Yellow Warbler, by Ted Eubanks

Last week, Ted Eubanks and I (Holly Robertson, Project Manager of the Caribbean Birding Trail) were turned loose in Antigua and Barbuda to assess the country’s birding resources…or in other words, bird every nook and cranny that we could find. Along the way, Ted snapped gorgeous photos of Caribbean and Lesser Antillean endemics: Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Caribbean Elaenia, the Barbuda Warbler and more.

The resource assessment was conducted by Ted Eubanks on behalf of the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG), with the goal of providing a practical plan to conserve these resources through the development of a successful birding eco-tourism component of the nation’s tourism sector.

Antillean crested Hummingbird

As any birdwatcher knows, a day looking for birds in a new place is going to result in a good adventure. Add in a different country and driving on the “wrong” side of the road, and you’ll have plenty of adventures…or misadventures as the case might be.

Woody Bracey

Following several productive early January Christmas Bird Counts, some rare bird sightings and watching the film “The Big Year” Bahamas resident Woody Bracey decided to challenge Tony White’s one year record of 198 species in The Bahamas.

Pied Imperial Pigeon

Follow this link to read Woody’s recounting of his Big Year and all his surprises and rare finds (and where he found them), such as the Western Kingbird, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-throated Sparrow, and Louisiana Waterthrush. At the end of the year, Woody manages to claim the one year record and soundly too, with a final tally of 242 species!

Photo by Chris Jordan

Using spare narration and stunning imagery, Chris Jordan’s feature film Midway explores the plight of Laysan albatross plagued by the ingestion of our plastic trash. Midway is a feature length film in production that will be released in late 2013. Click here to view the trailer.

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Lisa Sorenson, President of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds, recently carried out a few Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC) counts on the wetlands of Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The counts included Ashton Lagoon (largest remaining mangroves in the Grenadines), and Belmont Salt Pond. This formed part of Sustainable Grenadines Inc. and Union Island Attackers’ World Wetlands Day celebration.

Local NGOs on the island—Katrina Collins of Environmental Attackers and Sustainable Grenadines Inc staff, have been carrying out counts and doing a terrific job.

Check out the Jamaica edition of the Birding Adventures television program. Each episode they travel somewhere different to bird. Their goal is to see and record as much as possible, but they always have one special bird as their main target, which they call the “Golden Bird.” This bird is usually chosen for its rarity and/or characterization of a region.

For Jamaica, their “golden bird” is the Crested Quail-dove, an endemic of the island. If you could choose the golden bird for Jamaica, what would it be?