March 28 - April 8, 2011
Kathy and Steve Abbott

 

 

We found the Island to be very lush and green this year, as they had a lot of rain. It was a nice change from the very dry conditions of last year. The birds seemed to be more spread out, but we felt the number of birds continues to decline. The people are working hard to control the Boa population and protect wildlife. Aruba Birdlife Conservation Foundation
conducted its first backyard bird count on March 18, 2011, and sent forms
home with the school children to participate. It is nice to see how far they
have come in the 17 years we have been visiting!

The lookout tower at Bubali has been repaired, so we felt better being up
there.  The spillway offers a nice view out to the water, but the wind
really blows through there.  The Butterfly Farm is working on making an
opening to the water, which may also provide a good birding spot.

We spent the first three days of our trip at Club Arias in Savaneta, and
birded the north end of the island and Arikok National Park.

Here is our list of bird sighting from our trip to Aruba this year!

Within Club Arias:
Blue-tailed Emerald 2
Yellow Oriole 2
Troupial 3
Eared Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Bare-eyed Pigeon 150+ roosting in cactus
Bananaquit

 

                                                     Bananaquit by Kathy & Steve Abbott                            

Tropical Mockingbird
Carib Grackle
Black-faced Grassquit
Crested Caracara (flying)
Magnificent Frigatebird (flying)
House Sparrow

Baby Beach and Rogers Beach:
Sandwich/Cayenne Tern 100's
Royal Tern 4
Laughing Gull 100's
Brown Pelican
Brown Noddy (flying)
Sooty Tern (flying)
Neotropic Cormorant

Arikok National Park:
Shiny Cowbird 5
Brown-throated Parakeet 4
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
American Kestrel
Troupial Oriole 7
Tropical Mockingbird 12
Black-faced Grassquit
Bananaquit
Crested Caracara 1
Bare-eyed Pigeon 75+

                               Bare-eyed Pigeon by Kathy & Steve Abbott

Common Ground Dove
Carib Grackle
Eared Dove
Rock Dove

(Notable misses this year)
Burrowing Owl
Yellow Oriole (we hiked for 4 hours looking for them only to find them in
the courtyard where we were stayingJ)
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Blue-tailed Emerald

Spanish Lagoon (very quick stop to look for kingbirds)
Gray Kingbird 2
Yellow Warbler 2
Carib Grackle
Tropical Mockingbird
House Sparrow

April 1 to April 8 - we birded from Oranjestad to California Light while
staying at La Cabana and Eagle Beach

Troupial 2
Saffron Finch 2
Eared Dove
Common Ground-Dove
House Sparrow
Carib Grackle
Tropical Mockingbird
Yellow Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone
Brown Pelican
Magnificent Frigatebird
Laughing Gull
Sandwich "Cayenne"Tern

                                  Sandwich Terns by Kathy & Steve Abbott

Barn Swallow (only a few this year)
American Oystercatcher 1 (near the Phoenix on rocks)

Bubali and water treatment area:
White-cheeked Pintail 7
Blue-winged Teal 5
Common Moorhen
Caribbean Coot
Pied-billed Grebe 8
Neotropic Cormorant
Great Egret 2
Snowy Egrets 17
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned night Heron 5
Osprey 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Tri-colored Heron 1
Little Blue Heron
Greater Yellowleg
Yellow Warbler 3
Black-necked Stilt 5
Black-faced Grassquit
Brown-throated Parakeet 6

Area past Arashi Beach:
Cayenne Tern
Royal Tern 3
Common Tern 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Semipalmated Plover 1
Killdeer 2
Crested Bobwhite 4
Spotted Sandpiper 1

Tierra Del Sol Golf Course:
Groove-billed Ani 5 (these were one of the highlights of our trip.  We
usually only get a glimpse of these birds, but this family was on the lawn
feeding!)

Total species 53