult to spot from land and spend much of their time offshore. They are not spotted here very often, but non-the-less they are present throughout the Caribbean waters. The first official sighting in St. Kitts was 2010.

Then just 11 short days later, Noam Markus, a very experienced birder from Toronto, Canada, spotted a Masked Booby off Port Zante. Wow, that’s two sightings within 2 weeks!

Cameron Rutt eBird S10309371 Macaulay Library ML 28631581

Later that day, Jennifer Weber also reported a White-tailed Tropicbird at two different times upon arriving at Port Zante. While these birds are common to the Caribbean, they are hardly seen around St. Kitts, particularly close to shore. The White-tailed Tropicbird was first seen in St. Kitts in 1982 in the same Basseterre Harbour. The Basseterre Harbour seems to be rocking!

Russ Morgan eBird S43902901 Macaulay Library ML 91077091

On November 12, Harry Watts observed a Purple Gallinule at Hamilton Beach in Nevis. There birds are rarely seen in St. Kitts and was first observed in 1998, also in Nevis. However, a sighting of a Purple Gallinule is always a plus as they are not seen that often in these parts.

Geoff Hill eBird S36025124 Macaulay Library ML 54743691

Finally, when checking through a few of the October checklists, it was noted that Jacob Vineberg reported seeing a Chimney Swift at Paradise Beach in Nevis. However, this sighting has been categorized as UNCONFIRMED. It would have been the first sighting for St. Kitts-Nevis, and more evidence would be required for it to be considered as a confirmed sighting in the Federation!

Peter F eBird S72625965 Macaulay Library ML 264078391

St. Kitts and Nevis is blessed with an abundance of Bird life, but the limited number of birders in the Federation makes new bird sightings a challenge, for observation and reporting. Input from visiting birders is always welcome!

The accumulation of knowledge of our Natural Heritage continues!