The morning was sunny and a bit breezy and the migrant warblers didn't disappoint as we walked along a lightly traveled road with mangroves on one side and backyard gardens on the other. We saw over a dozen warbler species including Cape May, Palm, Prairie, Yellow-throated, and Magnolia Warblers, Northern Parulas, Northern Waterthrushes, Ovenbirds, and others. We also get our first looks at Greater Antillean Bullfinches, Bananaquits, Black-cowled Orioles, and Black-faced Grassquits.

Before leaving the settlement we scanned the mangroves for water birds and a sharp eye in the group spotted a Pied-billed Grebe as someone else sighted an Osprey circling overhead. Perhaps the best bird of the day was a Summer Tanager, a decidedly rare winter resident in the West Indies. The afternoon of this day was set aside for catching-up on sleep and/or taking the complimentary resort course for guests that are not certified SCUBA divers. Following an afternoon on the dock learning how to dive the next step for the interested guest is a shallow check-out dive, followed by an intermediate depth dive. After completing the second dive you are able to do all the dives that Small Hope offers. This is a great opportunity to experience SCUBA diving without having to spend several hundred dollars to get certified.

As always on Andros in the winter, there are migrant warblers: Prairie, Yellow-throated, and Black-throated Blue Warblers were most memorable today. In the afternoon, several members of the group helped me set-up the mist nets that we will be operating for the next three mornings. The nets are arranged in a line almost 200 meters long a short walk from the resort. The birds that are caught in the nets will be identified and marked with numbered aluminum leg bands. The netting does not harm the birds captured and recaptures of marked birds allows one to make estimates of survival rates and reproductive success. The intention of the netting project is to monitor migrant and resident bird populations by sampling them every year in the same place in January. The opportunity to assist in mist-netting activities, which every participant did and will be able to do in the future, is an experience of a lifetime for many.

Jan 13-15, mornings

During the three mornings of netting we caught 68 individual birds of 21 species. Eleven of these species are Neotropical migrants including the difficult to observe Black-and-White, Worm-eating and Swainson's Warblers. We also caught several LaSagra's Flycatchers and Thick-billed Vireos and two Red-legged Thrushes. We didn't catch a Great Lizard Cuckoo but heard several near the nets. We should catch these individuals next year. A film crew from Nassau captured some of our activities on video and these images should show-up on a nationally televised program on eco-tourism later in the year.

Jan 14, afternoon

We were on the water this afternoon for a three hour trip into the interior of the island via Fresh Creek, guided by the islands chief councillor, Peter Douglas. This was one of the highlights of the trip for some in the group. Andros is so vast and unspoiled! We saw several species of water birds including Reddish Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Belted Kingfishers, Osprey, and one lone Northern Shoveler. There was talk of dinner on Peter's houseboat next year after the trip to eat seafood and watch the wading birds flying to roost!

In the vegetation around the pond we saw a lone Savannah Sparrow and gobs of Yellow-rumped Warblers. The highlight of the airport stop for most, however, was hearing the prehistoric sounding calls of the resident Limpkins and getting a rare look at one before it snuck off into the underbrush. We made it to Red Bays about midmorning and met eighty-year-old Mrs. Amelia Marshall, the matriarch of the settlement, in her house working on baskets. Not only did she start basket weaving in the settlement but she is also a retired "granny" or mid-wife. She recalled some of her experiences as a mid-wife to the delight of the health care workers in the group. She has so much valuable information to share; I always lament that I can not spend an extended period of time with her recording her stories. The major objective of the trip to Red Bays was not only to meet Mrs. Marshall and some of the other basket weavers but also to buy some of these works of art.

Although the baskets are sold for a fraction of the price you would pay for them in Nassau or the states, there is no middleman when buying direct from the artisans and all the money goes to the people of Red Bays. It is so satisfying to know the place and people behind a basket that sits in your house. Every time you look at it you can take a brief trip back to the islands remembering the sights and sounds of the settlement. After lunch back at the resort , we headed to the Fresh Creek airport south of Small Hope to find the endemic Bahama Woodstar hummingbird. This hummingbird species is much less common on Andros than the Cuban Emerald but I knew where to find one. There was a female defending a patch of pigeon pea flowers near the airport parking lot several days ago and she was there when we arrived. Everyone got good looks. There are some brackish ponds along the road between the airport and the resort and scanning them from the road we see Least and Pied-billed Grebes, Lesser Scaup, and White Ibises. A beach walk in the late afternoon produced a small flock of Lesser Yellowlegs; the ninetieth species of the trip!