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Archive for the ‘Pelicans + Tropic Birds’Feb 7, 10 Comments (0)
 Saffron Finch Good evening from Curacao. I am still down and out. My knee is really sore and super stiff making it very difficult to walk on. I was off today and ended up doing the same thing I did yesterday, NOTHING!!
Months ago I built a driftwood bird-feeder out back and since it’s introduction into the back yard it has been a big hit. I mainly only get two kinds of birds with the seed I am using, pigeons and finches. When I first put out the food and water in the morning we immediately get visited by approximately 30-50 pigeons that now live in a tree across the road, they just sit there and wait for me to put out the seed. After the “PIGS” leave, I again go out and put out more food for the waiting finches that immediately got pushed out of the way when the “PIGS” flew in! This is a Saffron Finch or as they say in Dutch and in Papiamentu a Saffraanvink. They say these birds were introduced to these islands in the 70’s by man but no one can quite pin that down for sure. I have around six pair of these colorful birds that now live here at the house, all are a little different in color. If we put out bread or food we always get the Troupials and the Yellow Orioles but the Troupials are too aggressive and seem to be mean towards the other birds so we tend not to feed them as much.
I’m out, we are headed to a friends for dinner, see you tomorrow, Barry
Jan 26, 10 Comments (0)
 Brown Pelican Good evening friends of the blog, tonight I have a request photo that was supposed to be sent out last week to a friend who asked for a Pelican photo. This is one of our many local Brown Pelicans that spend their days hanging out at the Sea Aquarium entertaining guests all day long. I once told Dutch who is the owner of the Aquarium that the Pelicans, Frigate Birds and the Iguanas get photographed more in one day then anything else on the property, maybe they should be part of the show?? There are more than half a dozen species of pelicans, but all of them have the famous throat pouch for which the birds are best known. These large birds use their elastic pouches to catch fish—though different species use it in different ways. Pelicans are found on many of the world’s coastlines and also along lakes and rivers. They are social birds and typically travel in flocks, often strung out in a line. They also breed in groups called colonies, which typically gather on islands. In North America, the brown pelican is endangered, but populations are recovering to some extent. The sea birds were devastated by chemical pesticides, such as DDT, which damaged the eggs of pelicans and many other species. The average life span in the wild is 10-25 years but can be longer. They have an unbelievable wing-span of almost 10 feet (3 meters) and can be 6 feet in length and weigh up to 30 pounds, that’s a big bird folks!!The Brown Pelican is the national bird of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and state bird of Louisiana. It is also one of the mascots of Tulane University and is on its seal because of the Louisiana connection.
Well the good news of the day for me is, I got my laptop back today thanks to a new friend traveling to Aruba and another friend bringing it from Aruba to Curacao today, talk about knowing the right people! Many, many thanks to all that helped get this to me, it started in Arizona then to Michigan, then to Virginia, then to Aruba and finally home to daddy! I was off today, I first took the dogs out for a morning of trail work and we re-opened a section of trail that has been closed due to broken glass and loose rocks but it’s open now. After I got home I then spent the whole day doing necessary errands around town, like grocery shopping, banking and the bike shop just to name a few. At 4:30 I took off on the bike and didn’t get home till 6:40. I had a really nice ride tonight joined by a bunch of friends and I only crashed once! Too much air in the front tire I am guessing??
That’s it, have a friend coming over in a minute, I have to go. Peace out, Barry
Jan 20, 10 Comments (0)
 Trupial in Curacao Good evening readers, here’s another beautiful trupial from high atop mount Christoffel. This flying beauty was sitting on a perch made of ball moss, air plants and epiphytic bromeliads. These trupials seem to eat just about anything they can find and this one here was hunting for insects or small lizards that hide in these bromeliads.
These little bromeliads he’s sitting on can also hold water for long periods of time meaning these trupials may also be also feeding on small frogs as well. I have watched these birds for years and they really are smart and aggressive, they love getting into trash and will chase off any other smaller birds. These birds also have the most unusual and beautiful sounds you will ever here, it’s so distinctive that no matter where you are when you hear it you know there’s a trupial near by.
That’s it for tonight, we all worked today, it was hot and windy!! See you soon, Barry
Jan 8, 10 Comments (0)
 Christoffel Trupial Hi everybody, Aimee here. We switched jobs for the evening. I am doing the photo of the day and Barry took the pups to the trail to do some upkeep maintenance. As you know yesterday we had such a great day, full of sweating and laughing and hiking, well today is full of sore muscles and great memories. Some days you would just like to do all over again, and that was one of them. But, what a great reason to be tired, huh? Today’s photo is like the treasure at the end of the rainbow. Or better, the trupial at the top of the mountain. These birds are common on the island and it has a beautiful distinctive call heard mostly in the morning. As you can see it is quite the eye-catcher with the black, white and orange feathers. There is even a very nice hotel named after this popular bird here on the island. We do see them all the time, especially on our trail where they prefer to hang out on cacti. However, just because we see them often does not mean they are easy to photograph! We have been here for more than five years and yesterday we hit the jackpot on finally getting some great trupial shots! So, as Emily and I were catching our breath and Junior was bouncing around on the rocks like a mountain goat, Barry quietly laid down on his belly and shuffled along until he got within good distance of this beauty and he fired away! As you can see, I think he came home with a winner. This Trupial was sitting on a branch that was hanging out over a thousand foot cliff with the ocean in the background. Well, these birds are very opportunistic feeders and most of the hikers are having some kind of snack a the top of the mountain, so they can run around and pick up the leftovers. Well, that’s about it, we have some real bird-lovers on the e-mail list so I am anxious to see how you all like this one. Have a great weekend everyone and as for our friends back in Rapid City: Stay warm! Aimee
Jan 3, 10 Comments (0)
 Great White Egret Hi friends, this morning while walking the dogs down by the salt ponds near the ocean I found this Giant White Egret standing in this big tall dead tree right below the slave walls. As I was shooting away a couple of folks showed up and we started talking and they said they see this guy almost every year at this time in the same area. This guy has a bunch of names like the Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret. The Great Egret is a large bird with all-white plumage that can reach one meter in height and weigh up to 950 grams (2.1 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the Great Blue or Grey Heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. That’s a quick little Wikipedia learning lesson for us all. I did find out immediately just how scared these birds are of everything, it was so difficult to get close to him and having two curious dogs didn’t help either.
My day went so fast and I still don’t know what I accomplished?? I did clean the bathroom and the spare bedroom for Emily who will be here tomorrow at around 3:30, we can hardly wait!! I went on an hour and a half bike ride thru the desert came home with a very sore back from climbing so many hills. I have seen my baby iguana in the same bush now everyday but like the egret he won’t let me get very close. He lives or hides in this peacock flower bush and if there is no wind he remains completely motionless but the second a gust of wind comes thru and the leaves move he moves with them, he’s very, very clever!! And when he moves thru the foliage you can not find him again he blends in so well!
Hope everyone is fine, I am glad you all enjoyed the dolphin tail-walk photo so much that was again a bit hit, I guess just because it’s so different and something I have never sent to you before! See you tomorrow, Barry
Jul 3, 09 Comments (0)
 Bananaquit Feeding Her Babies Good evening friends, the last photo I sent you of this momma was inside the nest, unknown to me at the time sitting on two little eggs. These babies are close to a week old now, they opened their eyes two days ago when I shot these photos. I am again standing high on a ladder trying hard to steady my camera while shooting straight into the nest praying for the best. This mother Bananaquit is so used to people which really allowed me to get fairly close, I used a 200mm lens and a big flash as she was in a very hard to get to and poorly lit area. I have watched for hours as she leaves the nest to go search for food which usually takes around 15-20 minutes each time. Upon her return she first lands nearby to make sure the coast is clear and then up she flies to the nest and feeds her babies as you see here. During the time she is away I am sitting at a table close by, just the ladder is set up near her, once she flies in I then quietly walk over and slowly walk up the ladder to get into position, it’s not as easy as it sounds. I did notice another Bananaquit in the area as well while the mother was gone, it could have been the father keeping an eye on the nest, that’s just a guess but it makes sense. I also observed this Bananaquit carrying out little white bundles every once in awhile from inside the nest? I was told that she takes the babies poop out in bundles and dumps it, can anyone confirm this as being the truth?? The person who told me this does know a lot about Curacao wildlife so it very well could be true. Anyways just thought you would enjoy this as much as we all do at the aquarium, I will keep you posted on their progress.
It finally rained today!!!!!!!!! We are all so happy, it’s been way too long! We received three different downpours today the last one and it was the hardest, was just an hour ago, it was great! Everything on this island was in dire need of a good watering it was perfect timing and we hope it continues thru the night?
That’s all friends, it was work for Aimee and I today. We still have both puppies, the family we met yesterday was perfect BUT they are leaving now for four weeks to Holland, if we still have one when they return they will probably take one.
Miss you guys, thanks for your wonderful notes your the best! See ya, Barry
03-07-2009
Jun 26, 09 Comments (0)
 Snowy Egrets in Curacao Good morning all, we had too much going on yesterday and was unable to get this out. Aimee and I took the two puppies to the North side of the island to our little private beach at Canoa first thing in the morning along with Inca and Indi. We wanted to start getting them used to riding in cars and hearing all the sounds of Curacao, trying hard to get them to be good unafraid puppies for their next owners. The puppies had a such a great time at the beach! They chased each other in the sand and dug hole after hole and by the time we left were covered in sand and could hardly move from complete exhaustion. Normally they stay up for around two hours and play and then just fall down and sleep, well yesterday we had them up for five and a half hours on this trip so you can imagine just how tired they were the rest of the day, it was great!
Once we got home I sat around waiting for hours for a call from another possible adoptive parent for one of the pups. Well finally I called them and after a bunch of excuses they backed out without ever even seeing them, I think I was more upset about my wasted day than anything! So we still have two left, Raven and Brave Heart.
Here’s another shot of the Snowy Egrets standing in the shallow salt ponds. These ponds must be full of food right now? I walked along the edge trying to see what they were eating but it was just nothing but muddy looking water and I know it’s filled with brine shrimps and maybe little fish?? Whatever the food source is these egrets along with dozens of other species know about it and are eating like there’s no tomorrow.
We went to a friends school play last night, it was a rendition of Alice in Wonderland done in Curacao style, the costumes like those from Carnival were all hand made and out of this world!!
Well, that’s about it, I am sitting here because of the puppies waking us up at 5:00, I told Aimee to go back to bed. Talk to you tonight, Barry
25-06-2009
Jun 24, 09 Comments (0)
 Cara-Cara Hello readers, if you haven’t guessed yet, this is bird week! I always try to send out photos from the day I take them or at least within the week of. This has really been a bird crazy week will have to make a note that for my birding friends this is the time to visit. This was the completely unafraid Cara-Cara I told you about. This bird nests along one of our busiest hiking/biking trails and sees people and pets all day long and apparently has become quite used to us. I had Inca with me and we both stood almost right under him and it never seemed to bother him a bit. My title says “screaming Cara-Cara but I think he was actually yawning, at least that’s what it looked like?
Some fun news, I have another photo in this months issue of Sport Diver (June 2009). It’s on the last page and is a photo of a giant coral head at Watamula with our best friend Michele as my model diver. PLEASE show some support for this great magazine and of course yours truly and buy a copy. This company along with our friend Tom has really been great about helping me get some exposure, you can also check out their site at www.sportdiver.com, thanks guys.
Ok now for the puppy update. Good news, a guy stopped by last night and picked up one of our puppies!! Which one, the one we have been calling Blackie. I called him this morning and he said it was a rough night. The puppy was really scared being that it was the first time away from her sisters. The man stayed up till 1:00am trying to comfort her and I think she finally fell asleep. I am going to call him again in a little bit and see how the day went, we will be going to visit her soon. The other two are here at my feet playing and having a great time. I just got home from an hour and a half bike ride and during I went to look for the mother and other two babies again but never found them, it just breaks my heart!! Aimee went to dog class tonight leaving me here to baby-sit the kids.
Well, that’s my day in a nutshell, I trust you all are well? Many thanks for all the wonderful notes, I love the words of encouragement! See you tomorrow, Barry
24-06-2009
Jun 23, 09 Comments (0)
 Red Ibis Good afternoon all, look what I found this morning at the salt ponds, a Red Ibis!! This is another first for me, I have never seen one of these before not even in a zoo. I spotted this bright red bird from a long ways away and at first thought it must be a red macaw that got away from it’s owner but as I got closer I could see it was something else? Of all the birds I have ever tried to get close to this one now gets the award for being the “most afraid of humans”! I had to greatly crop this photo, the second I got within 100 feet he was gone. For my local photographers I would grab a pair of binoculars and the longest lens you have and get down there and try your luck, he probably won’t be here for long. Along with finding this red beauty I saw all the flamingos again but was unable to approach them as close as I did on Sunday, that was truly a lucky morning. I did however find a very unafraid Cara-Cara and took some really great shots of him, will send you one tomorrow. I will probably head back here for another try on Thursday morning so any of you locals wanting to join just let me know.
I may be going diving soon, kind of waiting to hear if there are any jellyfish still in our waters, they were spotted all over yesterday.
I just put the puppies to bed for their afternoon nap. At 5:30 we are taking them all back to the vet for their second appointment and at 7:00 we have our first person coming to the house for adoption, we are very excited! Well, I have to run to the store and get my dive gear ready, I will be back tomorrow, have a great day, Barry
23-06-2009
Jun 22, 09 Comments (0)
 Snowy Egret Good evening friends, I was wondering how many of you come home at night and say “Where did the day go”?? Time passes so fast here! I think for us one difficult thing is the sun rises and sets about the same time all year as we are so close to the equator, it’s dark here at 7:00 making the days seem even shorter.
Here’s another fun shot from my Sunday morning photo shoot with the flamingos. These are Snowy Egrets feeding in very shallow and very salty water! To my complete disbelief they were catching little fish! Look at my name on the photo and find the “r” in Brown, that egret down by the water has a tiny fish in his mouth, I didn’t even know there were fish in there? The place where they are feeding is surrounded by walls the slaves built hundreds of years ago and will be dry as a bone in just a few months so any fish in there have no where to go? This salt pond once dried up will turn to solid salt crystals and only when the rains come again in the winter will they again fill back up. The flamingos were eating brine shrimps, I will send another photo for you of all of their heads underwater eating. This was the first time I have ever seen these egrets in numbers like this before, they were everywhere!! Each one seemed to take it’s turn flying out over the water (never landing) and while flying grab a little fish and fly back, it was really cool!
I spent a few hours today standing on a ladder trying again to shoot that little Bananaquit that has built her nest in the mouth of that big stuffed fish, not an easy task!
Hope all is well out there, I guess no news is good news! See ya, Barry
22-06-2009
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