Birding update for St Lucia: May '23

Mangrove kingfisher, St Lucia.

It was a great birding month in May. The forest birding has been superb with all of the winter-visiting altitudinal migrants now present. We have enjoyed regular sightings of Spotted ground-thrush, White-starred robin, Chorister robin-chat, Olive bush-shrike, Grey cuckooshrike and even a Yellow-throated woodland-warbler (a very unusual record for the area). Will be interesting to see if any Eastern Bronze-naped pigeon turn up again this Winter after 3 reported sightings last winter.


The cooler Autumn & Winter months are always wonderful for birding in the forest because many of the usually secretive and skulking forest birds can be found sunning themselves on an exposed perch. The foliage of the trees is also less rank making visibility better. We have enjoyed great sightings of Livingstone’s turaco, Green malkoha, Woodward’s batis, Rudd’s apalis, Black-throated wattle-eye, Brown scrub-robin, Grey waxbill, Eastern nicator, Red-fronted tinkerbird, Gorgeous bush-shrike and Green twinspot. Black-bellied starling and Thick-billed weaver are moving in their large, noisy winter flocks again which are often the centre of a bird party- other birds capitalising on the disturbance caused by the large flocks and resulting flushed insects. Buff-spotted flufftail have been nice and consistent in the latter half of the month.


Processionary moth caterpillars are abundant at the moment, attracting overwintering Klaas’ and African emerald cuckoo, Black cuckooshrike, Grey cuckooshrike and Green malkoha. 


Things have quietened down at the estuary mouth recently with many of the summer-visiting waders and terns now absent but still regular sightings of Western Osprey, Palm-nut vulture, Eurasian whimbrel, African black oystercatcher, Goliath heron, Sanderling, Caspian tern and Greater crested tern make it a very worthwhile walk.


The winter-visiting Mangrove kingfisher are back and we have enjoyed consistent sightings of this beautiful bird during the latter part of the month.


The wetlands are still full to the brim after another 200mm of rain fell in the space of a day earlier in the month! Wetlands close to St Lucia are still holding Lesser moorhen, African pygmy goose, White-backed duck, Intermediate egret amongst other water birds.


In the grasslands and Umdoni savanna of the Eastern shores, Senegal Lapwing are regular in short grassy areas and winter-visiting Pale-crowned cisticola can once again be seen at wetland edge. 


Nocturnal birds seen during the month include Swamp nightjar, Fiery-necked nightjar and African wood-owl.

---