From atop a freshly painted wooden tower, residents took turns peering through binoculars at the salt pond in Josiahs Bay on Saturday morning.
Along the far shore, about eight flamingos waded through the water, apparently unconcerned with the onlookers facing in their direction.
Standing more than 10 feet high, the covered platform was erected by the Humane Society of the BVI on the grounds of its nearly completed new animal shelter.
“It’s amazing,” said Nancy Woodfield-Pascoe, a humane society board member. “You know, in addition to the flamingos, there’s loads of ducks and so many other wetland birds that you can see through there.”
Darwin grant
Financed separately from the animal shelter, the tower was funded by a grant of £26,887 (about $36,000) from Darwin Plus, a United Kingdom programme that supports environmental initiatives in the British overseas territories.
Already, tourism operators are planning to bring visitors, according to Ms. Woodfield-Pascoe.
“Basically, people can come and we’re gonna charge $5,” she said. “We’re going to have a fixed binocular scope, and I have a sign with all the most common birds seen on the pond.”
Though residents won’t be charged the $5 entrance fee, Ms. Woodfield-Pascoe hopes that tour operators will bring enough visitors to support the operating costs of the lookout and animal shelter.
“We had the shipping agents and [the BVI Tourist Board] and tour operators yesterday,” she said Monday. “And then I’m coming again [today], because one person couldn’t come.”
the public, with tour operators already planning to bring visitors. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
The tower is designed to fill a need in the territory. Birders, she said, have few places to observe the territory’s abundant avian wildlife.
“People are always asking for people to give bird tours, because there really isn’t anybody here,” she said. “Like, it’s just [the National Parks Trust] who are doing the bird work.”
Ms. Woodfield-Pascoe, who is the deputy director of the NPT, said the humane society held a public tender process for the construction of the tower.
“We did it as an open tender and invited people to bid,” she said. “And then we had external people review the bids.”
After paying the contractor, the board was able to set aside enough money from the grant to outfit the bird blind with the needed equipment.
“The project funding included the structure, you know, the nice gravel trail — because as you see, it gets really muddy because it’s waterlogged from the salt pond,” she said. “So it’s a really nice experience to go down there.”
Though the binoculars haven’t yet been installed, Ms. Woodfield Pascoe said they are on island.
While tour operators adjust their route planning to include the site, residents will have it all to themselves.
But she advised anyone who visits to be as quiet as possible.
“You don’t really want more than 10 people because of noise,” she said. “Otherwise, you’re not gonna see anything because it’s too noisy. So it can take more people — you can take 15 to 20 people — but you’re not gonna see anything if they’re all talking.”
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