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| Bahama Warbler, Pine lands east, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
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| Bahama Warbler, Pine lands east, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
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| Bahama Warbler, Pine lands east, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
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| Bahama Warbler, Owl Hole Rd, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
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| Caribbean Pine lands, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
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| Olive capped Warbler, Owl Hole Rd, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
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| Hooded Warbler, Garden of the Groves, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017 |
I decided to make a slight change from my original plans of hiring a guide for a
second day and instead rented a jeep for a couple of days to explore
some areas on my own. With Sherri doing some other activities on Thursday I had
the entire morning into the afternoon free to explore the pine lands east of
Freetown in search of the two endemic warblers I missed the day before. As
mentioned before these two species (Bahama Warbler and Bahama Yellowthroat) have
apparently become very tough to find following Hurricane Matthew that hit the
island last October but I was determined to track them down. I headed out just
before sunrise to start looking east of Lucayan NP and after one minor missed
turn I was on my way (the toughest part was driving on the left...a throwback to
the English roots of the Bahamas). The area past the national park was somewhat
quiet and there were not any good spots to penetrate into the pines so I decided
to head back to a series of old logging roads which had some sightings of both
of my target species before the hurricane. I started on a road north of Owl's
Hole Road and one of the first birds I noticed was a Bahama Warbler (#1260)
crawling its way up the side of a pine much like a nuthatch. I was really not
expecting it to be so easy to find the bird after a lot of looking yesterday but
luck was with me I guess. The area to the north of the main highway would
eventually produce at least four individuals of this species plus I added two
more individuals later on in the morning along Owl's Hole Road. Glad to see
several individuals made it through the storm and continue to occupy the area.
I ran across lots of other expected species but I had no luck finding a Bahama
Yellowthroat north of the highway. I then decided to try my luck south of the
highway in an area we spent some time in yesterday along Owl's Hole Rd. This
proved to be a great decision as I ran across a Bahama Yellowthroat about a half
mile down the road. I was pishing and had a yellowthroat scolding from the deep
undergrowth but I was fully expecting to find another Common Yellowthroat. I
tried a little playback and the bird immediately popped up giving me brief but
decent looks at a female Bahama Yellowthroat (#1261) that promptly dove back
down and would not show itself again so no luck getting a photo. At this point
it was midday and after all morning out in the hot sun I was ready for a break
so I headed back to Garden of the Grove to try my luck there and although I
didn't find anything new I got much better looks at a Hooded Warbler there
compared to yesterday.
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| Cuban Pewee, Owl Hole Rd, Grand Bahama, Feb 10, 2017 |
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| Cuban Pewee, Owl Hole Rd, Grand Bahama, Feb 10, 2017 |
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| American Redstart, Lucaya NP, Grand Bahama, Feb 10, 2017 |
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| Cuban Emerald, Garden of Grand Bahama B&B, Grand Bahama, Feb 10, 2017 |
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| Smooth billed Ani, Reef Golf Course, Grand Bahama, Feb 10, 2017 |
Our last full day on Grand Bahama dawned
much cooler than previous days with temps in the low 60's but the sun quickly
warmed us up into the 70's. We took the jeep out to Lucayna NP to walk on some
of the trails there before the crowds appeared. Nothing unusual there and we
missed on relocating the Barn Owls in their nest hole. The tide was also high
when we got there so no luck with marsh birds working through the mangroves.
The winds was picking up on our way out there and it they would continue
throughout the day which made finding birds a bit tough. Our next stop was over
to Owl's Hole Road where we walked for about an hour down through the pine lands
and managed to turn up a new species when I found a pair of Cuban Pewees
(#1262). No luck finding a Bahama Yellowthroat there despite a lot of effort.
Our last stop for the morning was a lunch break and a walk around the trails
at Garden of the Groves, which was fairly quiet but still featured some good
birds. We then headed back to our lodging to enjoy the remainder of the day. I
made a couple of short stops over to the nearby Reef Country Club which added
some waterfowl and waders to my Bahama list.
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| American Kestrel (Bahama race), Reef Golf Course, Grand Bahama, Feb 11, 2017 |
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| Belted Kingfisher, Reef Golf Course, Grand Bahama, Feb 11, 2017 |
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| Greater Antillean Bullfinch, Garden of Grand Bahama B&B, Grand Bahama, Feb 11, 2017 |
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| White cheeked Pintail, Emerald Golf Course, Grand Bahama, Feb 11, 2017 |
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| Eurasian Green winged Teal (Common Teal), Emerald Golf Course, Grand Bahama, Feb 11, 2017 |
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| Cuban Emerald, Garden of Grand Bahama B&B, Grand Bahama, Feb 11, 2017 |
Our last day in
the Bahamas was spent relatively locally and I started the day just before dawn
at the Reef Country Club checking the various ponds and edge before the golfers
showed up for the day. Nothing too unusual but got some good looks at some
birds as well as a few photos. After about an hour and a half at the country
club I headed back to our lodging and the gardens right outside our back door.
On my second lap around the small garden I had brief looks at a Bahama Woodstar
being chased by a Cuban Emerald and this added a final life bird for the trip
(#1263). Yesterday our host (and guide) asked if I wanted to go with her to a
couple of other nearby golf courses to try to get some other new birds and I
figured, why not? We headed out late morning to the Emerald Golf Course where
we found a number of new species on the pond there including White cheeked
Pintails, Green winged Teal and Black necked Stilts. Upon closer examination of the teal it turned out to be a Eurasian subspecies of the Green winged Teal (also known as Common Teal) and may be a first record of this subspecies (likely a full species) on Grand Bahama. The golf course has been
closed since a couple of severe hurricanes back in 2003/2004 and the area has
become overgrown providing some great bird habitat. We walked along some paths
through the dense vegetation and had a very intriguing yellowthroat that may
have been a Bahama Yellowthroat but we never got good enough looks to be sure.
Although it was getting near noon and I was looking forward to lunch we decided
to make one more stop over to the nearby Ruby Golf Course in the hopes of
finding some waders but the pond there was quiet so no luck finding anything
new. The rest of the early afternoon I spent more time exploring the gardens at
our lodging as well as packing for the trip home. We made it to the port to
await the ferry and while there got a message that our flight was already
cancelled for Sunday due to another big snow storm back home.
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