This post stretches the legitimacy geographically for UVB, but because 
it includes 2 North American migrants, I thought it might be of 
interest.  I just returned to Santo Domingo, DR from a 3-day trip to 
Sierra Bahoruco on the Haitian border.  We hiked a fairly narrow, and 
ever-dwindling band of lush cloud forest at ~1600 meters elevation.  
This forest type, which harbors some of Hispaniola's highest 
biodiversity and is the preferred winter habitat of Bicknell's Thrush, 
is under serious assault from many forces.  In this particular area on 
the southern slopes of Bahoruco, the main threat is commercial avocado 
farming.  It's a long and complicated story, but VCE and our local 
partners will focus conservation efforts here in the months ahead.  It's 
a completely untenable situation, the very definition of an ecological 
crisis.

Chris

Los Arroyos birding trail,
Feb 15, 2014 11:15 AM - 4:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 kilometer(s)

Red-tailed Hawk  1
Scaly-naped Pigeon  2
Zenaida Dove  2
Hispaniolan Emerald  4
Hispaniolan Trogon  3
Narrow-billed Tody  7
Hispaniolan Woodpecker  5
Hispaniolan Parrot  2
Greater Antillean Elaenia  2
Hispaniolan Pewee  4
Golden Swallow  4
Rufous-throated Solitaire  11     Ten singing individuals, 1 visual
Bicknell's Thrush  5
Black-throated Blue Warbler  18
Pine Warbler  1
Hispaniolan Highland-Tanager  4
Green-tailed Ground-Tanager  1
Bananaquit  2
Greater Antillean Bullfinch  1
Black-crowned Palm-Tanager  4
Western Chat-Tanager  1
Hispaniolan Spindalis  3
Antillean Euphonia  2
Antillean Siskin  6

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17063704

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