10/29/2018

9/3/2022 (Sat) - 9/12/2022 (Mon)
Bonaire & Curacao (the 5th visit to Curacao)

10/29/2018 (Mon) - 11/5/2018 (Mon)
Bonaire & Curacao (the 4th visit to Curacao)

Photo:
Google

9/2/2017 Sat - 9/12/2017 Tue
Curacao / Bonaire

2018 Note: PASSPORT CONTROL MADE EASY using eGates (next time do both entries: NYC->CUR and BON->CUR)

9/2 (Sat)
JetBlue Airways 1111

New York (JFK)	Willemstad (CUR)
9:27am	2:14pm

Divi Flamingo Beach Resort, Bonaire - 40 Julio A. Abraham Boulevard, Kralendijk

At CUR, wait for 30 min until passport inspection. Then custom clearance is no wait. Then go-to Departure. Insel air counter no wait and fast to get boarding pass. Pay for Us $10 for tax on the top of the ticket. Go through security and settle down at gate 7 at 3pm. Enjoy sandwich and wait for the 4:55 flight.

9/3 (Sun)

9/4 (Mon)

9/5 (Tue) - Cruise ship day ( Pullmantur Zenith - probably Antilles and South Caribbean cruise: Colón (Panamá) - Cartagena de Indias - Navegación - Curaçao - Kralendik (Bonaire) - Aruba - Navegación - Colón (Panamá) ).
I go snorkeling with Woodwind. The lady is Dee. She shows me the Christmas tree worms. We see Squid.

9/6 (Wed) - Bonaire Day (Legal Holiday) - change hotel
1:30pm cancel rent car at Divi Flamingo

9/7 (Thu)

9/8 (Fri) - evening before sunset, see South American Yellow Oriole (Gele Troepiaal, Trupial Kacho).

9/9 (Sat) - Troupial

9/10 (Sun) – check out from hotel and go to CUR. Flight departure time is 7:55am but delayed to 9:30am.

9/11 (Mon) - Spotted Drum - wiki Adult and juvenile spotted drumfish

9/12 (Tue) – leaving CUR
JetBlue Airways 1112

Note:
(1) Seeing (juvenile) Sea Turtle 7 days (9/3 Sun - 9/9 Sat) straight in Bonaire.
(2) Spotted & Smooth trunkfish
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_trunkfish
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_trunkfish
(3) 9 yr ago we visited Pureocean. Winnie swim and I wait at the dinning area.
(4) Pic Album
(5) The regret 遺憾 :
a. No octopus, sea horse, starfish.
b. Not visited National Park, Donkey Sanctuary & Echo Dos Pos Conservation Centre
c. Birdwatching event with STINAPA is cancelled.
(6) Coral Reef Creature ID Card Fish_ID_Cards.htm
(7) Bonaire, A Nature Lover’s Dream : Bonaire’s natural bounty include flamingos that breed on the island, migratory birds, sea turtle nurseries, protected coral reefs, and cacti that are pollinated by bats ... During a dive off of Klein Bonaire with Woodwind Snorkel and Sail I saw parrotfish, a frogfish, barracudas, trumpetfish, blue angelfish, lionfish, and porcupine pufferfish, to name a few. The fish were swimming in and around giant brain coral, stove pipe sponges, staghorn coral, and gorgonian fan coral.
On a drive to the northern part of the island, I stopped by southern edge of Goto Meer, a brackish lake with multiple observation points within Bonaire’s Washington Slagbaai National Park. From the viewpoint at the southern end of Kaminda Goto, I saw brown pelicans, black-necked stilts, flamingos, semi-palmated plovers, a crested caracara, a little green heron, common ground doves, snowy egrets, a tricolored heron, white-cheeked pintails, and a black-faced grassquit.

Candle and prickly pear cacti also dot the landscape in the park; many of the agave plants were in flower, which was a gorgeous sight to behold. The tree-like agave flower extends vertically to what seemed like over 10 feet tall, with radiant yellow blossoms; each flower can grow into another agave plant.

Leaving the park and driving along Kaminda Goto on the way to Rincon, the oldest settlement on Bonaire, my guide and I stopped at Dos Pos, or Two Wells. Dos Pos has been designated as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International; here you'll find trails with gorgeous vistas of the surrounding habitat.
We stopped because it’s an important breeding site for the yellow-shouldered Amazon, a yellow-faced, green-bodied parrot measuring just over 13 inches. The bird is locally and globally endangered, making it a rare sight. Although I didn't spot one here, I did end up seeing quite a few during a visit to Bonaire's Cadushy Distillery later in the trip. They were cute and poofy, and I raised a glass of the island's famous cactus liqueur to celebrate having seen these rare and beautiful birds in the wild.
(8) https://www.birdscaribbean.org/2016/10/loving-the-lora-and-chasing-the-chuchubi-at-bonaires-caribbean-birding-trail-guide-training-workshop/

9/29/2015 - 10/6/2015
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles - note

facebook
Marriott Beach Resort house reef:
    incirrate octopus.
Shete Boka National Park:
    Map
    Boka Pistol - <1a>   <1b>
Jaanchies:

Willemstad downtown:

Sea Aquarium:

Playa Lagun:

Photo:
    Venezuelan Troupial - <1>   <2> (close up)
    Trupial Kacho, a Yellow Oriole - <1>
    Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor sharpei) [info-1] - <1> (female or juvenile)
    Frigatebird
    Bananaquit
    hermit crab - <1>
    baby Iguana
    lizard

Note:
(1) incirrate octopus species are found in reefs and other shallower seafloor habitats. wiki
(2) [added on 8/2016] we did not go to Kleine Knip (Knip Beach / Playa Chichi) - clearest bluest waters in the world (clear, warm and calm waters)
This is one of the larger/largest beaches (200-300 m) and it is very popular with locals on weekends to the point where parking was very difficult and spilling out onto the road....very busy. Note that while this beach is called Kleine Knip on this TripAdvisor posting and Knip on the map, the large busy beach people are reviewing is called Knip Playa Abou on the road signs (not to be confused with Cas Abou which is considerably further south of here). And on the road in, there is an earlier turnoff to a separate smaller uncrowded beach where there is good snorkeling along the rocks on both sides; this beach is listed as Klein Knip on local map but referred to as Playa Chichi on road signs. tripadvisor

12/16 - 20/2014 (Tue - Sat)
Curacao [ note ]

Venezuelan Troupial Icterus icterus (擬黃鸝)
South American Yellow Oriole (Gele Troepiaal, Trupial Kacho) Icterus nigrogularis (saw and got a shot at Punta Cana too?)

Carib Grackle Quiscalus lugubris
Tropical Mockingbird, Caribische Spotlijster, Chuchubi, Mimus gilvus
Bananaquit, Suikerdiefje, Barika Hel
Bare-eyed Pigeon, Naaktoogduif, Warbakoa, Columba corensis
Eared Dove, Geoorde Treurduif, Buladeifi, Zenaida auriculata
Scaly-naped Pigeon, Roodhalsduif, Patagioenas squamosa
White-tipped Dove?, Verreaux-duif, Leptotila verreauxi
Common Ground-Dove, Musduif, Columbina passerina
Ruddy Ground-Dove?, Steenduif, Columbina talpacoti
Saffron Finch, Saffraanvink, Scalis flaveola, Gewone Saffraangors, Sicalis flaveola
Black-faced Grassquit? (female)
Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregatvogel, Makuaku, Skerchi, Fregata magnificens
Crested Caracara
Brown-throated Parakeet (probably), Brown-throated Conure, Aratinga pertinax - info-1
Gray Kingbird? (Grey Kingbird, Grijze Koningstiran, Tyranus dominicensis) - common in the island. info-1
Tern / Pelican / Hummingbird / Rock Dove / House Sparrow
White-crowned Parrot?, Witkopmargrietje, Pionus senilis
Yellow-shouldered?, Yellow-winged Parrot, Geelvleugelamazone, Lora, Amazona barbadensis, Kleine Geelkopamazone

White-tailed Deer

Photo:
    General - <1> (the peak behind us is not the highest; the highest is right behind that peak)
    Island Tour & Christoffel National Park
    Queen Emma Bridge (a pontoon bridge)
    Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue and Museum
    Venezuelan Troupial - <1>   <2> (w900 for fb)

Note:
(1) When Queen Emma Bridge swings open, two ferries spring into action to bring pedestrians across the water. The ferries are also free of charge. wiki
(2) Eared Dove, Zenaida auriculata, Curacao Birds
(3) Marriott House Reef (near the beach shore right at the hotel), I saw something similar to this video: youtube
        "The site is just offshore of the Caribbean Sea Sports Dive Shop. Snorkeling was not actually done on the reef, but on the rocks just a few yards from shore. Depth on the outside of the rocks are around 20'. The snorkeling here was very good for being so close to shore."   src
        What is a house reef ?
        - generally referring to an easily accessible reef, with good coral and fish life.
        - we most often talk about an island "having a house reef" if this living part is easily accessible to divers and snorkelers, instead of a large lagoon or not much notable coral growth. An "island with a good house reef" in forum jargon, would be one where you could expect to snorkel or dive off the beach or jetty. src
(4) Playa Largo is a popular calm beach and bay, perfect for a relaxed shore or boat dive - Playa Largo (Playa Largu) means long beach, saying that there are quite a few dive sites possible. One of the most popular spots is the wall where you can find large amount of French grunts, white grunts and schoolmaster. Turtles are commonly seen on this dive, same as spotted morays and barracudas. Large gorgonians will tell us which way the current goes. src
(5) Venezuelan Troupial Icterus icterus - info-1 : Three subspecies are currently recognized with distinct ranges.
           Venezuelan Troupial (Icterus icterus icterus - Linnaeus, 1766) - Nominate Form
           Venezuelan Troupial (ridgwayi) (Icterus icterus ridgwayi - Hartert, E, 1902) -
                      Coastal northern Colombia, in the department of Guajira, and the northern areas of Cesar; east to the lowland areas of northwestern Venezuela, east to the state of Sucre and Margarita Islands; as well as occurring in the Netherlands Antilles on the islands of Aruba and Curaçao.
                      ID: Similar to the nominate race in terms of plumage pattern. However, generally stronger and larger than the other subspecies. Has a longer, bulkier bill. The form found in Aruba have a darker shade of orange compared to birds occurring on the island of Curaçao.
           Venezuelan Troupial (metae) (Icterus icterus metae - Phelps and Aveledo, 1966)
(6) Bare-eyed Pigeon / Eared Dove / Scaly-naped Pigeon / White-tipped Dove (a / b)

(7) Eared Dove: a close relative of the North American mourning dove. "The black spots on the wings and behind the eyes make identification easy and the neck often shows an iridescent purplish color. These doves are most at home in the desert and I always see them when walking the trails. When startled or disturbed they fly straight up like they were shot from a rocket disappearing almost immediately. This behavior has earned them the name 'Jumpy Dove'. Like all doves it is a seed eater and is quite common on all three islands. Nests are built in bushes, cacti and low trees." src
(8) White-tipped Dove: The dove is about 28 cm (11 in) long and weighs 155 g (5.5 oz). Adult birds of most races have a grey tinge from the crown to the nape, a pale grey or whitish forehead and a whitish throat. The eye-ring is typically red in most of its range, but blue in most of the Amazon and northern South America. The upperparts and wings are grey-brown, and the underparts are whitish shading to pinkish, dull grey or buff on the chest. The underwing coverts are rufous. The tail is broadly tipped with white, but this is best visible from below or in flight. The bill is black, the legs are red and the iris is yellow. wiki
(9) White-winged Dove (NOT in Curacao but in many Caribbean islands).

3/2008 (3/29 Sat - 4/5 Sat)

South Caribbean Cruise ( Puerto Rico 3/29 & 4/5, St. Thomas 3/30, St. Kitts 3/31, Grenada 4/1, Bonaire 4/2 and Aruba 4/3)
Vessel: Princess Crown

Greater Flamingo
Yellow-shouldered Parrot - National Park, Bonaire
Brown-throated Parakeet - Tierra del Sol Golf Course, Aruba
Northern / Tropical Mockingbird - Grenada; photo of Tropical Mockingbird
info:
Tropical Mockingbird ,
more 1: "In the limited area of overlap in southern Mexico, it can be separated from the very similar Northern Mockingbird by the lack of a whitish patch near the base of the primaries.",
The Mockingbird (Corrie Herring Hooks Series) by Robin W. Doughty (1995) [According to the book and wikipedia, the Mockingbirds seen in South Caribbean are probably Tropical. Since they are close relative and occasionally interbreed, I would like to treat them as one category.] page: 17
Here has pictures of all 3 Mockingbirds.
Mourning Dove - St. Thomas
Pearly-eyed Thrasher - St. Thomas; photo: <1> <2>
Brown Pelican - St. Thomas
Belted Kingfisher - St. Thomas
Semipalmated Sandpiper (or Western?) - St. Kitts; photo: <1> <2> <3>
Troupial (like Baltimore Oriole) - pier, Bonaire; photo
Bananaquit - Bonaire; photo
Bananaquit, Grenada and St. Vincent race (completely black). also called Black See-See - Grenada; photo
http://academic.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/VOL16/P005-008.PDF

In the races of St. Vincent (atrata) and Grenada (aterrima) most individuals are black while on Los Testigos (ferryi) and Los Roques (lowii), islets of northern Venezuela, all are black.

Pictures of the "Black Bananaquit" and other Caribbean birds found on Web

More pictures found on Web pdf

A Aruba
B Bonaire
C Curacao
D Dominican Republic
E Ecuador
F French side of Saint Martin, called Saint-Martin
G Galápagos Islands

Flowering Cacti and Agave in Bloom