August 11-27, 2012

Alf and Jeannine King

 

                                

 

 

Introduction

 

Aruba is neither a key nor special place for a birding holiday but offered the opportunity of plenty of sunshine and rest combined with a little recreational birding. The island is very small and not very fertile with a thinly scattered bird population and a few well-known main sites. During our two weeks there we didn’t encounter another birder although one or two people were interested (or puzzled) in what we were doing. A final trip list of 71 shows how few are the species to be found particularly outside of the main migration periods. Notable highlights were:

 

• An adult Wattled Jacana present at Bubali throughout. This hasn’t been previously recorded for Aruba as far as I can determine.
• An immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron seen clearly only once on a small litter strewn pool opposite the Grand East home and hardware store.
• A Roseate Tern still in breeding plumage on a reef near Malmok Beach
• Significant wader passage throughout the two weeks.

 

 

 

Wattled Jacana (Bubali)

 

Basics

 

We flew direct from Manchester (UK) with Thomson’s taking advantage of their Premium upgrade which resulted in very good and comfortable flights in both directions with just a small delay on the return journey due to an issue with luggage. Arrival, processing and luggage collection were very straightforward and we proceeded to collect our hire car from Avis. For some reason this was a very slow process but we eventually emerged in our stately Kia Cerato – not the newest of cars given that the island is barely 20km long and it had 64000 on the clock, and a cassette player in the dashboard; as with many things on Aruba it was also quite expensive.

 

Navigation is very straightforward even without many road signs, given the small size of the island. We quickly found our way to our accommodation at Paradera Park a very comfortable and friendly place offering apartments of various sizes together with a welcoming pool and all facilities. This met our preferences for self-catering accommodation perfectly.

 

 

Reddish Egret (Boardwalk pool)

 

Birding Resources

 

I was uncertain about what to take with me for the trip wondering if a telescope was really necessary and if a monopod would be better than a tripod. Fortunately I took both my ‘scope and tripod and they both were invaluable. The island has almost permanent strong winds (trade winds) which are very welcome in the heat of the day but make hand-held photography quite difficult and cause fairly shake ‘scope views when particularly strong.

 

A field guide exists in the form of Birds of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire by de Boer, Newton and Restall (Helm field guides). This is apparently extracted from the much larger birds of Venezuela by the same authors. It is a slim volume giving details of all of the birds likely to be found on the islands. The plates are a bit mixed with some having been described elsewhere as naïve but the information is useable enough and it was very light to carry around. I also had with me a Stokes guide to waders which did come in handy and, to anyone who is unfamiliar with waders (shorebirds) from this side of the Atlantic I would certainly recommend a reference book if visiting in a migration period.

 

The web site Aruba Birds was very useful and Jeff Wells also provided me with excellent information even whilst I was on the island and uncertain about accessing some sites. He is to publish a book on these sites which will hopefully be available soon.

 

Finally, wear a hat and carry plenty of water.

Birding Sites

 

There are only a few sites on the island that promise much in the way of birding although surprises may be found anywhere along the coast especially in migration season which had barely begun when we were there.

 

Bubali Bird Reserve

 

Although the status of this is uncertain it was the place that we visited most often. The main part is a conspicuous watchtower accessed via a dirt track opposite the large red windmill close to the Rui Hotel. The large wetlands are being rapidly encroached by extensive reed growth but a reasonable area can still be easily viewed from here. It is also possible to walk along a couple of indistinct tracks here in search of passerines but very few other than the common residents were to be found when we visited the island.

 

“Boardwalk Pool”

 

This pool didn’t appear to be named on any map but was quite productive and certainly always had birds of interest on all visits. It is just north of the Boardwalk hotel behind the Aruba Skydiving hut near Palm Beach. The pool is of variable size depending upon the seasons but is very shallow and attracted numerous waders whilst we were there, including our only sightings of Semi-palmated Plover. It held a flock of around 20 Black Skimmers of the Amazonian race when we were first there declining to five by our last visit.

 

Arikok NP

 

This is easily found by following the numerous road signs. The entry fee is $8 pp so it is worth getting there early (8.30 am opening) to get full advantage of the cooler weather. The Cunucu trail (about 4km) is very pleasant and the best for birding with most of the rest of the reserve being fairly inaccessible but also unattractive. The trail and the grounds around the visitor centre proved very good for Yellow Oriole, Burrowing Owl (on the bridge) and hummingbirds with lizards of various species being abundant. On our second visit here we were caught out in a storm and returned in a very bedraggled state indeed.

 

We explored driving the road down to the beach but I wouldn’t advise this unless you have a car with a high ground clearance. Easing your way through the 28 storm drains – there and back – is quite tedious if not a little hazardous.

 

 

Black Skimmer (Boardwalk Pool)

 

Roger’s Beach Islands

 

These reef islands in the south, opposite Roger’s Beach can be ‘scoped from the car park at an abandoned police station close to the refinery. As we were there outside of breeding season we only saw Brown Noddy but in season they would clearly be much more productive.

 

 

Tierra del Sol Salina

 

This is within the Tierra del Sol country club alongside the 15^th tee of the golf club, hence only accessible through the generosity of the club. When we visited we were asked to return at 10.00 am when it would be less busy on the course and we were kindly lent a buggy to drive ourselves out to the Salina. Unfortunately at that time it was dry but we still found our only Killdeer and Southern Lapwing of the trip.

 

 

Savaneta Pans

 

These disused salt pans can be found in the Savaneta settlement by parking carefully alongside the road. Clearly attractive to many waders they contained plenty of interest but nothing new when we visited but would repay repeat visits.

 

Spanish Lagoon

 

A difficult to find site close to the old gold mines at Balushi. The entrance to the parking area should be treated with great caution as there is a hazardous ditch to trap the unwary. Once again a pair of confiding Burrowing owls were here together with a host of fairly tame waders. Lizards and land snails could be found in abundance. A couple of trails looked promising so an early morning visit would be recommended.

 

 

Spotted Sandpiper (Bubali)

 

 

 

 

 

Crested Caracara (Arikok)

 

 

Species	Scientific Name	Site	Period Present	Numbers
Black-bellied Whistling Duck	Dendrocygna autumnalis	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Numerous
White-cheeked Pintail [sp]	Anas bahamensis	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Common
Pied-billed Grebe [sp]	Podilymbus podiceps	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Present
Magnificent Frigatebird	Fregata magnificens	Common	Throughout	Common
Neotropic Cormorant [sp]	Phalacrocorax brasilianus	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Numerous
Caribbean Brown Pelican	Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis	Common	Throughout	Common
American Great Egret	Ardea alba egretta	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Numerous
Snowy Egret [sp]	Egretta thula	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Numerous
Little Blue Heron	Egretta caerulea	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Present
Tricolored Heron [sp]	Egretta tricolor	Boardwalk Pool	Arrived  4/8 then remained throughout	Present
Reddish Egret [sp]	Egretta rufescens	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Present
Cattle Egret [sp]	Bubulcus ibis	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Scarce
Eastern Green Heron [group]	Butorides virescens virescens/bahamensis	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Common
American Black-crowned Night Heron	Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Numerous
Yellow-crowned Night Heron [sp]	Nyctanassa violacea	Aruba	Seen once on pool opposite Grand East store	Scarce
Osprey [sp]	Pandion haliaetus	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Singles only
Crested Caracara [sp]	Caracara cheriway	Arikok NP	Throughout	Locally common
American Kestrel [sp]	Falco sparverius	Aruba	Tierra del Sol GC and Abikok	Scarce
Common Gallinule [sp]	Gallinula galeata	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Locally numerous
Caribbean Coot	Fulica caribaea	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Present
Southern Lapwing [sp]	Vanellus chilensis	Tierra del Sol Golf Course	Throughout	Scarce
Grey Plover	Pluvialis squatarola	Boardwalk Pool	Arrived 5/8 then remained	Tow birds seen
American Golden Plover	Pluvialis dominica	Boardwalk Pool	Arrived 5/8 then departed	Single bird seen
Semipalmated Plover	Charadrius semipalmatus	Boardwalk Pool	Present  28/7 - not seen again	Three birds seen
Killdeer [sp]	Charadrius vociferus	Tierra del Sol Golf Course	Present	Two birds seen
American Oystercatcher [sp]	Haematopus palliatus	Boardwalk Pool	Present 28/7 - not seen again	Two birds seen
Black-necked Stilt [sp]	Himantopus mexicanus	Common	Throughout	Common
Wattled Jacana [sp]	Jacana jacana	Bubali Bird Reserve	throughout	Single adult
Spotted Sandpiper	Actitis macularius	Bubali Bird Reserve/Boardwalk Pool/Spanish Lagoon	Throughout	Present
Greater Yellowlegs	Tringa melanoleuca	Present on suitable habitat	Throughout	Numerous
Willet [sp]	Tringa semipalmata	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Three birds seen
Lesser Yellowlegs	Tringa flavipes	Common on suitable habitat	Throughout	Common
Whimbrel [sp]	Numenius phaeopus	Boardwalk Pool	Arrived 6/8	Single sighting
Ruddy Turnstone [sp]	Arenaria interpres	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Present
Semipalmated Sandpiper	Calidris pusilla	Boardwalk Pool	Present 28/7 - not seen again	Single sighting
Western Sandpiper	Calidris mauri	Boardwalk Pool/Spanish Lagoon	Present 28 till 30/7	Present
Least Sandpiper	Calidris minutilla	Common on suitable habitat	Throughout	Numerous
Pectoral Sandpiper	Calidris melanotos	Bubali Bird Reserve/Savaneta	Present throughout	Present
Short-billed Dowitcher [sp]	Limnodromus griseus	Boardwalk Pool	Present throughout	Two birds seen
Wilson's Snipe	Gallinago delicata	Arikok NP	Two birds flew over at 20ft on 2/8	Two birds seen
Laughing Gull [sp]	Leucophaeus atricilla	Common	Throughout	Numerous
Brown Noddy [sp]	Anous stolidus	Roger's Beach	Throughout	Present
Roseate Tern [sp]	Sterna dougallii	Exposed reefs	28 & 29/7	Two birds seen
Common Tern [sp]	Sterna hirundo	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Numerous
Royal Tern [sp]	Thalasseus maximus	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Numerous
Cayenne Tern	Thalasseus sandvicensis eurygnathus	Bubali Bird Reserve/Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Numerous
Amazon Skimmer	Rynchops niger cinerascens	Boardwalk Pool	Throughout	Present but declining in numbers from 28 to 6
Feral Pigeon	Columba livia 'feral'	Aruba	Throughout	Common
Bare-eyed Pigeon	Patagioenas corensis	Aruba	Throughout	Common
Eared Dove [vinaceorufa]	Zenaida auriculata vinaceorufa	Aruba	Throughout	Common
Common Ground Dove [albivitta]	Columbina passerina albivitta	Aruba	Throughout	Present
White-tipped Dove [verreauxi]	Leptotila verreauxi verreauxi	Arikok NP	Throughout	Scarce
Brown-throated Parakeet [arubensis]	Aratinga pertinax arubensis	Bubali Bird Reserve	Readily found	Numerous
Burrowing Owl [arubensis]	Athene cunicularia arubensis	Arikok NP/Spanish Lagoon	Readily found	Present
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird	Chrysolampis mosquitus	Arikok NP	Readily found	Present
Blue-tailed Emerald [caribaeus]	Chlorostilbon mellisugus caribaeus	Arikok NP	Readily found	Present
Northern Scrub Flycatcher [pallens]	Sublegatus arenarum pallens	Arikok NP	Readily found	Present
Brown-crested Flycatcher [tyrannulus]	Myiarchus tyrannulus tyrannulus	Arikok NP	Readily found	Present
Tropical Kingbird [sp]	Tyrannus melancholicus	Arikok NP	Two days only	Three birds seen
Collared Sand Martin [sp]	Riparia riparia	Bubali Bird Reserve	Two days only	Four birds seen
Barn Swallow [sp]	Hirundo rustica	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Numerous
Cliff Swallow [sp]	Petrochelidon pyrrhonota	Aruba	Two days only	Scarce
Tropical Mockingbird [rostratus]	Mimus gilvus rostratus	Common	Throughout	Common
Golden Warbler [rufopileata]	Setophaga petechia rufopileata	Bubali Bird Reserve/Arikok	Throughout	Numerous
Caribbean Bananaquit [uropygialis]	Coereba flaveola uropygialis	Common	Throughout	Ubiquitous
Black-faced Grassquit [sharpei]	Tiaris bicolor sharpei	Arikok NP	Throughout	Present
Carib Grackle [sp]	Quiscalus lugubris	All suitable habitat	Throughout	Common
Shiny Cowbird [sp]	Molothrus bonariensis	Bubali Bird Reserve	Throughout	Present
Venezuelan Troupial [ridgwayi]	Icterus icterus ridgwayi	Common	Throughout	Numerous
Yellow Oriole [curasoensis]	Icterus nigrogularis curasoensis	Arikok NP	Throughout	Sparse
House Sparrow [sp]	Passer domesticus	Aruba	Throughout	Numerous