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Archive for the ‘Pelicans + Tropic Birds’Jan 8, 10 Comments Off
 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 Off
 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 Off
 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 Off
 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 Off
 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 Off
 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 Off
 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
Jun 21, 09 Comments Off
 Flamingos at the salt Ponds Good evening, I had such a wonderful flamingo encounter this morning at the Salt Ponds! I had the dogs with me so I had thought in advance that if I saw them I wouldn’t be able to get very close but I was wrong! All the flamingos had flown into one small area this morning creating a totally orange moving mass, it was out of this world! I guessed there must have been around 300 of them in every size and color and I even saw a few gray youngsters. I moved in very slowly with the dogs stopping every few yards and having them lay down along side me when I stopped. We did this for over two hours slowly creeping closer and closer until finally I was in perfect position. The shot you see here is part of a 6 or 7 pane panoramic, when stitched together it should be breathtaking!! Along with the flamingos there were the black winged stilts, great blue herons, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, common terns, royal terns and many many more, by far the most birds I have ever seen in one spot. I was shocked at how fast I used up my 8.0GB card this morning and stupid me I left the others at home, when will I ever learn?
Once home I washed the dogs and took the puppies out for their morning walks, they are keeping us very busy. We got home late last night so they didn’t have much exercise and we ended up paying for it at 4:30 this morning, once they are up they are up and so are we!
At 5:00 I took off with a friend on a super fast one lap of last weeks race course, if we could have done 3 laps that fast last Sunday we would have won the race! I see I need to go do some much needed trail cleaning after that race, lots and lots of loose rock! After the bike ride I grabbed the dogs and again took them out on a fun evening adventure to Saint Joris, these really are some of the luckiest dogs in Curacao, play, play, play!!
That’s about it I am very tired, I am sure I will be dreaming of flamingos all night! Barry
21-06-2009
Jun 20, 09 Comments Off
 bananaquit-nest-at-the-sea-aquarium Hello friends, how was your Saturday?? Mine was fairly busy In-between taking pictures of our guests swimming with the dolphins I did two underwater photo dives with the dolphins Aimee is training. Our goal was to try and get some promotional photos but the water visibility just wasn’t that great, but fear not we will keep trying.
This is our resident Bananaquit who has made herself a beautiful home for her babies in the mouth of a big stuffed fish! For those of you wanting to see this in person it’s up high to the left of the snack bar at the Sea Aquarium. The ladies at the snack told me they sometimes put sugar in the palm of their hands and she flies over and eats it right out of their hands? These birds are so tiny, I had to stand on a ladder and wait for quite awhile before she stuck her head out! It’s just such a great home!!
We just got an e-mail from Sheila at CARF saying she may have just found a home for one of our puppies, we are so happy we can hardly stand it!
Sorry so short we are off to a wedding party, talk to you all tomorrow, Barry
20-06-2009
Jun 6, 09 Comments Off
 wild-flamingos-in-curacao Good evening all, I just got home from photographing the flamingo’s! They have been hanging out just a few meters from the ocean in a little cove very near our main trail for the past few weeks now. This is the first time we have ever seen them here and I thought tonight I would go and see how close I could get? I rode my bike down to the beach without them seeing me, then quietly hid the bike in the brush. I was lucky they were on the other side of a big slave wall so I was able to crouch down and slowly make my way to an opening. I was doing well I thought until some of the other birds noticed my arrival and sounded the alarm. The Black Necked Stilts are the loudest and I am sure they were telling the flamingos all about this strange thing hiding behind the wall. Anyways I was able to get quite a few nice shots before they all decided to take off as you see here, it takes them quite a few steps on the water before they are airborne, they are very big animals! I was telling Aimee I have never seen them so rich in color as I did tonight, they must have a great food source here. The large group of flamingo’s in the background did not immediately fly off, they just sat out there eating but as I went over the wall and tried to get closer they took off to join their friends, you can only get so close!
Aimee and I both worked all day, I did get a fun baby Pasku shot today and will send that tomorrow. Hope all is well out there, I know it’s the weekend so we won’t be hearing from many of you. By now, Barry
06-06-2009
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