Warblers on a trip to the eastern Caribbean

Yellow Warbler (Martinique subspecies), Reserve Naturelle de La Caravelle, Martinique, Dec 13, 2017

Yellow Warbler (Martinique subspecies), Reserve Naturelle de La Caravelle, Martinique, Dec 13, 2017

Yellow Warbler (Barbados subspecies), Grahme Hall Nature Sanctuary, Barbados, Dec 14, 2017

Just back from a cruise from San Juan which made stops at a variety of islands in the Caribbean including St. Kitts, Antigua, Martinique, Barbados and Grenada. The original itinerary had stops in St Martin, St Croix and Dominica but the extensive hurricane damage to those islands resulted in a change of stops. This change unfortunately meant no chance to get the near endemic Plumbeous Warbler on Dominica.

 A non birding trip around St. Kitts produced two warblers, a Yellow Warbler that darted through the undergrowth along a roadside thicket (didn't get a good enough view to ID to subspecies) and a Louisiana Waterthrush along a rainforest stream in the hills (apparently quite unusual on the island).

Looking toward Barbuda (and Barbuda Warblers), offshore Antigua, Dec 12, 2017

The trip to the beach at Antigua produced two migrant warblers- Black and White Warbler and Northern Parula.  I tried to figure out a way to get myself over to Barbuda to find the endemic Barbuda Warbler but due to time constraints, the distance to the island and the continued fact that the island is not back open to the general public, it was not to be on this trip.

Yellow Warbler (Martinique subspecies), Reserve Naturelle de La Caravelle, Martinique, Dec 13, 2017

My first true birding day was on Martinique where I got several great looks at the local subspecies of Yellow Warbler with its all maroon head.  Although put in the 'golden yellow warbler' subspecies group it looks much more like a bird from the 'mangrove yellow warbler' group.

Yellow Warbler (Barbados subspecies), Grahme Hall Nature Sanctuary, Barbados, Dec 14, 2017

Yellow Warbler (Barbados subspecies), Grahme Hall Nature Sanctuary, Barbados, Dec 14, 2017

On the next stop in Barbados I headed over to Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary where I eventually caught up with the endangered local subspecies of Yellow Warbler and managed to get a few photos of it.

The final stop of the cruise was to the island of Grenada where the only species of warbler I was able to find was a Northern Waterthrush in a mangrove on the southwest coast. Overall for the trip I found five species of warblers: Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Waterthrush, Black and White Warbler, Northern Parula and Yellow Warbler (including multiple island specific subspecies).