Spent a great holiday in St. Martin with some rather sporadic birding which yielded 47 species (from a target of 50). Had most of the "probables" & a few less common but could have reached the half century with a little diligence, particularly by doing some more early morning or late afternoon birding. Thanks to advice from others, time spent at the various salt ponds around the island was productive (particularly in the vicinity of Philipsburg in the south & near Orient Beach in the north), together with some shorelines, & a trip to Loterie Farm & a higher elevation (on the road to Pic Paradis) where there is a banding program.
4 February: Bananaquit, Common Ground-Dove, Tropical Mockingbird, Cattle Egret, Magnificant Frigatebird, Brown Booby, Carib Grackle, Brown Pelican, Zenaida Dove, American Kestrel.
5 February: Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Spotted Sandpiper, Caribbean Coot, Common Moorhen, Pied-billed Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Rock Pigeon, Green-throated Carib, Gray Kingbird.
6 February: Caribbean Elaenia (which fooled me into thinking I was hearing an Eastern Phoebe & later did a passable imitation of an Eastern Wood-Pewee; I'd be interested in hearing about this species & its mimicking abilities; also where did it pick up these calls?).
7 February: Royal Tern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Killdeer, Black-bellied Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilt, White-cheeked Pintail, Black-faced Grassquit.
8 February: House Sparrow, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling.
11 February: Green Heron, Northern Waterthrush (heard only), Yellow Warbler, Northern Parula, Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, American Coot.
12 February: Eurasian Collared-Dove.
14 February: Caribbean Martin.
17 February: Pearly-eyed Thrasher, American Redstart, Black-and-White Warbler, Osprey.
Roger