27 Oct - 3 Nov 2003
Matt Victoria

 

Just returned from a trip to Aruba, NA Oct-27
to Nov-3rd. I managed 68 species, possibly 69. Anyway, I got some of the best photos I have ever taken of birds while on Aruba. The arid scrub seems to make the birds VERY confiding. My List is below, the following
symbols are key:

! - lifer

* - photographed

CAPS - rarity


1. Pied-billed Grebe *
2. Brown Pelican *
3. Magnificent Frigatebird
4. Neotropic Cormorant *
5. Brown Booby
6. Great Blue Heron *
7. Great Egret *
8. Tri-colored Heron *
9. Little Blue Heron
10. Cattle Egret *
11. Green Heron *
12. Black-crowned Night-heron *
13. Yellow-crowned Night-heron
14. White-cheeked Pintail *
15. Northern Shoveler
16. Blue-winged Teal
17. Osprey *
18. American Kestrel *
19. Merlin
20. Peregrine Falcon
21. Crested Caracara *
22. Crested Bobwhite
23. Common Moorhen *
24. Caribbean Coot *
25. Sora *
26. Black-bellied Plover *
27. Semipalmated Plover
28. Killdeer
29. Black-necked Stilt *
30. Greater Yellowlegs *
31. Lesser Yellowlegs *
32. Spotted Sandpiper
33. Whimbrel *
34. Ruddy Turnstone *
35. Sanderling *
36. Pectoral Sandpiper *
37. Least Sandpiper
38. Short-billed Dowitcher *
39. Wilsons Snipe *
40. Laughing Gull *
41. Royal Tern *
42. Sandwich Tern * and Cayenne Tern *
43. Common Tern *
44. Rock Pigeon
45. Bare-eyed Pigeon *
46. Eared Dove *
47. Common Ground-dove *
48. Brown-throated Parakeet *
49. Yellow-billed Cuckoo *
50. Groove-billed Ani *
51. BURROWING OWL ! *
52. Belted Kingfisher
53. Brown-crested Flycatcher
54. Cliff Swallow
55. Barn Swallow
56. Tropical Mockingbird *
57. TENNESSEE WARBLER *
58. "Mangrove" Yellow Warbler *
59. Blackpoll Warbler *
60. American Redstart
61. Northern Waterthrush
62. KENTUCKY WARBLER
63. Bananaquit *
64. Black-faced Grassquit *
65. Troupial *
66. Carib Grackle *
67. Saffron Finch *
68. House Sparrow

Big misses include Hummingbirds, Nightjars, White-tipped Dove,
Rufous-collared Sparrow and Yellow Oriole. This was night and day
different than birding Curacao!! Oh well, best to remember that this
wasn't a Birding trip... I went to Bubali Bird sanctuary for about 1
hour on 3 different days. Other spots I found myself, its pretty easy
actually...