The Tribune

THE recent field trip by the Grand Bahama Birding Group to the western end of the island resulted in several “lifebirds” for members of the group.

Mr Derek Gape, director at the Ginn development at West End, had opened up the property to the birders to survey the many ponds in the area. Among the 40 species recorded that morning, a Northern Harrier Hawk was one of the new birds to be recorded swooping low over one of the ponds.

The group then saw a pair of rare Swallow-Tailed Kites sitting side by side in a Casuarina tree, allowing everybody to get excellent views for at least 15 minutes. One of the birds circled slowly over the birders then returned to its mate.

A large number of 83 Royal Terns were observed along the West End shoreline and the unusual sighting of so many birds of that species was even questioned by Cornell University when the group later submitted their observations into the eBird database of that institution.