Vacation Birding
We just got back from a week in Curaçao and I took some time while we were there to take some pictures of the local birds around our hotel.
This is a Bananaquit. They would hang out in the bar and fly onto the soda fountain to sip from the nozzle.
Bare-eyed Pigeon. They were everywhere. This one was hanging out by the Macaw cage eating their food.
Even more common than the pigeons were these Common Ground Doves.
This is, I believe, an immature male Eared Dove. They had a nest in a bush.
These are parrots. I would only see them flying very fast, and very noisily, past the hotel. I got this shot also from the lounge balcony.
A Saffron Finch.
Yellow Warbler.
Tropical Mockingbird. Very similar in appearance and behavior to the Northern Mockingbirds we have around here.
My favorite of the vacation birds - the Venezuelan Troupial. Besides looking so spectacular, they sing beautifully.
So those are the birds I was able to get pictures of. There were a few more I saw that I didn't bother or wasn't able to get pictures of. House Sparrows were everywhere. There was another kind of pigeon in the downtown area that looked a lot like the downtown pigeons everywhere - kind of greasy and beat-up looking. The only one I really wanted to get a picture of but missed was the Caracara. We took a drive around the island and saw several near the large national park. One landed on the side of the road just in front of us. But I was driving, so no pictures, and I wasn't able to get back out to that part of the island. I'd say "next time," but I have a feeling that's our last trip to Curaçao.
We had a nice vacation. It was good. Not great. No offense to any Curaçaoans out there, but the island just didn't do it for us. Wendy enjoyed the beach. Maxine liked watching Tom and Jerry videos on her portable DVD player in the room (and swimming in the pool) and I really enjoyed the wildlife. Birding, my little hobby back home, was one of the best parts of my trip.
Just about anytime you looked up you'd see one or two of these soaring high above. Wendy got this picture from the fifth floor lounge balcony. Its name is worth the price of the trip: the Magnificent Frigatebird.
So those are the birds I was able to get pictures of. There were a few more I saw that I didn't bother or wasn't able to get pictures of. House Sparrows were everywhere. There was another kind of pigeon in the downtown area that looked a lot like the downtown pigeons everywhere - kind of greasy and beat-up looking. The only one I really wanted to get a picture of but missed was the Caracara. We took a drive around the island and saw several near the large national park. One landed on the side of the road just in front of us. But I was driving, so no pictures, and I wasn't able to get back out to that part of the island. I'd say "next time," but I have a feeling that's our last trip to Curaçao.
We had a nice vacation. It was good. Not great. No offense to any Curaçaoans out there, but the island just didn't do it for us. Wendy enjoyed the beach. Maxine liked watching Tom and Jerry videos on her portable DVD player in the room (and swimming in the pool) and I really enjoyed the wildlife. Birding, my little hobby back home, was one of the best parts of my trip.
When we went to St. Whatever, the first question I asked anyone on the island was what those (mag frigate) birds were called.
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