Our seventh and penultimate landing on the Saga Caribbean Calypso cruise was Nevis, the smaller island of St Kitts and Nevis. The two islands are just over one hundred square miles in size. The population is around forty-eight thousand, with around one quarter living on the smaller island of Nevis. As usual, we were on deck at dawn for the final approach into Charlestown, the main town on Nevis. A Red-billed Tropicbird and a probable Loggerhead Turtle were the highlights of this final approach.
Being a small island, we couldn't dock the ship. Therefore, like our visit to Bequia, the Spirit of Discovery anchored in the bay and we were transported ashore on the ship's lifeboat tenders. The priority for going ashore was, those passengers who were on all day tours first, followed by the remaining passengers and finally the entertainers, including the ORCA team, and the crew. Knowing there would be a reasonable delay before we were allowed to disembark, Jan suggested that we had a Wildlife Hour on the top deck where we invited the passengers to join us to see what we could see. We didn't see any Cetaceans, but enjoyed some Magnificent Frigatebirds, Royal Terns and Brown Pelicans, as well as, some passenger engagement with passengers we hadn't met before.
Once our top deck session was over, it was time for me to head ashore.
There was only one potential Tick on Nevis for me: the difficult and shy Bridled Quail-dove. There are eBird records from the few trails around the lower slopes of Nevis Peak. There didn't seem to be any particular trail that was any better than the other, so I opted for the Heritage Trail to the Montravers Estate. This is an old sugar cane estate, which dates to the mid-18th Century. It has been abandoned for decades and has reverted to dry secondary forest. It was about a mile walk through the town to the start of the Heritage Trail. There were a few Birds to photograph along the way.
Finally, I reached the Heritage Trail. Initially, it passed through dry secondary forest along what must have been the old cart track to the plantation.
After nearly a mile's walk, I reached the ruined estate buildings. The buildings are behind locked gates and so I didn't have the opportunity to have a look around them.
This higher, damper forest was probably a better area to find a Bridled Quail-dove. But it was around lunchtime and that isn't a good time of day to look for shy Doves. I carried on up the trail past the house. But unfortunately, the public trail ran out after another hundred metres into private land. I found some short side trails to explore, but they were pretty quiet. It was time to wander back to the town.
I got back to the ship in time for a late afternoon snack, as I had missed lunch. Then it was time to head to the top deck and rejoin Jan, Charlotte and Terry to get a final hour of surveying in as we left Nevis. Unfortunately, it didn't produce any Dolphins.