Still more Bahamas birds

300!

The hotel we stayed at (Comfort Suites Paradide ISland) was also close to a little mall. (Let me take a moment here to recommend Anthony's Caribbean Bar & Grill. Delicious food and the prices are not bad for the Bahamas.) It was just a strip mall, but there were still birds in and around it. The White-Crowned Pigeon I spotted perched by the ScotiaBank was my 300th life bird.

not wary of people

The White-Crowned Pigeon is the national game bird of the Bahamas, so you'd think they'd be more wary of people; but no. Also, there's a huge statue of one on the road to the airport. I did not get a photo of that, but trust me, you want to see a ten-foot-tall pigeon.

surprise!

The street trees on the road next to the mall had a variety of birds passing through them. I was most surprised by this Loggerhead Kingbird.

vacationing warbler

I spotted Yellow-Throated Warblers in those trees as well. They were also in the trees on the hotel property and near other buildings.

support your local Woodstar

The Bahama Woodstar hummingbird was quite widespread. This one was feeding on a tree at the hotel.

So, New Providence has Rock Pigeons, of course, and we've seen the native White-Crowned Pigeon and the exotic Pied-Imperial Pigeon; but also, there were Eurasian Collard-Doves everywhere. They were practically the first bird we saw when we arrived and sat down at the hotel bar for lunch.

bar pigeon

ubiquitous

Everywhere you went, there they were. It's a little surprising that they coexist with the Rock Pigeons, they seem to have adopted the exact same niche.

turnstone and trash

One of the features of the hotel was that guests can use the beaches at the Atlantis resort. We spent a pleasant afternoon there. The beach was fairly quiet--it was in the low 70s F, so maybe a little cool for many beachgoers--and there were some birds around. The best one was this lone Ruddy Turnstone who walked the beach like he owned it.

surf 'n' turnstone

Up here, we only see Turnstones at a great distance, huddled on the rocky shores of islands in the harbor or on the East River. It was quite shocking to have one just walk right up to us.

bold turnstone

There were pigeons hanging out on the beach as well, and of course gulls. The Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were actually a life bird for me. Somehow I had never seen one in New York, although they are not unknown; in fact, I would say that was the most embarrassing hole on my life list.

gull and turnstone

There were other gulls on the beach as well, mostly Herring Gulls, occasionally trying to steal food from children. In fairness, the kids seemed to be deliberately teasing the birds. Mostly, though, they were just loafing. Like us.

gull parade

One more species I want to mention is Palm Warbler, who were pretty common in urban-type settings, behaving like House Sparrows in the mall, around the hotel, and this one on a restaurant deck at the airport.

palm sparrow

We'll definitely be going back someday.

Third time's a charm

Mysterious Eurasian Collared-Dove, at last I've found you!

I went downtown again today to look for the Eurasian Collared-Dove. It was not around the Chelsea Waterside Park where people were seeing it this weekend, but when I reached the Pier 63 area, I saw a robust, light brown to cream-colored dove, a little smaller than a pigeon,
foraging alone on the lawn just across the path from the flower beds where it was first reported. It had black tips on its folded wings, no spots, a square tail, and--yes!--a black crescent mark around the back and sides of the neck. The part on the back of the neck was not visible in some postures and light but very obvious at other times, so it took a while for me to be sure I was seeing the object bird. But there it was.

I first saw it on the grass beyond a fence along the path,with benches on the path side, the nearest bench to the bird was occupied. After spotting the bird and having trouble photographing it, I circled around the far end of the fence and settled under a tree on a slight rise about 30 feet from the bird, who took no special notice of me and it eventually walked to within 8 feet of where I sat (and then away and back again).

Not really a skittish bird.

The dove puffed up a couple of times to see off a robin and a fledgling starling. I noticed that adult starlings in the area nearby kept their distance, However, it walked rapidly away from two House Finches that flew in near it, and eventually flushed to the low branches of a conifer behind me after a group of five House Sparrows came and started dust-bathing a few feet from it. I think maybe it doesn't like small active birds.

After flying to the tree (and its wing sounds were like a Mourning Dove's, perhaps a little higher-pitched) the bird began to preen, and then moved farther back into the branches. I went for a walk around the flower beds and the native plant garden to the north, and when I returned, the dove was back on the grass in the same area.

So, I've seen the Collared-Dove. (That's 169 species in New York County this year.) I was starting to worry I'd be the only birder in Manhattan who missed it. Whew!