Nassau, Bahamas

[Bird Brain]

Hi everyone.  I'll be in Nassau, Bahamas from January 12-19 ... my first vacation in over 7 years.  Long overdue!!!  :shock:

Have never visited there before so am hoping to see some colourful and interesting birds.   The first thing I'm packing ... my binoculars.  

Has anyone visited the Bahamas in January?  What sort of bird sightings might occur?

Jo-Anne  

[Misty01]

Jo-Anne have a great vaccation, my mom travelled there last year and had a great time. They are not really into bird watching, but they said they were able to go out and view the wild dolphin pods.

[Bird Brain]

Thank You Very Much Crystal.  

I've never travelled during the Winter before so this will be a new experience.

[Kin Lau]

Keep an eye out for Kirtlands warblers. Most winter in the Bahamas, but they'll be in their dull winter plumage.

[Pat Hodgson]

I went to Paradise Island in March 1995 and saw quite a few good birds. The resort we were at had a lot of greenery, which obviously helped.  None of these were on the beach, the turnstone was on exposed coral, the rest were around trees and shrubs at the resort.  Some of what we saw included:
ruddy turnstone
white-crowned pigeon
common ground-dove
mangrove cuckoo (this one was really lucky)
smooth-billed ani
bahama woodstar (lots)
Cuban pewee
loggerhead kingbird
red-legged thrush
thick-billed vireo
bananaquit (lots)
black-faced grassquit
warblers:palm,prairie,black-thr blue, black and white, Cape May, redstart, hooded, ovenbird

You will do best with both a North American and a Caribbean field guide.  Good luck.

[Bird Brain]

Thank You Kin and Pat (great list!).  Smooth-billed Ani is definitely on my wish list but will be totally thrilled with any birds that I end up sighting.  

Jo-Anne  

[Moira]

Have a great vacation.  Sounds like you've got lots of new birds to look out for.

[Bird Brain]

Hi everyone.  I'm back!    Had a spectacular vacation at the following resort, stayed in The Royal Village:

http://www.sandals.com/main/bahamian/ba-home.cfm

Visited the following place:  www.ardastra.com

Weather:  Hot and sunny, ranged from +25c right up to +30c.  Beautiful!  Came home with a light tan.  

Could go on and on for hours about this holiday!   :lol:

Saw the following birds at the resort:

Bahama Woodstar (hummingbird) - males and females - lots
Bananaquit - lots
Black-and-white Warbler - lots
Eurasian Collared Dove - lots
Great Egret x 1

Green Heron x 1 - catching and eating bugs then having a drink from the swimming pool!  :shock:

House Sparrow - males and females - lots.  I had the total thrill of having a male House Sparrow hover above my outstretched hand then land on my fingers to eat some food from my palm.  

Kestrel (male) x 1
Mockingbird x 6
Red Legged Thrush - lots
Ruddy Turnstone
Smooth-billed Ani x 2

Unknown Nuthatch (too early in morning to see properly) and Unknown Wren (lots of tail flicking but hidden deep in shrubs).  

Also saw beautiful and colourful butterflies, dragonflies, insects, various "critters" (lizards), fish, etc.

Saw the following birds at Ardastra:

Black Swan x 2

Caribbean Flamingo - lots.  They are walking around everywhere and come right up to you.
One rested his head on my chest!  

Coot (American) x 2

Great Horned Owl named "Shadow" - history: had been caught in live wires, badly injured, right wing removed.  

Lory parrots - lots.  Hand fed pieces of apple to Red, Rainbow-coloured and Black-capped.  An exciting experience!  They were on my head, shoulders, hands, arms, shirt, etc.  

Muscovy x 2
Peking Duck x 1
White-cheeked Pintail x 4
White-crowned Pigeon

Also had a Blue and Gold Macaw named "Salvador" placed on my head (yes, I have the pictures here at home! :lol:) and "Toby" the Moluccan Cockatoo sitting on my shoulder and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Jo-Anne  

[MEGHAN]

WOW!!
Welcome back Jo-Anne!!
Your trip sounds fantastic.
Great sightings.
Makes me want to go tomorrow.

[Bird Brain]

WOW!!
Welcome back Jo-Anne!!

Thanks Meg.  

Your trip sounds fantastic.
Great sightings.

It was truly awesome and birds were everywhere!  Woken up early every morning by birds chirping, cooing and singing - so wonderful!    The male Bahama Woodstar hummingbirds are absolutely stunning with bright purple colour throat!  

Makes me want to go tomorrow.

I would go back here in a second and would 100% recommend this place to everyone!!!  ... 24/7 excellent food and drinks, all day activities and entertainment, outdoor movies! (I finally saw "District 9"), live bands, cruise ships going by, incredible night sky!, small private pools & jacuzzis in the Royal Village area, flowers everywhere, peaceful and relaxing private island (taken there by boat from the main resort), etc.  I am now SO relaxed head to toe, feel like Jello and am moving in slow motion - going at about the pace of a turtle.  :lol:
Feels great!

[Bird Brain]

Hi everyone.  Here's the start of some photos from Nassau, Bahamas vacation.    All pix taken by my boyfriend Mark using a Nikon D50.

[Bird Brain]

Green Heron

[denis]

wow!
those are awesome jo-anne.glad you had a great holiday.

[Moira]

A green heron by the pool?   Do you know what I've crawled through trying to get a picture?  
The hummingbirds are beautiful.  Great pics.

[Bird Brain]

Thanks Denis.  It was truly one week in paradise and birding heaven!  

I have more pix to post but at the moment, not sure if I'm supposed to be posting them here in this thread or over in the Bird Photo Corner category?  :?  

Thanks Moira.  This Green Heron was an expert bug hunter!  Would stalk, catch and eat a bug then go for a drink from the swimming pool (yikes!) - he/she repeated this four separate times.  I thought the heron was going to have a jacuzzi afterwards!  :lol:

One more for you: