Southern Caribbean 2023 - Day 3 Aruba

Rock Pigeon at the Aloe Factory 

On the fourth day of the Southern Caribbean Cruise, I started birding later than normal, around 6:30 AM because I was feeling unwell. As we arrived at the port of Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, I saw some familiar Caribbean Seabirds like Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla), Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata magnificent) and Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis). I had planned to join a guided birding tour with Michiel Oversteegen, of  Bird Watching Aruba, but it didn’t work out. Instead, we visited some interesting places and one of the best birding spots on the island.

The first place we went to was the Aruba Aloe Factory, where we saw how they made products from a single plant. I learned that the Aloe Vera subspecies they used had the same Latin name as our island - Barbadensis. I wondered if there was any connection to Barbados because one of the birds I wanted to see on this trip also had that name - Amazona barbadensis, the Yellow-shouldered Parrot. The factory was surrounded by a dry and dusty landscape, with Hubada (Acacia tortuosa) shrubs everywhere. The only birds I noticed were common ones like Bare-eyed Pigeons (Patagioenas corensis), Rock Pigeons (Columba livia), House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), and so on.  I got excited when I spotted an owl on a roof, but it turned out to be fake, lol.

Five Neotropic Cormorants at Bubali Bird Sanctuary, my only lifer from Aruba

The only real birding stop we made was at the Bubali Bird Sanctuary, a wetland oasis with tall buildings around it. We walked along a trail from the road to a lookout tower that overlooked the marshy grassland. There, I saw my first Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) of the trip in the bushes below. I also saw my fifth lifer for the trip, Neotropic Cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum), in that area.

After Bubali, we went back to the ship for a late lunch and some rest. There were no more birding surprises for the rest of the day. I hope to come back to Aruba someday and take that tour with Michael because there are so many beautiful birds to see on this island.

Number of Species recorded on the Day: 22
Number of Lifers recorded on the Day: 1

Total Species recorded for the Trip: 51

Total Lifers recorded for the trip: 5 

<---Day 2 | Home | Day 4 --->