ORNITHOLIDAYS TOUR TO ST LUCIA - Pitons & Parrots 23 - 31 January 2015 - Leader: Nigel Jones
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ORNITHOLIDAYS TOUR TO ST LUCIA
Pitons & Parrots
23 - 31 January 2015
Leader: Nigel Jones
ORNITHOLIDAYS TOUR TO ST LUCIA
Pitons & Parrots
23 - 31 January 2015
A Personal Diary
This was Ornitholidays’ second tour to the lovely island of St Lucia, and I was pleased to be leading it again.
Throughout the tour we stay at Anse Chastanet, on the west coast, close to Soufriere and within sight of the
twin Pitons. The island is small, being only 27 miles long by 14 miles wide, but it has a central spine of
mountains covered with some pristine rainforest, so journeys by road can often take longer than expected. The
daytime temperature is normally a balmy 30C. The tour is the most leisurely that is run by Ornitholidays, with
each morning being set aside for birdwatching and the afternoon at leisure. We make sure we are back at Anse
Chastanet for lunch by the beach and then at 4pm we lead snorkelling trips over the coral reef for those who
wish to participate. There are over 100 species of reef fish present as well as sponges, corals, and sea fans.
The island boasts six endemic species: St Lucia Parrot, St Lucia Black Finch, St Lucia Warbler, St Lucia
Oriole, St Lucia Pewee and St Lucia Wren (the seventh, Sepmer’s Warbler, is probably now extinct). We saw
all of the six as well as most of the 14 Lesser Antillean endemics. Star birds included Red-billed Tropicbird,
Red-footed Booby, White-breasted, Scaly-breasted and Pearly-eyed Thrashers, Grey Trembler, Lesser
Antillean Saltator, Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, Lesser Antillean Flycatcher, Caribbean Elaenia, Antillean
Euphonia and Rufous-throated Solitaire. The island is renowned for its large population of Mangrove Cuckoo
and we weren’t disappointed with the views. Our boat trip afforded bow-riding Pantropical Spotted Dolphins
as well as many Flying Fish, with Brown Boobies crashing through the waves trying to catch them.
The tour is also run on an all-inclusive basis so you can sit next to the lovely sandy beach, sipping a Caribbean
cocktail, and thinking about all the cold weather you are missing at home!
Friday 23 January
We all meet up at a very cold London Gatwick for our morning flight with British Airways to St Lucia. Eight
hours later we are getting out at Hewanorra airport to a warm evening. We are soon whisked away in our
vehicle and along the east coast, past the towering landmarks of Grand and Petit Pitons, through the colourful
town of Soufriere, and then to Anse Chastanet. The rooms are all located on a hillside which drops onto a
sandy beach. The hotel has taxis which transport you up and down the road, either to the restaurants or the
beach, so you don’t have to do too much hill walking – unless you want to improve your appetite for the meals!
After registration we are shown to our rooms and then we soon meet up in the bar to begin to work through
the list of cocktails. Our first dinner is in the Treehouse Restaurant and we soon find some fine wines to try
with our tasty dishes. However, we have all had a long day and we retire to bed to the sound of waves lapping
on the seashore.
Saturday 24 January
We meet again at 8am for our breakfast, accompanied by many
Bananaquits and
Lesser Antillean
Bullfinches that
literally join us
on the tables.
Our plan today is
to have an
orientation of
the area and to
find our first
endemic birds of
St Lucia. As we gather by the bar Brown Bobbies fly off their
cliff roosting area and out to sea, while a Grey Trembler
perches close by and shivers its wings. We walk down the
slope to the main car park (private cars are not allowed by the rooms) and find more Lesser Antillean
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 1
Bullfinches with some Carib Grackles. A Rufous-naped Pigeon flies over us as we pass the Trou au Diable
restaurant and bar and walk on the sandy beach by the dive centre, where the landing provides the pick-up
point for the water-taxis. A roped-off area, dotted with floating buoys, demarcates the area of the coral reef
where there is an excellent selection of marine life, and where many of us will later be snorkelling.
Our destination is the resort’s other beach, Anse
Mamim, a short distance away and we pass by the
enormous cliffs that show the millennia of volcanic
eruptions of stones and pumice that have built up. An
Antillean Crested Hummingbird hovers by a flower,
showing its small size and little crest. Our first
endemic shows well, a St Lucia Warbler, with its
handsome grey-blue back and yellow underparts. It
has a soft chip calls, common to many of the
American wood warblers. Offshore Magnificent
Frigatebirds soar over the ocean, looking for flying
fish to snatch, or a booby to harass. An American
Kestrel calls from the cliff top and flies into a tree.
This is an area where they were nesting last year and
surely will do so again this year. A Black-whiskered Vireo, the Caribbean congener of the Red-whiskered, is
watched as it slowly feeds amongst the branches of a tree on the cliff. We finally arrive at the black sand beach
of Anse Mamim and find Grey Kingbirds calling from the palms while a smart Yellow-crowned Night Heron
fishes in the stream. We walk amongst the ruins of an old sugar plantation where there is rusted machinery
(fabricated in London) for processing the sugar. Green-throated and Purple-throated Caribs feed from flowers
high in the trees as we shelter from a rain shower. A St Lucia Pewee is tracked down by its call as it sallies
forth to catch insects. We retrace our steps along by the sea, finding a winter plumaged Spotted Sandpiper and
seeing Zenaida Doves feeding amongst the loungers on the beach.
Lunch is taken at the beach-side restaurant where the burgers are a big hit, along with various sea-food
creations. It’s then time to relax, or venture out with a camera to attempt some close up hummingbird shots,
but at 4pm a group meet by the dive centre for our first excursion over the coral reef. The sea is calm and
warm - the commonest fish are schools of Sergeant Majors, but there is so much else to view apart from fish
as the corals are amazing, with brain, elkhorn, star and finger forms all growing well. There are common sea
fans, yellow tube sponges and many black sea urchins.
At 7pm we meet in the bar for drinks and discuss the day before going to the restaurant for our evening meal.
The wine flows - and why not, as we are here on an all-inclusive basis!
Sunday 25 January
We meet at the lower car park at 6am where our local guide Adams Toussaint is waiting with a vehicle to take
us to an area where we hope to see St Lucia Parrots flying from their roost areas to feed. We pass through the
pretty town of Soufriere and then head up the road to the north and soon stop at the entrance to the road which
leads to the small coastal village of Des Botte. The weather is not great as it is raining and quite windy, so we
walk to a covered look-out where we have a chance to shelter. Adams manages to call in a St Lucia Black-
finch, possibly the most difficult of the endemics to
find. We all have good views of its pale legs and
more robust size in comparison with the ubiquitous
bullfinches that are similar in appearance.
As the weather improves we walk slowly down the
road, passing old orchards on our right and tall trees
on our left. Carib Crackles and Bananaquits are
common, but we also spot St Lucia Warblers and a
St Lucia Pewee which both offer great views.
Antillean Crested Hummingbirds feed from
verbena flowers close to the road, while in the
distance a Broad-winged Hawk calls and we see it
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 2
perched on the edge of the wood. Grey Kingbirds are very
noisy and sit on the overhead cables and flycatch. We
hear distant parrots and move so that we can view over
the lower valley – a group of St Lucia Parrots fly into the
distance and we can just make out some colour on them.
Protection for this species, the national bird of St Lucia,
has led to an increase in numbers and now there are a few
hundreds pairs, mainly found in the central, mountainous
part of the island. As the rain increases we move back to
the vehicle and it’s time for our packed breakfasts – some
stay in the van while a few of us eat in the shelter where
we saw the black finch. As we finish Juliet spots a St
Lucia Oriole which shows well. Some of us now opt to
retrace our steps back down the road – we hear Mangrove
Cuckoo but it doesn’t show itself. A Scaly-breasted
Thrasher is more cooperative. We wander over the road and
climb to another lookout but we only get brief views of a
Lesser Antillean Swift, so Adams thinks we should drive
down the road to another lookout. Here we get great views
of a whole group of these swifts as they feed over short trees,
further down the valley.
We return to Anse Chastanet, with a brief stop on the track
to see if we can entice a St Lucia Wren out of cover, but no
luck this time. We take lunch at the beach restaurant,
content with having seen a good proportion of the island’s
endemics.
Again at 4pm a band of us gather for a snorkelling session. Bluehead, Clown Wrasse, Slippery Dick and many
Blue Surgeon fish are spotted. There must be well over 100 species present here and the list is increasing.
Monday 26 January
After breakfast we all meet on the beach and wait for our catamaran which is going to take us on a trip offshore
to look for cetaceans and seabirds. As we wait a Pomarine Skua harasses some boobies. Everyone is happy
with the calm sea conditions this morning but although that is good for spotting cetaceans it is not so great for
finding good numbers of
seabirds, as an onshore wind
tends to move the pelagic
species closer inshore. After
climbing onto the Serendipity,
and stowing our carry-ons
away from any potential spray,
we are given a quick
emergency procedure briefing
and them move due westwards
onto the open seas. Many of the
Caribbean islands have a steep
gradient to deep water and St
Lucia is no exception, so large
whales do frequently patrol
quite close to the coastline. We
enjoy sitting out on the prow,
where netting is spread
between the catamaran hulls to
provide a sitting area. It is not
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 3
long before we have our first dolphins – a pod of Pantropical Spotted and they ride the bow waves produced
by the boat and occasionally glance up at us with inquisitive eyes. Other boat soon join our success and the
dolphins move between boats.
We move further out, with a few more dolphins moving with us. Flying Fish now begin to skim the waves
and these attract Brown Boobies which dive after them. The boobies are efficient at catching them and we see
a few come out of the waves with fish in their bills. Overhead larger Magnificent Frigatebirds soar – these
birds tend to kleptoparasitise other bird species and may well be waiting to chase a booby to make it disgorge
its catch but we never see it happen. Rafts of distant Sargassum Seaweed pretend to be logging Sperm Whales!
The sea starts to develop a chop to it and we decide to head for shore, passing closer to the bay at Soufriere
and having good views of the twin Pitons, before coming back to the bay at Anse Chastanet. We are all pleased
to reach terra firma but are very happy with our close views of the dolphins and the seabirds.
Once more we take lunch at the beach restaurant before a rest and then the normal routine of the 4pm
snorkelling session. Today we find much to interest us and concentration is spent on the parrotfish, with Blue,
Queen, Stoplight, Redfin and Princess all seen – they are confusing as many have juvenile forms.
Tuesday 27 January
At 6.15am we meet up with Vision, our birding guide for the day, and we drive south today with plans to find
one of the rarer Lesser Antillean endemics, the White-breasted Thrasher. Our destination is Micoud, on the
south-east side of the island, and it takes about 90
minutes to reach our pull in. This part of the island is
drier than the west coast and has outcrops of limestone
and scrubby bushes which is the habitat of the thrasher.
We walk a short way down a path to a small stream and
stand and listen while Vision imitates the call of the
birds. A St Lucia Pewee allows close views, while
Lesser Antillean Bullfinches and Caribbean Elaenias
feed in nearby trees. Our patience pays off as a fairly
large piebald birds appears in a distant bush, soon we
have views of one and then another White-breasted
Thrasher. This species has suffered with declining
numbers due to a number of factors, with one being loss
of habitat due to building.
We retrace our steps and drive along part of the mountain spinal road that leads to the southern entrance to part
of the rain forest at the Quilesse Forest Reserve. Here we take our picnic breakfast at table under cover – it
can’t be deemed quiet as workmen are repairing the roof of a second building. Once again we are joined by
large numbers of Lesser Antillean Bullfinches, all interested in what food we may have to offer them from our
boxes.
Vision leads us on the Des Cartier trail along a trail between tall trees,
with an occasional view to the valley below us on our left-hand side.
We pass a large Incense tree where he shows us the cuts where the sap
is collected for burning. We stop as he hears the melodious song of a
Rufous-throated Solitaire. These birds can be difficult to pin-point as
they sing from concealed perches high in the trees but we strike lucky
and have close views of the bird, quite low down near the path. We
can see the lovely throat patch and watch as it sings a long series of
fluty whistles. We move onto a view point where a landslip has allowed
almost uninterrupted views down to the river and of the hills opposite.
A few St Lucia Parrots give a fly past and we watch Pearly-eyed
Thrashers as they raid small berries from a tree. Vision spots where an
Antillean Euphonia is feeding but it takes a while before we all find
this small bird feeding on mistletoe berries. It’s a fine male with a pale
blue hood, black cheeks and a yellow forehead. A Lesser Antillean Flycatcher also poses well, with some wing
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 4
stretching and tail flicking, but a Lesser Antillean Swift only gives a brief fly past. We retrace our steps and
Vision hears a St Lucia Oriole calling. It is feeding in the high branches of a tree but we all manage to see its
black head and chest and orange wing marking and underparts.
We return to Anse Chastanet where we take lunch at the beach restaurant. Later, the snorkelling team finds
Squirrelfish, a Sharptail Eel, Sand Diver, Peacock Flounder, Trumpetfish, Spotted Drum, Puddingfish and
Clown Wrasse.
Dinner tonight is taken on the beach, where everyone staying is invited for cocktails with the manager, and
then various seafood and meat dishes, followed by sumptuous buffet desserts. Did anyone try the chocolate
fountain?
Wednesday 28 January
After breakfast we meet by reception and then board our vehicle which is going to take us on three local
excursions this morning. As we drive along the track Anna shouts stop as she has spotted a Mangrove Cuckoo
sat in a bush. We come to a halt and have great views of the bird before we have to move for another oncoming
vehicle. We drive through Soufriere and up to the viewpoint that overlooks the bay and the pitons. Here we
have a chance for some good photos, while a scan of the harbour below gives us sightings of both Magnificent
Frigatebirds and Laughing Gulls.
Our next stop is the caldera where the
boiling mud pits and steam vents provide an
interesting spectacle. Our guide take us on
a walk and tells us facts about the area. The
last eruption was in 1776 and Soufriere is
actually on the edge of the large caldera and
the pitons are volcanic plugs. In times past
tourist used to be able to walk down onto
the steaming floor of the volcano until one
enthusiastic guide jumped on the spot and
fell through the crust into the boiling mud.
This spot is now named Gabriel’s Hole,
after the guide who suffered second degree
burns.
Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain have
their own organic farm at Emerald Estates
and we meet up once more with Martin, our guide from last year. We are lucky this time that the weather is
fine and we get an extended walk around the grounds. He points out many of the plants and shrubs they grow
here including Cinnamon, Climbing Spinach, Pineapple, Mango, and Papaya. We get the chance to taste some
of their crops, including Passion Fruit, Cocoa and Golden Apples. In the greenhouses we see the raised beds
for lettuces, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. We can also birdwatch here and note Green Heron, Cattle
Egret, St Lucia Warbler, Caribbean Elaenia and Black-faced Grassquits.
We now visit the Botanic Gardens which are busy with a group off one of the cruise ships. We walk amongst
the exotic vegetation and take the path to the waterfall. Then it’s time to relax with a drink in the shop before
we start to take the exit path. There are hummingbirds present but the best spot is by Alan and Anna as they
find a St Lucia Wren! As we return to Anse Chastanet Anna and Sue now find a Green Heron feeding in the
lower car park.
At 4pm the snorkellers once more explore the reef finding a Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Blackbar Soldierfish,
both Yellow and Spotted Goatfish, Sharpnose Puffer, Smooth Trunkfish and Scrawled Filefish.
Thursday 29 January
Vision picks us up at 6.30am this morning and we make our way out along the track, stopping at an area where
we hope to find the island’s last endemic. We stand while Vision uses some playback – after 10 minutes there
is still no sign, but suddenly a burst of song reveals a St Lucia Wren on the rocks above us. It moves into a
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 5
tangle of vines and we watch as it feeds and sings amongst the scrub. After we have all had good views we
climb back into the vehicle for our drive to the south.
We stop at a school where the fence around the playing
fields acts as a perch for a group of Eared Doves. The
photographers move to have the sun behind them for some
shots, while the rest of us wait in the shade and spot a
Common Ground-Dove and some Zenaida Doves. We
move on to a patch of waste ground near a small marsh
where we hope to find Grassland Yellowfinches but they
are not here this morning, but we do have a fly-over
Osprey. We move over the road to some beachside tables
where we take breakfast. Out to sea there are many
boobies feeding and we can see both Brown and Red-
footed. Royal Terns are also feeding and along the shore
we can see distant waders at a high tide roost. We drive along the road to view the waders, which turn out to
be a group of Semipalmated Plovers, with a Grey (Black-bellied) Plover for company. A Royal Tern does a
close fly-by for the photographers.
We drive past the airport, with the view of the Atlantic coast and the Maria Islands and enter some private land
which holds the Aupicon Wetlands. On St Lucia there is not much freshwater which stands as lagoons, as
most of it is in rivers that come from the mountains straight to the sea. Therefore these wetlands hold most of
the waterfowl and egrets that can be found on St Lucia. There are hundreds of Blue-winged Teal and many
Caribbean Coots and Common Gallinules. On the fringes of the pool egrets are wading in the shallow water
and we spot Great and Snowy with a few Little Blue Herons (both blue and white morphs). Two Pied-billed
Grebes are a good sighting as is a Belted Kingfisher that gives its rattling call as it flies over. We walk to the
shoreline where we look at the method for farming Seamoss (Gracilaria) on floating nets and bottles – this
marine algae is made into a porridge like concoction, and is added to alcoholic drinks and eaten as a flavouring
with ice cream! A Spotted Sandpiper sits on a distant post while a couple of Royal Terns fish amongst the
waves.
Our last port of call is the look-out at Moule à Chique where we have fantastic views over Vieux Fort and to
the forest clad mountains of the central island spine. However, our main interest is looking the other way out
to sea as there are a few Red-billed Tropicbirds coming to the cliffs to start their nesting season. We get distant
views of this smart bird as they drift up on the wind currents. Here there are also American Kestrels and Grey
Kingbirds.
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 6
We make our return to Anse Chastanet where we once more take lunch on the beach. The snorkellers manage
some great sightings this afternoon with Spotted Drum, Black Durgon, Orange-spotted Filefish and even a
Lionfish. The latter is an “invasive” species and is native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans and has
spread through other oceans by release from marine aquaria, or else flushing of water from ship’s ballast tanks.
They have poisonous spines and no natural predators, plus they have a voracious appetite and so are not good
news!
This evening we have our farewell dinner down at the beach restaurant with our table set close to the crashing
waves. The Asian based meal is well received and we toast the success of this second St Lucia tour.
Friday 30 January
After breakfast we gather for our walk to Anse Mamim. A
Grey Trembler gives good views as it sits on the railings of
the bar, shivering its wings. We walk down the steps,
passing Zenaida Doves, and onto the beach. Out to sea
Brown Boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds patrol the
waves and a lone Laughing Gull moves north. The Spotted
Sandpiper is still on its short stretch of beach – I wonder if
this is the same bird we observed last year? Amongst the
plantation at Anse Mamim we have great views of the St
Lucia Pewee and even better views of a pair of
Mangrove Cuckoos. Scaly-breasted Thrashers are
vocal as a pair are feeding their newly fledged
youngsters.
After lunch we pack our bags and have a chance to
relax. Some have a final snorkelling session before
we depart at 5.30pm for the airport. Formalities are
swiftly over as we check in bags and pass through to
the lounge to wait. The flight is on time and we are
soon airborne and flying along the east coast of the USA, which is in the grip of a cold winter and is largely
snow covered.
Saturday 31 January
We touch down early at Gatwick and are soon reunited with our luggage. The group bids many fond farewells
before we scatter ourselves to the far corners of the UK.
Acknowledgments
I hope you all enjoyed this tour to St Lucia. We managed to see the key bird species and those that went
snorkelling will have found a wonderful coral reef, full of life, just off the beach. Anse Chastanet looked after
us very well and we have to thanks Adams and Vision for their guiding. Many thanks to you, the group, for
being so punctual and cheerful throughout the trip. We hope to see you on another tour with Ornitholidays
very shortly. Many thanks to Juliet for providing the butterfly list and to Brian, Alan, Juliet, Sue and Sandy
for providing photos for this report.
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 7
Nigel Jones
Ornitholidays
29, Straight Mile
Romsey
Hampshire
SO51 9BB
Tel 01794 519445
info@ornitholidays.co.uk
April 2015
Itinerary and Weather
23 January Flight London to St Lucia, Transfer to hotel
Fine 25C
24 January Walk to Anse Mamin. Snorkelling in afternoon.
Sunny with light showers 28C
25 January Excursion to Des Botte. Snorkelling in afternoon.
Intermittent showers 23C
26 January Boat trip. Snorkelling in afternoon.
Sunny 30C
27 January Micoud and Des Cartier Trail in Quilesse Forest Reserve. Snorkelling in afternoon.
Fine, occasional showers 30C
28 January Volcano, Emerald Estate and Botanic Gardens. Snorkelling in afternoon.
Fine, occasional showers 30C
29 January Vieux Fort, Cape Moule à Chique and Aupicon Wetlands. Snorkelling in afternoon.
Fine 30C
30 January Walk to Anse Mamin. Some of the group snorkel. Transfer to airport for return flight.
Fine 30C
31 January Arrival at London Gatwick.
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 8
CHECKLIST OF BIRDS SEEN DURING TOUR
No of days recorded Abundance Scale (max. seen on 1 day)
1 2h means seen on 1day and heard 1= 1-4
on 2 other days 2= 5-9
3= 10 - 99
4= 100 - 999
5= 1,000+
SPECIES No of days Abundance SCIENTIFIC NAME
recorded Scale
Endemics in bold
Red-billed Tropicbird 1 2 Phaethon aethereus
Red-footed Booby 1 3 Sula sula
Brown Booby 7 3 Sula leucogaster
Magnificent Frigatebird 7 3 Fregata magnificens
Pied-billed Grebe 1 1 Podilymbus podiceps
Great Egret 1 2 Ardea alba
Little Blue Heron 3 1 Egretta caerulea
Snowy Egret 1 2 Egretta thula
Cattle Egret 4 3 Bubulcus ibis
Green Heron 4 1 Butorides virescens
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1 1 Nycticorax violacea
Blue-winged Teal 1 4 Anas discors
Osprey 1 1 Pandion haliaetus
Broad-winged Hawk 5 3 Buteo platypterus
American Kestrel 5 1 Falco sparverius
Common (Antillean) Gallinule 1 4 Gallinula galeata cerceris
Caribbean Coot 1 3 Fulica caribaea
Black-bellied Plover 1 1 Pluvialis squatarola
Semipalmated Plover 1 3 Charadrius semipalmatus
Spotted Sandpiper 5 1 Actitis macularius
Royal Tern 1 1 Sterna maxima
Pomarine Skua 1 1 Stercorarius pomarinus
Laughing Gull 2 1 Larus atricilla
Rock Pigeon 1 1 Columba livia
Scaly-naped Pigeon 6 2 Patagioenas squamosa
Zenaida Dove 7 3 Zenaida aurita
Eared Dove 1 3 Zenaida auriculata
Common Ground-Dove 6 1 Columbina passerina
St Lucia Parrot 3 2 Amazona versicolor
Mangrove Cuckoo 3 1h 1 Coccyzus minor
Lesser Antillean Swift 2 3 Chaetura martinica
Purple-throated Carib 5 3 Eulampis jugularis
Green-throated Carib 7 3 Eulampis holosericeus
Antillean Crested Hummingbird 7 3 Orthorhyncus cristatus
Belted Kingfisher 1 1 Megaceryle alcyon
Caribbean Elaenia 4 1 Elaenia martinica
St Lucia Pewee 4 1 Contopus oberi
Grey Kingbird 6 3 Tyrannus dominicensis
Lesser Antillean Flycatcher 2 1h 1 Myiarchus oberi
St Lucia Wren 2 1 Troglodytes mesoleucus
Tropical Mockingbird 7 1 Mimus gilvus
White-breasted Thrasher 1 1 Ramphocinclus brachyurus
Grey Trembler 6 1 Cinclocerthia gutturalis
Scaly-breasted Thrasher 2 1 Allenia fusca
Pearly-eyed Thrasher 1 1 Margarops fuscata
Rufous-throated Solitaire 1 1 Myadestes genibarbis
Bare-eyed (Spectacled) Thrush 1 1 Turdus nudigenis
Black-whiskered Vireo 5 1 Vireo altiloquus
Antillean Euphonia 1 1 Euphonia musica
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 9St Lucia Warbler 7 2 Dendroica delicata
Bananaquit 6 3 Coereba flaveola
Black-faced Grassquit 2 1 Tiaris bicolor
St Lucia Black Finch 1 1 Melanospiza richardsoni
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch 7 3 Loxigilla noctis
Lesser Antillean Saltator 4 1 Saltator albicollis
Carib Grackle 7 3 Quiscalus lugubris
Shiny Cowbird 3 2 Molothrus bonariensis
St Lucia Oriole 2 1 Icterus laudabilis
MAMMALS
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin 2 3 Stenella attenuata
Egyptian Mongoose 2 1 Herpestes ichneumon
BUTTERFLIES
Barred Yellow White Peacock Mangrove Buckeye
Cloudless Sulphur Mercurial Skipper Pale Yellow
Hanno Blue
MOTHS
Erastria decrepitaria Lesmone sp.
FISH
Banded Butterflyfish Beaugregory Blackbar Soldierfish
Foureye Butterflyfish Sergeant Major Saddled Blenny
Ocean Surgeonfish Night Sergeant Peacock Flounder
Doctorfish Yellowtail Damselfish Sand Diver
Blue Tang Blue Chromis Trumpetfish
Bar Jack Brown Chromis Yellow Goatfish
Yellow Jack Fairy Basslet Spotted Goatfish
Houndfish Blue Parrotfish Sharpnose Puffer
Chub Queen Parrotfish Smooth Trunkfish
Sea Bream Stoplight Parrotfish Black Durgon
Silver Porgy Princess Parrotfish Scrawled Filefish
French Grunt Redfin Parrotfish White-spotted Filefish
Blue-striped Grunt Puddingwife Orange-spotted Filefish
Schoolmaster Bluehead Spotted Drum
Yellowtail Snapper Yellowhead Wrasse Sharptail Eel
Bicolor Damselfish Clown Wrasse Lionfish
Dusky Damselfish Slippery Dick
Cocoa Damselfish Squirrelfish
OTHER SPECIES
St Lucia Tree Lizard Tropical House Gecko Caribbean Spiny Lobster
This list represents those species as seen by party members of this tour.
© Ornitholidays
Front cover: The Pitons from Anse Chastanet
All photographs © Nigel and Sandy Jones, Alan Hall, Brian Garner, Juliet Bloss and Sue Warn
Ornitholidays’ Tour to St Lucia 23 – 31 January 2015 Page 10You can also read
