Window To Our Wetlands: January 2010

02/11/2010 14:20:00 Etc/GMT+1

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Photo byJacqueline Cestero

(The Valley Anguilla - February 11, 2010) - Although few birds were seen on most of Anguilla’s wetlands in January, there were a few notable exceptions. Hundreds of Black-necked stilts and Lesser yellowlegs boosted the numbers at Road Pond while Semi-palmated sandpipers and Lesser yellowlegs comprised the majority birds at West End Pond. At Mimi Bay Pond and West End By-The-Sea Pond – tiny wetlands when compared to the sizes of Road and West End – a remarkable number of Black-necked stilts (73) and Lesser yellowlegs (80) were respectively recorded there.

In January, two new volunteers joined us in the count – Mr. William Allen, a visiting avid birder from Canada, and Mr. Remone Johnson, an Environmental Science student who is writing his School-based Assessment on bird life on three of Anguilla’s ponds.

Wetland Bird Monitoring Dates: Wednesday 27 January – 29 January 2010

Wetland Pond	Bird Numbers	Species Numbers
Junk’s Hole Pond	2	1
Grey Pond	13	2
Mimi Bay Pond	86	2
East End Pond	29	6
Long Salt Pond	78	3
Bad Cox Pond	11	2
Caul’s Pond	14	4
Blackgarden Bay Pond	1	1
Katouche Pond	8	2
Forest Pond	39	7
Little Harbour Pond	3	3
Road Salt Pond	809	11
Blowing Point Pond	14	6
Rendezvous Salt Pond	6	4
Merrywing Pond	29	12
Cove Pond	25	9
Gull Pond	15	7
West End Salt Pond	595	11
West End-By-The-Sea Pond	88	3
Mead’s Bay Pond	25	6
Long Bay Pond	4	1
Total	1894	22

What to Watch For: Sanderling

The Sanderling is one of the world’s most widespread wintering shorebirds, found on nearly all temperate and tropical beaches around the world. As a flocking small sandpiper, at 7-8.5 inches, it is larger than both the Semi-palmated sandpiper (5.5-6.5 inches) and the Semi-palmated plover (7.25 inches).

Breeding Sanderlings nest during the summers on the islands and the coastal tundra of the high arctic. During the winter months, they travel south the tropics, including to Anguilla. It is not unusual, however, for non-nesting birds to remain in their wintering grounds throughout the summer.

The Sanderling is the lightest-coloured sandpiper, with white underparts and light gray upperparts. A black mark occurs on the bend of its wing. It also has dark legs and a black beak.

In Anguilla, the Sanderling spends much of its time along the shorelines of the island’s wetlands where it feeds primarily on insects. The bird can also be seen on Anguilla’s beaches, where it runs and retreats with the waves, picking up stranded invertebrates and probing in the wet sand for food.

In January, all 17 Sanderlings recorded were observed on West End Pond

For more information about the Anguilla National Trust’s monthly wetland bird monitoring programme or to learn how to become involved, please contact the Trust at 497 5297. To become a fan and to receive regular updates on Trust activities, search for the Anguilla National Trust on www.facebook.com.