Shorebird Watching

I heard on the radio that when it begins to get cold in North America that some birds come to Montserrat. I really wanted to see these birds that visited us! We signed up for a shorebird watching activity.

It was being organized early in the morning and I did not want to miss it. I told Mommy to set the alarm! I woke up very, very early at 5:30am. I invited my cousin, Nikho to come along with me because I remember how much fun I had the last time with the turtles and I wanted him to have some fun too! I told him to wake up early too!

We got to the presentation right on time and I guess who was there? Mr. Scriber! I was so glad to see him again. He told me all about turtles and now he was going to tell me about shorebirds! He is so smart!

I also met another lady. Her name is Ajhermae. She knows so much about these shorebirds too!

Mr. Scriber and Ajhermae showed us some pictures of the birds that visit Montserrat during the migratory season and how to identify them. Like looking at their size and their colour and the shape and length of their beak. They also showed us how to use the binoculars.

A very big bus came to take us to our first stop. It was so exciting to get on the bus. I hopped up all on my own!

Nikho and I chose our favourite seats and we were ready to go!

Our first stop was Maguerita Bay.

It was like an obstacle course to get to the beach. We went down a long narrow path, jumped over some muddy puddles, crossed some wooden bridges and slid on some tiny rocks.

Finally we got there!

It was beautiful.

We walked over to an area that had some water, like a little pond. And we saw our first bird. It was so tiny. I had to use my binoculars to see it.

Here it is……

Can you see it? Okay, Okay let me zoom in. It is soooo small, but soooo cute!

I used my ID cards to help me see what kind of birds they are.

I saw another bird called the Frigate bird. We only saw the female ones. Here is a video of them flying over our heads and swooping down. They glide and also fly!

I found that one quickly on my ID card too! It said, “The Magnificent Frigatebird”.

I saw something sad too. There was a dead bird in the sand. This made me very unhappy.

I asked Mr. Scriber, “Why the bird is dead?” He said, ” Other birds like the Killie Hawk preys on birds like those and kills them and eats them”.

I learnt so much about why it was important to protect the birds.

It was time to get to our next stop, so we headed out of Maguerita Bay.

Our next stop was Carr’s Bay. I was shocked, because I always visited the yellow van to get fries, but never took notice of the birdies right there on the other side!

These ones really caught my attention.

My ID card calls them the “Least Sandpiper” and the “Semipalmated Sandpiper”. They are so cute!

I also saw another one that had a red colour at the top of its head. It is called the “Common Gallinule”.

Here is a beautiful picture of it.

Then we crossed to the other side of the road. We saw some more beautiful birds over there.

I saw a blue Heron! Here is a picture of it.

Here is a picture of it on my ID Card. It says, “Little Blue Heron”.

Then we looked through the telescope and looked at birds which were in the ocean resting on something like a tank.

Look through the telescope with me. I counted 5 Royal Terns and 2 Brown Boobies.

There was also a Snowy Egret. Do you see it?

See if you can find it on the ID Card.

I really had a good day looking at these shorebirds! Thank you Mr. Scriber and Miss Ajhermae.

Miss Ajhermae was really nice to us . She gave us some stickers and a really nice bracelet! I think I am now a Bird Buddy! I love birds!

Miss Ajhermae gave us some bird tattoos and I couldn’t wait to get mine on! It says, “Conserve Migratory Birds”.

Here is a picture of them on our hands! So pretty. Hope it stays on forerver!