Birding - 26/03/09 - St. Lucia

A huge marine (or cane) toad Bufo marinus loafing on the hotel lawn - a loathsome introduction to the fauna of the island

The tiny piping frog Eleutherodactylus johnstonei is actually native

Today saw us make a leisurely start and head down south to Soufriere. Birds en route included my first Saint Lucia oriole - another one of the endemics. We also saw our first laughing gulls along the coast. The afternoon was spent checking out the volcanic vent (lots of steam and bubbling mud) and then snorkelling (in the sea!). Light rain after dinner created ideal conditions for a spot of frogging and we quickly tracked down the ridiculously small piping frog as well as the huge marine (or cane) toad. Another amphibian called from the sub-canopy and remained unseen, presumably the introduced tree-frog Scinax rubra.