St Lucia's birding seasons.

Fires in late winter/early Spring are a magnet for raptors and insectivorous birds. The fires provide a feast of fleeing insects, reptiles and other invertebrates.

Every season in St Lucia has its own unique climatic conditions, resulting in a dynamic, constantly changing concoction of birds.

Summers in St Lucia are hot and humid- so hot and humid in fact that there is a big lull in activity during midday hours where it seems the only bird species still crazy enough to vocalize are the Yellow-rumped tinkerbird, Sombre greenbul, Rattling cisticola and Rufous-naped lark. The hot and humid conditions are perfect for insects and as a result there is a big influx of insectivorous migrants to the region such as Blue-cheeked bee-eater, Amur falcon, Barn swallow and European Roller. Similarly, summer also sees a big influx of visiting waders which migrate to the Southern Hemisphere to take advantage of increased invertebrate numbers in estuaries and river mouths. The St Lucia Mouth area can offer spectacular birdwatching at this time with congregations of literally thousands of waders. Most of the annual rainfall usually falls in summer and fills many of the wetlands and pans, bringing more waterfowl into the area. The abundant frogs, tadpoles and insect larvae in the seasonal wetlands provide a tasty buffet for Herons, Egrets and Storks. Termite alate emergences after heavy rains are a magnet for birds of all shapes and sizes (from Palm-nut vultures to Eastern Olive sunbirds) which join the feeding frenzy to take advantage of the scarce protein-rich delicacy. Termite emergences can often be spotted from kilometres away by looking for dense congregations of low flying raptors such as Yellow-billed kites, Common buzzard and Amur falcon. Ocean temperatures in the tropics reach their peak in late summer, creating cyclones to the East of Madagascar and- on rare occasions- the Mozambique channel. This can be very exciting as many tropical pelagic sea birds- such as Frigatebirds and Noddies- are pushed further South and to the mainland to escape the wrath of the intense storms and associated gale force winds.

Autumn’s in St Lucia are warm and pleasant. Many of the summer migrants (such as Barn swallow and Amur falcon) gather in large flocks in early Autumn before they embark on their Northwards migration. Fruiting trees are few and far between at this stage so the late-fruiting trees such as Tassel berry (Antidesma venosum) attract numerous frugivorous birds.  There is a general lull in birding activity at this time as breeding stops for most of the birds. They therefore have less reason to vocalize and can therefore be trickier to find. The male Weavers, Whydahs and Widowbirds revert back to their drably coloured non-breeding plumage, thereby increasing the number of LBJ’s in the area!  The first altitudinal migrants, such as the African stone-chat begin to arrive.

Winters in St Lucia are mild thanks to the influence of the warm Indian ocean and associated maritime climate. The persistent ‘cold fronts’ which pass by in the winter months bring regular rain so St Lucia does not experience the same sustained dry period which the interior suffers during winter. Many bird species migrate from higher altitudes (where it is colder and drier) to take advantage of the Natal coastline’s warmer, wetter maritime climate during the winter. Altitudinal migrants visiting St Lucia area in the winter include Spotted Ground-thrush, Chorister robin-chat, White-starred robin, African stone-chat, Jackal buzzard, Short-tailed pipit, Pale-crowned cisticola and Bush black-cap. Winters in St Lucia area are awash with colour thanks to the flowering aloes, Coral trees (Erythrina lysistemon) and Cape honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis) which attract plenty Purple-banded, Grey, Collared, Eastern olive and Scarlet-chested sunbirds. Many seabirds and shorebirds (not ordinarily seen in Summer) move Northwards up the coastline during winter including Cape gannets, Cape cormorants, Kelp gull and the even the odd Hartlaubs gull. An added bonus of beach birding in late winter is that the ‘August winds ’provide a free exfoliating sandblasting and funky hairstyle! The Chilly & damp winter mornings make for good birdwatching as many usually secretive forest birds find an exposed perch to sun and dry themselves.

Spring in St Lucia is a busy time of the year for many birds as they prepare for the breeding season. The reedbeds lining the ‘Lake St Lucia narrows’ are abuzz with activity as male Eastern Golden, Thick-billed, Brown-throated and Lesser-masked weavers start to expertly weave their nests to advertise to females. Also, the weavers, widowbirds and whydahs all change into their brightly coloured breeding plumage to impress their female counterparts (and us birders too). Unfortunately for them, this also makes them more visible to the area’s many raptors such as African goshawk and Black sparrowhawk. Others, like the usually difficult-to-find Narina Trogon, Green malkoha and Buff-spotted flufftail become easier to find in Spring because they spend more time vocalizing in order to advertise their presence to potential mates. Many trees come into flower at this time, insect numbers start increasing and many of the summer migrants begin arriving.  Large-leaved fig trees (Ficus lutea) are full of fruit during early spring and attract droves of Frugivorous birds as well as insects (which in turn attract insectivorous birds). Similarly, the Weeping boer-bean (Schotia brachypetala) trees are full of nectar-laden flowers in early spring attracting droves of nectivorous birds.  Fires in the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park in early spring often provide interesting birding. Most of the action happens at the ‘head’ of the fire where many insectivorous birds and raptors position themselves to take advantage of the easy meal provided by the fire – in the form of fleeing insects, reptiles and small mammals. Scavenging birds such as Wooly-necked stork, Pied crow, Black-headed heron and Yellow-billed kites often scour the burnt areas afterwards for the charred remains of any unlucky victims of the fire.

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