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December 2024
Day 1
 Wednesday 11th of December 2024 and I enjoy tea and cheese in my room when I woke up at 5 o'clock. I have a few hours to kill as my Guide will arrive at 8 o'clock. I leave my room 10 minutes before 8 o'clock and I hear birds coming out from my room. I discover House Sparrows and it seems like they are having nests in the tree outside my room. I make a recording of the birds. Listen to the House Sparrow
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
  House Sparrow
 White-crowned Pigeon
 White-crowned Pigeon
I try to take some pictures of the birds, but it is too dark for any good pictures. There is another tree full of red fruits and I see two birds. I check it out and it takes me a while to discover the White-crowned Pigeon. This is a “LIFER” for me so I was happy when I went to the parking lot. My Guide arrived after a few minutes and we took off towards the Reef Golf Course - Freeport. We will start here before going to the West End. The plan is to explore the western side of Grand Bahama Island today and we will check out the eastern side tomorrow. We park at the car at Reef Golf Course and I suggested that we should go to ask if we could rent a golf cart. This was no problem and I asked to buy bottled water. The girl told me that they were a cooler in the back. We had a look at the pond next to the club house before we went to pick up the cart. Ring-necked ducks, American Coots, Tricoloured Heron and a Grey Plover. Pied-billed Grebe, this was the second “LIFER” Too far away for any pictures, well, pictures for ID purpose only.  American Coot
 Pied-billed Grebe
 American Coot
 Me and my Guide are ready for action
Back at the golf cart station and it turns out that they did not have any bottled water, only cups that we could fill from the cooler. I said no thanks and we got in to the cart. We take off with smokin' and screamin' tyres and I am soon asking my Guide to stop. There is a bird in the tree next to the road. I get out of the golf cart and I manage to get a few poor pictures of the bird hiding in the tree. Turns out to be a Northern Mockingbird. We continue and we stop next to a pond and we spot 3 Double-crested Cormorant in one of the corners. We are watching them when we have some very noisy Smooth-billed Anis landing in the bushes. There are more American Coots and some American Moorhens in the pond as well.  Northern Mockingbird
 Northern Mockingbird
 Double-crested Cormorant
 American Moorhen/ Common Gallinulet
 American Moorhen/ Common Gallinulet
 American Moorhen/ Common Gallinulet
  Smooth-billed Ani
 Great Blue Heron
We leave the pond behind, stopping to have a picture of the Great Blue Heron. We continue and we are soon stopping to have some pictures of a group of Palm Warblers foraging on the lawn next to the road. My Guide try to find some birds in the bushes on our left hand side. The sun is coming from behind the bushes so it would be impossible to get any pictures. My Guide spotted one American Redstart but it was only a shadow and impossible to get on picture and I never reported the bird in my eBird app.  Palm Warbler
 Palm Warbler
 Our hero
We continue along the road, well, path for the golf carts. I ask my Guide to get over to the other side as we can have the sun lighting up the bushes and maybe we can get pictures. As it is now we have everything on our left hand side and that means that the birds are between us and the sun. We are soon stopping again but I do not bother to get out of the golf cart. Again, the sun is working against us. But I spotted one White Ibis flying by on my right-hand side and I tried to get a picture. I thought it was a Great White Egret, but I could see that it was a White Ibis through my camera. There were three of the Smooth-billed Anis landing next to the cart and I went out to try to have some pictures.  White Ibis
 Smooth-billed Ani
 Smooth-billed Ani
 Smooth-billed Ani
 American Moorhen/ Common Gallinulet
 American Moorhen/ Common Gallinulet
 American Moorhen/ Common Gallinulet
 Collared Dove
 Prairie Warbler
 Prairie Warbler
 Yellow-rumped Warbler
Thanks to Jeff Hopkins at birdforum for ID
 Yellow-rumped Warbler
Thanks to Jeff Hopkins at birdforum for ID
 American Redstart
Thanks to Jeff Hopkins at birdforum for ID
 Savannah Sparrow
 Savannah Sparrow
 Great Blue Heron
 Common Yellowthroat
 Common Yellowthroat
 Common Yellowthroat
 Common Yellowthroat
  Green Heron
 Green Heron
 Green Heron
 Green Heron
There was a lot of birds on the Reef Golf Course. We were sneaking up on a pond and I asked my Guide if he had ever seen any kingfishers on Bahamas. He told me that he had seen the Belted Kingfishers and just as he said it we had a Belted Kingfisher flying across the pond. I had never managed to get any good pictures of the Belted Kingfisher, it is a very scared bird. This bird landed in a tree and we approached slowly. Suddenly, a second Belted Kingfisher came and both of them took off. We continued and there were many warblers and I had a few more “LIFERS” • Prairie Warbler • Cape May Warbler • Savannah Sparrow  White Ibis
 Pied-billed Grebe
 Tricoloured Heron
 Snowy Egret
 Great Blue Heron
Great White Egret
We spot one American Kestrel sitting on the lawn and we stop. We will try to get closer for some pictures but I spot another American Kestrel sitting in a tree behind us. I get out of the car to try to get a picture. I walk towards the bird, taking pictures as I don't know when it will take off. The American Kestrel was not scared and I could walk right up to the bird and the bird was just sitting there and was not bothered by me at all. American Kestrel
 American Kestrel
 American Kestrel
 American Kestrel
 American Kestrel
 American Kestrel
 American Kestrel
 Great White Egret
 My Guide looking for birds
  American Redstart
 Mourning Dove
 Northern Mockingbird
 Northern Mockingbird
 Northern Mockingbird
 We continue along the golf cart path and we are soon reaching a big pond and we can see three big birds looking like swans on the other side of the pond. Snow goose and we drive around the pond to come closer. We passed one female Ruddy Duck on the way and this was a Rare Bird Alert as well as the Snow Goos, so two Rare Bird Alerts. I was afraid that the Snow geese would be scared when we approached, but they really didn't care about us and the golf cart. I could get pictures of both the birds and I was happy to have pictures for my eBird report.  Ruddy Duck
 Ruddy Duck
 American Coot and Ruddy Duck
 Snow Goose
 Snow Goose
 Snow Goose
 Snow Goose
 Snow Goose
 Snow Goose
 Snow Goose
  Least Grebe
Another “LIFER” for me
 Ring-necked Duck
 Blue-winged Teal
 Blue-winged Teal
 Double-crested Cormorant
 Double-crested Cormorant
 Double-crested Cormorant
 Double-crested Cormorant
 Mourning Dove
I told my Guide that we had have enough after two hours of birding at Reef Golf Course. It will take us some time to get to West End and I do not want to spend the whole day. Returning to my room around 3 o'clock or so would be nice. We drove back towards the club house and we were both very happy with the birding. We had seen a lot of birds and I have seen a few “LIFERS” And it was a nice area to drive around looking for birds. And not many golfers, so a nice morning. So, back to the car at the club house and my diet drinks in the car.
 Today's track at Reef Golf Course
 We stop at the Supermarket
We leave Reef Golf Course and we stop at a supermarket to look for refreshments. No diet MAX so I bought some fruit smoothies and 4 packs of blue berries. I ripped open the first pack first thing when I was back in the car. We will make one stop before we drive to the West End, there is an eBird hotspot: Grand Bahama - Williamstown Beach We park the car and we have Ruddy Turnstones coming upon the parking lot and they were not shy and I could get some pictures. We walk along the beach and we are also spotting a few Sanderlings that I get on pictures. Sanderlings, white bird, sunshine and white sand, so lightning conditions was not the best. There were a couple of gulls. and of course, Turkey Vultures flying over the area.  Ring-billed gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Ruddy Turnstone
 Ruddy Turnstone
 Ruddy Turnstone
 Ruddy Turnstone
 Sanderling
 Sanderling
 Ruddy Turnstone
 Today's track at eBird hotspot: Grand Bahama - Williamstown Beach
We leave the beach and we make a stop around the corner, there is another eBird hotspot: Bridle Path One minute away. We park the car and we walk in to the bushes on an overgrown path. My Guide told me that they use the path for horse riding. We see two birds, but they keep in the bushes so no pictures and not possible to ID the birds. Just seen as a shadow, but I spotted one American Kestrel sitting on a wire when we came out on the road again. A short eBird checklist, nut better than nothing.  Birding at eBird hotspot: Bridle Path
We leave Freeport behind, driving past the port and the limestone mine north of the port. We drive through some small settlements and we are soon on the open road heading towards West End. It is a gorgeous day and I enjoy the ride. We do not see any birds on the way, well, we are not really looking for any bird. We will look for birds when we reach the West End and we will look for birds while driving along the water front in the north side.  Heading towards the port and we see heaps of limestone waiting to be exported
 Open landscape going to the West End
We reach the coast line and we stop when we spot 3 Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over us. I went out to try to get some pictures, but I failed. I get back in to the car and I start my eBird app and report the frigatebirds. We continue towards West End while keeping an eye on the beach. We are actually driving on the grass next to the road to have a good overview over the water. The first picture is of one Killdeer that we spot next to the water. We are walking for a bit and then we drive for a bit. We spot some Royal Terns and I can hear them, very weak, but I decide to try to get a recording. Too much wind noise, but I can hear the bird on the recording so I was happy.  Killdeer
 Royal Tern
 Royal Tern
Listen to the Royal Tern
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
 Turkey Vulture
 Little Blue Heron
 Little Blue Heron
 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
 Willet
We spot one Yellow-crowned Night Heron and the bird was not scared and we managed to get very close. The bird was busy eating a crab so it might be that it was hungrier than it was scared of us and I could get pictures. And my Guide was happy when he discovered a Willet, this was a bird that he had been  hoping to see today.
I ask my Guide about the heaps of pink/ red sea shells that I can see everywhere. He told me that it is shells they dump after having taken out the meat. He told me that the Conch is the most common food on Bahamas.
 Great White Egret
 Double-crested Cormorant and a Brown Pelican
 Curly tailed lizard
 Laughing Gull and Herring Gull
 Ruddy Turnstone eating conch
 Ruddy Turnstone eating conch
 Ruddy Turnstone eating conch
 Semipalmated Plover
 Semipalmated Plover
Listen to the Ruddy Turnstone
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
We pas a slip for fishing boats and they had dumped a lot of sea shells and the slip was full of Ruddy Turnstones eating the conch. There were some gulls enjoying the feast as well. And it was nice to see the size difference between the Ring-billed Gull and the Laughing Gull. I tried to make a recording of the Ruddy Turnstones, but it is way to much wind noise for the recording to be any good. There was a gull that I id as a Great Black-backed Gull because of the pink legs, but in the sunshine, they looked yellow and I changed to Lesser Black-backed Gull.  Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Lesser Black-backed Gull
 Little Blue Heron
 Little Blue Heron
 Little Blue Heron
 Brown Pelican
 Brown Pelican
 Brown Pelican
 Brown Pelican
 Today's track at West End
We reach the marina at the end of Grand Bahama Island, called Old Bahama Bay and this is also an eBird hotspot. We reach the gate and I turn off mu eBird app and I restart the app again. Now using the eBird hotspot: Old Bahama Bay We only spotted one bird, one American Kestrel sitting on top of a lamp post. The restaurant was closed and we were hungry by now. We decided to go back to Freeport and I told my Guide that I could eat blueberries and cheese with tea in my room. There was really not many options for fine dining on Grand Bahama Island. There is a restaurant at my hotel and my Guide would go for his dinner there. - Is it any good? I asked - Have a good reputation - OK, I join you. We had our dinner and I spent the rest of the day in my room. We will take off tomorrow morning, and we will explore the east side of Grand Bahama Island. You just need to click HERE to find out if there is any birds. 
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To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
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