A Travellerspoint blog

January 2017

Day 4: Sapadillo Bay

Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

all seasons in one day 80 °F

Today (Tuesday, January 3) was yet another fantastic day on the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos!

Some birding in and around Northwest Point National Park in the morning once again yielded some nice finds.

THICK-BILLED VIREO, a typical scrubland bird of the north Caribbean islands:
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Male PRAIRIE WARBLER:
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Male AMERICAN KESTREL:
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Although I was hoping it was one of the rarer dove species, this just turned out to be a MOURNING DOVE:
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SANDERLING:
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During the afternoon, we visited Sapadillo Bay, which was beautiful with water of depths of about three feet extending hundreds of yards from the shore. Although it did rain off-and-on as it sometimes does in the Caribbean, I did manage to get in a bit of birding.

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD:
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ROYAL TERN:
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RUDDY TURNSTONES:
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Stunning male PRAIRIE WARBLER that posed so well for me when I "spished" it in:
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PALM WARBLER:
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GREEN HERON:
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Unidentified shorebird. Any ideas?
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Distant BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS:
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It was another great day on the island! Bird-of-the-day goes to the beautiful Prairie Warbler with runners-up to the Black-bellied Plovers, a species I seldom get the chance to see.

Good birding,

Henry
World Life List: 929 Species (no life birds today)

Posted by skwclar 05:45 Archived in Turks/Caicos Islands Tagged american_kestrel thick_billed_vireo prairie_warbler sanderling ruddy_turnstone royal_tern mourning_dove northern_mockingbird palm_warbler green_heron black-bellied_plover Comments (1)

Day 3: From Wilson's Plovers to sea turtles!

all seasons in one day 80 °F

Today (Monday, January 2) was another fun-filled day on the beautiful tropical island of Providenciales in the Caribbean.

Some morning birding in Northwest Point National Park yielded great birds!

AMERICAN KESTRELS:
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SANDERLINGS:
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This WILSON'S PLOVER, spotted by my dad, was a life bird for both of us!
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OSPREYS:
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RUDDY TURNSTONE:
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ROYAL TERN:
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Crab in a tide pool:
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The actual Northwest Point of the island is stunning, with the sea crashing into a ledge of rocks with many beautiful tide pools:
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BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT:
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SMOOTH-BILLED ANI, a common inhabitant of the island:
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Then, in the afternoon, my family and I went snorkeling! It was AWESOME, some of the best Caribbean snorkeling I have ever done. Some highlights included seeing 2 sea turtles, a huge sting ray, grouper fish, angelfish, and many amazing coral formations.

I also saw a few birds in the afternoon, including these BANANAQUITS:
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And this COMMON GROUND-DOVE:
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The day came to an end with an evening spotting of this hunting YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON right outside our front door!
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It was a fantastic day! Bird-of-the-day goes to my life-bird Wilson's Plover with runners-up to the Osprey & Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Honorable mention to the two sea turtles. :)

Happy birding!

Henry
World Life List: 929 Species (1 life bird today: Wilson's Plover)

List from today:

Brown Pelican
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Osprey
American Kestrel
Wilson's Plover***
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Royal Tern
Common Ground-Dove
Dove Sp.
Barn Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Mimid Sp.
Thick-billed Vireo
Northern Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Bananaquit
Black-faced Grassquit

Posted by skwclar 02:58 Archived in Turks/Caicos Islands Tagged osprey american_kestrel bananaquit sanderling wilson's_plover ruddy_turnstone royal_tern black-faced_grassquit smooth-billed_ani common_ground-dove yellow-crowned_night-heron Comments (0)

Day 2: 2 life birds 2 kick off 2017!

all seasons in one day 82 °F

Today was our first full day on the island of Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos Islands. We spent the day birding, swimming, and snorkeling. Although the snorkeling was slightly disappointing, I found some quality bird species today.

The wifi is very spotty so I will add photos once I have a strong enough connection...

I kicked off the day to a good start with sighting this awesome life-bird MANGROVE CUCKOO which posed oh so nicely just five feet away from me! I thought these were supposed to be elusive!
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BANAQUITS, such as these guys, abounded throughout the day:
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Male AMERICAN KESTREL:
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The resort at which we are staying is located at a beautiful seafront location:
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Pretty butterfly:
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COMMON GROUND-DOVE:
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THICK-BILLED VIREO:
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BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT:
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This beautiful PRAIRIE WARBLER was an amazing life bird for me!
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Bird-of-the-day goes to the stunning MANGROVE CUCKOO, with runner-up To my other life bird, the PRAIRIE WARBLER. The list for today is attached below.

Brown Pelican
Osprey
American Kestrel
Common Ground-Dove
Dove Sp.
Mangrove Cuckoo***
Smooth-billed Ani
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Thick-billed Vireo
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler***
Bananaquit
Black-faced Grassquit
Passerine Sp.

Posted by skwclar 17:26 Archived in Turks/Caicos Islands Tagged mangrove_cuckoo prairie_warbler Comments (0)

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