Bonaire - December 2017

[nkwali]

Here're a few shots from Bonaire. Always a treat to see where some of the migrating birds end up, as well as some unique to that part of the world.

Osprey
Osprey by Nkwali, on Flickr

Reddish Egret (White Morph)
Reddish Egret (white morph) fishing the shallows (Bonaire) by Nkwali, on Flickr

Blue-tailed Emerald (with some attitude)
Blue-tailed Emerald by Nkwali, on Flickr

Yellow Warbler (according to the Neotropical Birds online site: petechia Group) - non-migratory
Yellow Warbler (Golden Warbler - petechia Group), Bonaire by Nkwali, on Flickr

Brown-throated Parakeet
Brown-throated Parakeet by Nkwali, on Flickr

Ruddy Turnstone and Ghost Crab + sea urchin snack
Ruddy Turnstone and Ghost Crab discuss possession of a sea urchin snack.   Check out the tag on the Turnstone's leg... by Nkwali, on Flickr

Brown Booby - Juvenile, I was pretty thrilled to see this bird - last time I saw one was in Hawaii.
Brown Booby - Juvenile by Nkwali, on Flickr

[Dinusaur]

Got a very nice set - thanks for sharing. Do you have other photos where you can read the band on the Turnstone? It will be interesting to see where was it banded.

[Paul O'Toole]

Beautiful shots, love the hummer and colours on the warbler. The green Flag is HPY for the turnstone.Metal looks to have the numbers 32 (could be another digit but not sure) many use 3 digits on the metal ones.

[nkwali]

I reported the leg band (and another that I saw on a subsequent Turnstone) through the usgs.gov website. I got an automated response that confirms that they at least had the tag(s) in their database and that they may or may not be able to send me any information about the research/researchers using the tags. And that it could take a long time.

If I get anything back from them I will post an update.

I smiled when I saw the HPY tag. Seemed kind of appropriate for the bird as it was digging into the urchin.

[nkwali]

If I get anything back from them I will post an update.

I got an email identifying where the two Ruddy Turnstones I reported seeing in Bonaire were banded this week:

HPY - was banded in May of 2015 in Cape May county, New Jersey and was estimated to have hatched in 2012 or earlier. Sex unknown

5CM - was banded in May of 2012 Kent County, Delaware and was estimated to have hatched in 2010 or earlier. Female

Pretty cool that they both ended up on a beach in Bonaire...likely on their way further south.

[thouc]

Interesting, they have survived pretty many migrations.