Blackbirds aka Grackles (Quiscalus lugubris)

Blackbirds are to be found all over Barbados, and they move in flocks, so it would be unlikely for you to see one bird by itself. They are just about 8 inches from the tip of the beak to the tail and have a varied appetite for insects, small frogs, lizards and even giant african snails. I sit on my deck and watch them moving forward like a little army, s they delicately toss aside leaves to reveal a possible delicacy sheltering underneath from the sun and waiting to become blackbird lunch.

 

What we all know about blackbirds is that they are noisy. And since there are always a lot of them together, the noise is quite noticeable. They love to nest in immortelle trees, and if a cat should venture forth in their direction or something startle them, the cacophony of sound as the birds rise from the tree as one is quite startling.

 

Blackbirds can be quite aggressive when they are nesting, and if you get too close, whether accidentally or otherwise, they will dive bomb you close enough that the wings may touch your head. I have seen them dive bomb one of my cats too, who was minding his own business and not the least bit interested in them, but was traumatised for years afterwards and ran when any bird flew too close to him.

 

I like to watch the blackbirds in flight too – their tail both rudder and brake. As they come

Blackbirds in flight

into land, the tail dips down hard like the flaps on a plane, and when they in full flight, the tail is more vertical and serves as a rudder. Quite fascinating to watch. And if you see what looks like slightly larger and more slender sparrows mixed in with the blackbirds, chances are those are the female blackbirds that are actually dark brown in colour and of a similar size as the males.

 

Rest assured, male and female are always busy.

Cane Toad (Bufo marinus)

Barbados has more than it’s fair share of frogs and toads, and the cane toad is particularly common. They seem to flourish even in the driest of dry seasons, and as soon as a few drops of rain fall from the sky, they suddenly appear, seemingly from nowhere.

 

The one pictured here was not particularly large, about 5 inches from nose to tail and, surprisingly, appeared in the middle of the day and was on it’s way to a shadier location – they won’t move until they are good and ready!

 

Cane toads seem to eat just about anything. Their poop is quite generously proportioned, and as it disintegrates, it’s easy to see the remains of millipedes and cockroaches and beetles, so they serve a very useful purpose in keeping insects under control, but at the same time, they poop everywhere and make quite a mess. And they burrow down into the soil or grass to avoid the heat of the day, and that includes jumping into plant pots and generally making a mess and even uprooting young plants. They can easily find their way into a pot that is 20” high.

 

If you put out food for your dogs and the frogs get there first, the dogs might go hungry – fortunately most of them learnt at an early age not to interfere with these poisonous amphibians as many a puppy has died from ingesting the toxin when “playing” with a toad.

 

I remember as children hearing the bull frogs, as we call the male toads, croaking away all night long as they tried to attract a mate, a very recognisable sound, but we don’t seem to hear that so much now, or maybe there’s too much other noise at night nowadays to block it out.

 

Cane toads have been around for thousands of years and have a knack for surviving all sorts of harsh conditions, and are now considered pests in many countries. I don’t think they are going to be disappearing anytime soon.

Sunset

It’s not exactly nature, but I thought it would be a nice way to close out the month of May – a series of photographs of an unusual, but very beautiful (I think), sunset here in Barbados.