Category Archives: birds

Pretty Pergola at Fleur de Lys

Just in time for the holiday arrivals, a pretty Pergola awaits our Fleur de Lys Villa guests.  Now the birdwatching balcony is better than ever!  TC Millwork did a fabulous job with the upgrade.   Not only are we thrilled with the traditional Caribbean design, but love the practicality of having shade and rain cover over this area, which the adjoining office hardwood floors will thank us for later!
These rocking chairs are a pair of the best seats in the house for soaking in the views.
Holiday decor vignettes from Fleur de Lys Villa soon to come, stay posted!

Fleur de Lys Villa Bird’s Eye View

It was a very busy weekend between Longbay and Leeward, bittersweet to think we will not be traversing between the two neighborhoods so often anymore.  The Beach Barn, our home away from home and pet project for the last few years, sold last July.  We sign and seal the deal in a short few days so the deadline to make our move had come.  It was eye opening to discover just how many belongings we had acquired; what seemingly appeared to be very little set against the massive floorspace of the barn, in reality was two parades by caravan of  boxtruck, two pick-ups, and an SUV!  A skytrak also joined the fleet, more to come on that topic later, but we thought while we had use of it, may as well take a few overview images of Fleur de Lys.  Utilizing a kiteboarding harness and a couple of dog leashes, I was strapped to the forks and up, up, and away!  Thanks to residual winds from hurricane Sandy it was a pretty wild ride!  The birds eye view was beautiful, and it allowed a great study of the size of the bird reserve to the north of the property.  I  had not realized it was such an impressive wetland, it stretches nearly the length of the block.  No wonder we see such variety of feathered friends at Fleur de Lys!

Field Guide Fridays – Migratory Bird Press Release

All images taken at Fleur de Lys
At Fleur de Lys Villa we are fortunate to see many different species of birds on a daily basis.  The nationally protected reserve which borders the villa property is just one of many throughout the country.  In the Turks and Caicos Islands birds are protected by law.  The DECR has just wrapped up an especially active month of bird monitoring:

“The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) has been collecting data on just how important our natural habitats are to migratory birds. . . . The data generated while DECR conducts these activities is sent back to SCSCB, who will process it along with similar regional data. When combined, this gives us a good idea of which birds are moving through which areas, when. This is especially important because many of these birds are under pressure in part of their range, either by habitat destruction or other danger.”

Please read the full press release here.
The above species needs identified, if you recognize it, please post a message!  Identifying birds is most often about sight; identifying it’s characteristics including size, shape, coloring, movement, and flight pattern.  But this very special species below can easily be identified by it’s unique call.  Take a listen . . .
The West Indian Whistling Duck is an endangered species that is globally threatened.  If you have heard this beautiful call, consider yourself very fortunate for this is not only a rare bird, but one of the less vocal species of ducks.  Please visit scscb to find out more about Caribbean birds and how to help.  Please log all your bird sightings on ebird.org to assist keeping this species and many more alive and well.

Bird Monitoring and No Plastic Picnic Saturday Oct 15th

Image from greenantilles
  At last Thursdays tci-environmental-club meeting, we discussed a few recent topics including the DECR’s  impressive collection of 8,676 native Caicos Pine seeds, the previous meetings heated debate in regards to the Invasive Causarina, and the upcoming event for this coming Saturday, October 15th.  Please join us at 7:30am at the Lower Bight Park across from the National Environmental Centre for a morning of Bird Monitoring in our wondrous-west-indian-wetlands!  The migration season has begun and several sites are bound to see a great deal of activity which will later be logged onto ebird.org.  An exerpt from their website below:

“Do you know of a pond, mangrove swamp or marsh nearby with waterbirds on it? If yes, we invite you to participate in our first region-wide survey of Caribbean waterbirds, the Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC), and help us to save waterbirds and their habitats. The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) is starting a new region-wide waterbird and wetland monitoring program called the Caribbean Waterbird Census (CWC). The goal of this program is to learn more about the distribution, status, and abundance of waterbirds in the Caribbean to improve our conservation planning and management of these beautiful birds and their habitats.”
Every entry helps have a better understanding of what happens where and why,  as well as boosts our Turks and Caicos eco-tourism sector.  Please consider taking a little time this Saturday to enjoy our beautiful by nature environment and protect our species!  Welcome to anyone!  We are looking for volunteers willing to provide transportation, please call the DECR for more information.  The morning monitoring is to be followed by a NO PLASTIC PICNIC!  Please Pack-an-Eco-Friendly-Lunch (like pictured below, think reusable containers and no single use plastics) and join us at 12noon at the Lower Bight Park picnic area.
Image from greenrightnow