Monday, August 03, 2009

Montserrat Part 3: Montserrat Orioles

Montserrat has its own endemic bird, the Montserrat Oriole, probably the rarest bird I have seen. Their stronghold was known to be the Bamboo-rich areas in the south, and after this area was destroyed by volcanic eruptions, there were severe worries about the survival of the species.
However, new populations were discovered at suitable altitudes in forests in the north. Thanks to the work and considerable sacrifice of the likes of Scriber our superb guide while on the island, the population is being monitored and the researched.
With Scriber's excellent help we encountered several birds in a few family parties relatively easily in the Centre Hills, and we even found a male feeding young which Scriber didn't previously know about.
These are my best efforts at DSLR shots of the birds (please forgive them, the light is poor in the forest...)


Males

Female




Males

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great shots. On our last day in Montserrat we went looking for the birds but couldn't find the path! The locals didn't recommend trailblazing on our own so we never saw them.

Oh well next time I hope.

Andy