BIRDING NEWS :- From Barbados, a four hour pelagic on 18th April produced 2 BLACK CAPPED PETRELS  ( 1st for Barbados) - 7 miles and 6 miles offshore respectively. Also seen were an adult  POMARINE SKUA and 2 SOOTY/BRIDLED TERNS - 7 miles off and a further SOOTY/BRIDLED TERN - 5 miles off. Frustrastingly, an all dark PETREL sp (probably a pterodoma) was seen distantly - 9 miles offshore. A further pelagic on 28th April yielded a STORM PETREL sp- 5 miles out; a probable LONG TAILED JAEGER - 6 miles out and up to 8 SOOTY/BRIDLED TERNS. On 21st April a 5 hour sea-watch on the south coast produced 1 WILLET and nothing else. On 26th April at Congo Road swamp there were 7 STILT SANDPIPERS, 1 WILSON'S SNIPE and an assortment of "calidris" waders. At Marshall's Swamp all 3 pairs of CARIBBEAN COOTS present are incubating/ sitting on nests. One REEVE was also located. Also 60+ MOORHEN, 1 BLUE WINGED TEAL and 1 PIED BILLED GREBE. On 1st May, one BLACK SWIFT had returned to the regular site in St. Joseph. Also an OSPREY fishing along the East Coast is a late stayer.

From the west coast of Trinidad, on 3rd May t Brickfields a RUFOUS CRAB-HAWK was found. A survey of the shorebirds present both on 3rd and 5th May produced  499 BLACK SKIMMERS 250 LAUGHING GULLS 6 YELLOW BILLED TERNS, 6 LARGE BILLED TERNS,  4 CAYENNE TERNS,  26 ROYAL TERNS,  27 GREAT WHITE EGRETS,  51 RED KNOT - many in summer plumage and considerable numbers of both WESTERN and SEMI PALMATED SANDPIPERS.

In southwest Trinidad, 4 GREATER ANI in a garden near Penal on 19th Apr was particularly unusual as the nearest mangrove is some 2 miles away.

In eastern Trinidad, a RUFESCENT TIGER-HERON was watched at length west of Kernaham on 22nd Apr. On 27th Apr, a SWALLOW TAILED KITE flew across the coastal road north of Mayaro. On 3rd May, an early morning surveying the western perimeter of Nariva swamp produced a STRIPE BACKED BITTERN (1st record for Nariva), a PINNATED BITTERN, a COCOI HERON, 3 PLAIN BREASTED GROUND-DOVES, a BARN OWL and an adult male RUDDY BREASTED SEEDEATER.

In north east Trinidad, a 4 hr seawatch from Galera Pt on 1st May produced a white morph RED FOOTED BOOBY, 1 BROWN BOOBY, 25 WHIMBREL, and 17 ROSEATE TERNS.

In the northern range of Trinidad, a probable LINED QUAIL-DOVE was found close to the summit of El Tucuche on 12 Apr.

In Tobago, both SOOTY and BRIDLED TERNS reappeared for the summer on Smith Is on 25th Apr. The following day a BLACKPOLL WARBLER was reported from the grounds of the Coco Reef hotel and a SCARLET TANAGER was found in the central range.

From St Maarten recent sightings include a PURPLE GALLINULE at Fresh Pond on 22nd March and an adult male SCARLET TANAGER on Sentry Hill, 20th Apr. On 28 Apr a LITTLE Egret (1st for St Maarten) and 4400 LAUGHING GULLS were counted in the Saltpond..

During a count in Fresh Pond on 30 Apr GREAT WHITE EGRETS were seen on nests (2nd breeding record for St Maarten - first recorded in 2000 on Madame Estate). Two nests were finished with birds in situ, and two nests were being built.

In Grenada during the last week A BLACKPOLL WARBLER was found on Mt Harman; RUDDY DUCKS and BLACK CROWNED NIGHT-HERON were seen at Lake Antoine; an AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER in the Mourne Rouge Bay area and a  SWALLOW TAILED KITE from the north of the island were also reported. Finally there have been a number of SANDWICH TERNS seen from the west coast.

In St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, a male SCARLET TANAGER fatally crashed into a window in late April. Following heavy rains in late April, LEAST GREBE numbers appear to be declining in St. Thomas; only three were found on 1 May, including a nest-building pair at Bordeaux and a lone individual at Red Hook. WHITE-CHEEKED PINTAIL numbers also declined at the two major resorts (Sugar Bay and Sapphire Bay), where only 33 were tallied on 2 May, and have spread out in small numbers to the many freshwater ponds and salt ponds. WHITE-WINGED DOVE numbers have reportedly declined at the feeder in Red Hook, where only two were seen on 1 May; single birds were also noted the same day at Bovoni Bay and Turpentine Run. A TRICOLORED HERON at Turpentine Run on 1 May was unexpected. A leucistic BANANAQUIT showed up at a feeder in Red Hook on 7 April.

In St. John, US Virgin Islands, a male SCARLET TANAGER was seen at Chocolate Hole on 23 April. On 1 May, a pair of LITTLE BLUE HERONS and a pair of YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS were found nesting at Reef Bay.

ORNITHOLOGICAL TIDBIT: The following abstract is from: Temple, S. A. 2002. Extinction-prone birds of Trinidad and Tobago: making predictions from theory. Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Occasional Paper 11:180-193. Theory suggests that vulnerability to extinction can be predicted, in a general way, on the basis of certain risk factors associated with a bird''s life history and ecology. Using information about these risk factors, taken mostly from Richard ffrench''s A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, I used a multiple logistic regression model to predict the relative vulnerability of the landbirds of Trinidad and Tobago to extinction. The results were compared with other lists of threatened bird species for Trinidad and Tobago. The birds predicted to have the highest risks of extinction seem likely to become threatened species, and they should be the targets of additional study and, possibly, conservation planning.