hvbaskey Posted June 24, 2015 #101 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Connie, did you reach a guide for St. Maarten? Forgot to mention, there were quite a few guides mentioned for St. Maarten on birding pal. One of them looks promising, "Sea Grape Tours" will cater to cruise ship passengers, so have sent them an email for our Southern Caribbean Holiday Cruises in December. Will keep everyone posted! Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcin Posted June 25, 2015 #102 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Heather, i'm anxious to hear about your Tuscan birding!! If you do the Caribbean, let me know if you need help with some of the ports. Cinda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bburnian75 Posted December 14, 2016 #103 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Hi Folks, I realize this is an old thread but there's a lot of great info in here. Thanks! I'm going to Cozumel and Roatan in Feb! Hope to see some lifers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooth_sailin Posted December 14, 2016 #104 Share Posted December 14, 2016 It would be really great if some of the people who posted RFIs here pre-cruise would post a little birding trip report for those of us still watching this thread. Happy holidays, Dena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gidewey52 Posted January 22, 2017 #105 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Did a quick Bahama cruise in October on Majesty of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. Did a half-day birding tour at Nassau with Carolyn Wardle (Google her). She's a Brit who has been on the island for 50 years. We drove around in neighborhoods, a wildlife reserve, seashore, and even sat outdoors in a person's back yard (Carolyn pretty much knows everybody on the island, it appears). Lifers: Smooth-Billed Ani Red-Legged Thrush Cuban Grassquit Ovenbird Cape May Warbler La Sagra's Flycatcher Least Grebe White-Cheeked Pintail Other good ones I already had: White-Crowned Pigeon Bahama Woodstar Various Plovers, Gulls, etc. Overall a very good day, highly recommended. Jerry Manassas VA USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooth_sailin Posted January 22, 2017 #106 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Did a quick Bahama cruise in October on Majesty of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. Did a half-day birding tour at Nassau with Carolyn Wardle (Google her). She's a Brit who has been on the island for 50 years. We drove around in neighborhoods, a wildlife reserve, seashore, and even sat outdoors in a person's back yard (Carolyn pretty much knows everybody on the island, it appears). (snip) Overall a very good day, highly recommended. Jerry Manassas VA USA Thanks for a great report, Jerry. I wish there were resources like this on every Caribbean island! Best regards, Dena (smooth_sailin) NJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvbaskey Posted May 6, 2017 #107 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Just came home from a Caribbean & Bermuda Cruise (via the Celebrity Summit) Here are our sightings from Sint Maarten (Dutch & French side); we hired Ilja of Seagrape Tours and she was wonderful! Saint Martin (French side) White-cheeked Pintail - Anas bahamensis Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens Great Egret - Ardea alba Snowy Egret - Egretta thula Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata American Coot - Fulica americana Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus Willet - Tringa semipalmata Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes Laughing Gull - Leucophaeus atricilla Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina White-winged Dove - Zenaida asiatica Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus American Kestrel - Falco sparverius Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola Black-faced Grassquit - Tiaris bicolor Lesser Antillean Bullfinch - Loxigilla noctis Sint Maarten (Dutch Side) White-cheeked Pintail - Anas bahamensis Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis Great Egret - Ardea alba Green Heron - Butorides virescens Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax Common Gallinule - Gallinula galeata Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius Laughing Gull - Leucophaeus atricilla Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina Zenaida Dove - Zenaida aurita Antillean Crested Hummingbird - Orthorhyncus cristatus Gray Kingbird - Tyrannus dominicensis Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola Lesser Antillean Bullfinch - Loxigilla noctis Carib Grackle - Quiscalus lugubris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooth_sailin Posted May 7, 2017 #108 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Just came home from a Caribbean & Bermuda Cruise (via the Celebrity Summit) Here are our sightings from Sint Maarten (Dutch & French side); we hired Ilja of Seagrape Tours and she was wonderful! Wonderful list! We are visiting St. Maarten in October and tried to book Seagrape, but they were booked. they recommended another local birder to us, Binkie van es, for a private birding tour. He is a well known photographer, and we actually have mutual birding friends! Small world. Needless to say, we are really looking forward to our visit to St. Maarten! Dena Temple Atlantic Highlands, NJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah53 Posted August 26, 2017 #109 Share Posted August 26, 2017 We have just booked birding tour with Carefree Birding tours for Jan 29 2018 on Celebrity Reflection. My original plan was 7 day cruise with few shore birdings with local guides but it soon became an 11 day cruise with Carefree, Kevin Karlson will be a guide. Will visit Grand Cayman, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cozumel and Panama. This is our first trip south of Florida so we are sure to get lots of life birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcin Posted August 26, 2017 #110 Share Posted August 26, 2017 We have just booked birding tour with Carefree Birding tours for Jan 29 2018 on Celebrity Reflection. Kevin Karlson will be a guide. Will visit Grand Cayman, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cozumel and Panama. This is our first trip south of Florida so we are sure to get lots of life birds. You Made a Great Choice! I sailed with Carefree Birding in 2015 and pretty much the same itinerary. I loved it and saw over 150 life species. We were accompanied by James Currie of the "Nikkon Birding Adventure" show. I can't express how great it was to see so many birds in that period of time & so easy. I usually hire my own guides when I travel, but this was awesome. In Panama, there were so many birds that it was hard to see them all. The local guides were very knowledgeable (ears/eyes) Here is a total of species seen @ each port. Grand Cayman -- 36 species Colombia -- 91 species/7hrs Panama -- 89 species/6hrs Costa Rica -- 60 species/6hrs (even though it was a wet day!) Belize -- 77 species/6hrs Cozumel -- 70 species/ 5 hrs. Ken & Linda of Carefree Birding are so much fun and really take care of everyone. They balance each other well. Ken wore his signature pink Crocs most times! James Currie was one of the presenters for the Celebrity cruise. He's a very interesting guy from South Africa with lots of stories. If you want specifics, feel free to email me: jackcin at juno dot com Say hi to Ken & Linda for me! Cinda Crosley near Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvbaskey Posted August 26, 2017 #111 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Not sure if anyone here knows about this thread, but I started a new one for Birding & Cruising (not specific to the Caribbean): http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2527845 Hoping all birders who cruise unite and share their global stories! our next cruise is South America and cannot wait to report back with Southern Hemisphere specialities :) Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcin Posted August 26, 2017 #112 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Not sure if anyone here knows about this thread, but I started a new one for Birding & Cruising (not specific to the Caribbean): http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2527845 Hoping all birders who cruise unite and share their global stories! our next cruise is South America and cannot wait to report back with Southern Hemisphere specialities :) Heather Hi Heather! I'll check that board. Amazing, we are also doing a SA cruise. When is yours? Ours is 3 December 2017 on the Emerald Princess. I've scheduled with some private guides, and reached out on CC looking for birders, but no luck :( Cinda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah53 Posted August 26, 2017 #113 Share Posted August 26, 2017 You Made a Great Choice!I sailed with Carefree Birding in 2015 and pretty much the same itinerary. I loved it and saw over 150 life species. We were accompanied by James Currie of the "Nikkon Birding Adventure" show. I can't express how great it was to see so many birds in that period of time & so easy. I usually hire my own guides when I travel, but this was awesome. In Panama, there were so many birds that it was hard to see them all. The local guides were very knowledgeable (ears/eyes) Here is a total of species seen @ each port. Grand Cayman -- 36 species Colombia -- 91 species/7hrs Panama -- 89 species/6hrs Costa Rica -- 60 species/6hrs (even though it was a wet day!) Belize -- 77 species/6hrs Cozumel -- 70 species/ 5 hrs. Ken & Linda of Carefree Birding are so much fun and really take care of everyone. They balance each other well. Ken wore his signature pink Crocs most times! James Currie was one of the presenters for the Celebrity cruise. He's a very interesting guy from South Africa with lots of stories. If you want specifics, feel free to email me: jackcin at juno dot com Say hi to Ken & Linda for me! Cinda Crosley near Austin, TX Thanks for the species #s, they are impressive and will be mostly lifers for us. Did you enter them on ebird? Funny, I have many crocs too, pink is definitely one of them. Will have questions for you when I have some free time, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvbaskey Posted August 26, 2017 #114 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Hi Heather! I'll check that board. Amazing, we are also doing a SA cruise. When is yours? Ours is 3 December 2017 on the Emerald Princess. I've scheduled with some private guides, and reached out on CC looking for birders, but no luck :(Cinda Hi Cinda - we arrive in Buenos Aires on Dec 21st and will sail via the Celebrity Infinity to Santiago. Like you, no one interested in birding adventures on our roll call - so right now, all private tours! How long is your cruise? we are sailing Dec 23 - January 7. Birding in BA prior and in Santiago after and then birding in between :) Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcin Posted August 26, 2017 #115 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Thanks for the species #s, they are impressive and will be mostly lifers for us. Did you enter them on ebird?. Yes I use ebird. Here are my checklists: Grand Cayman -- 41 species: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22264007 ; https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22243800 ; https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22244121 https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22244068 Colombia -- 93 species/7hrs: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22244175 Panama -- 93 species/6hrs; https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263050 Costa Rica -- 60 species/6hrs (even though it was a wet day!) https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263523 Belize -- 77 species/6hrs https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263692 https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263017 Cozumel -- 70 species/ 5 hrs. https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263352 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah53 Posted August 28, 2017 #116 Share Posted August 28, 2017 Thanks Cinda for ebird reports, I am so impressed with them, so many birds that I now need to research to have some idea of what they look like. Any day with over 50 birds is a great birding day and these lists are fantastic. Also watched some of Ken's videos and they are great. This cruise and birding will be wonderful for us. Thanks alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now