Community birdwatchers helped tally nearly 500 birds across 17 species on Valentine’s Day during the Anguilla National Trust’s count.
Forty people – the most to date – attended the two-hour afternoon event at Road Salt Pond on 14 February as part of this year’s World Wetlands Day celebrations.
It was Anguilla’s contribution to the 17th annual Caribbean Waterbird Census – a partnership of regional organisations, communities and individuals that monitor waterbirds.
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A spokesperson for the Anguilla National Trust said in a Facebook post: “What an afternoon! We spent Valentine’s Day showing Anguilla’s birds some much deserved love.”
They added: “Anguilla’s birdlife is an incredibly important part of our island’s biodiversity – their numbers have led to our wetlands being globally recognised as important bird areas and key biodiversity areas.”
The Anguilla National Trust said Road Salt Pond, in particular, is supported by the UK government’s Biodiversity Challenge Funds and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The spokesperson described it as “one of Anguilla’s important bird and biodiversity areas, where hundreds of birds congregate every month to forage, nest and rest”.
The conservation and heritage organisation is working with the Sandy Ground community, the government and multiple international partners to conserve, protect and manage the “spectacular area”.
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