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Hotel
grounds from our balcony
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Reception
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Set in 22 acres of land, and
situated on the beach, the hotel is in itself an enjoyable location to see birds.
The immediate area outside of the hotel grounds was not worked, but seems to be
fairly busy, with a main road alongside, and a reasonable amount of habitation.
The hotel grounds are well
manicured, but there are a good variety of trees and flowering shrubs
throughout. Caribbean Grackle, Zenaida Dove, Lesser Antillean Bullfinch,
Bananaquit, Grey Kingbird, and Tropical Mockingbird are very common throughout,
and can even be seen pilfering within the restaurants and from the room
balconies.

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The
adult pool
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View
from the adult pool
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There is a choice of two
swimming pools – a larger one situated right next to the main bar, which we
kept our distance from, and a smaller adults only pool at the top of the
resort. This was an excellent spot – no kids, fairly quiet, and the raised deck
directly overlooked the surrounding woods, with some trees within the perimeter
fence also of value. From one sun lounger I saw all three species of
hummingbird, Scaly-breasted Thrasher, Green Heron, American Kestrel, and Lesser
Antillean Saltator.

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The
beach
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Semipalmated
Plover
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Sitting on the beach could also
provide plenty of interest. A few waders braved the crowds (Turnstone,
Semipalmated plover, and Spotted Sandpiper), and were usually best early
morning. Most numerous herons were Cattle Egrets, particularly before sunset
when they would fly by in good numbers going to roost. A handful of Little Blue
Herons also went to roost at this time, usually flying much lower over the
water than the Cattle Egrets. Further out to sea, Brown Boobies were often seen
plying to and fro, and occasional Brown Noddies were a little further out. Two
raptors (of the 3 on the island) were also from the beach – occasional Osprey
over, and a female American Kestrel occasionally hunted the area (successfully)
for small lizards.

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Antillean
Crested Hummingbird
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Bananaquit
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Male
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch
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Female
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch
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Black-faced
Grassquit
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Common
Ground-dove
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Carib
Grackle
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Green
Heron
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Grey
Kingbird
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Zenaida
Dove
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Tropical
Mockingbird
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Scaly-breasted
Thrasher
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