New addition to the Curacao migratory bird species list
Birdwatching always brings surprises and sometimes unexpected encounters. Roaming around on Tuesday September 4th, looking for some bird photography opportunities, I first had a 15-minute interaction with a Barn swallow, a young bird taking a frequent rest from its flight endeavours on the ground next to me.
When I finally decided to stand up and continue the hike I suddenly saw a flash in the corner of my eye. There it was. Hopping from one stone to an other, the most gorgeous black an white beauty. Smaller then a Tropical Mockingbird and with a distinctive flycatcher behaviour. As the camera was still programmed for the swallow pictures in the shadow, the first pictures I could take were totally crap. And the bird hopped away.
So in my most stealth way I decided to follow the bird, hopping and eating in front of me, and finally it granted me the opportunity (after following it for 10 minutes) to take a decent picture, just a fraction of a second before it flew away to another spot to continue its meal.
I had never seen this particular bird before on the island and according to the most recent ‘Birds of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao’ book by Jeffrey V. Wells and Allison Childs Wells, it had never before been recorded on the island, only once in 2016 on the island of Bonaire. Not only a personal Lifer but, a lifer for Curacao, the first official record of the Pied Water-Tyrant on Curacao.
This small, 13 cm long bird, only shows this black and white colouring in the males. Females are duller in colour.
Pied Water-tyrant – Bonte watertiran
Tuesday September 4 2018
Bird Watching Curaçao 