As someone who hates the cold but lives in an inhospitably frigid climate for roughly 4.5 months of the year, a winter trip to the Caribbean offers a welcome opportunity to thaw out and get my birding on.

Aruba isn’t the birdiest of islands, but it’s a great place to bird. I’ve taken some of my favourite bird photos during my travels there, due in no small part to the desert landscape giving the birds fewer hiding places (I’m just not great at finding birds in foliage, what can I say).

We visited Aruba in 2023 for 12 days, so I already had some idea where to look. Last time, I booked a half day tour with Michiel Oversteegen, a local birding expert. He’s very knowledgeable and knows where the cool birds hang out, so do book him if you want to make the most of your birding time on the island! I had such a good experience that I booked him again for this trip. He picked us up at our AirBnB and took us to several areas we never would have found on our own. To be completely honest, I’m not exactly sure which bird pics are from my trip with him and which are from tooting around on our own as we returned to the same spots several times afterwards, but I do know that he’s the one who knew where to find this very lovey-dovey pair of Brown-shouldered Parakeets -aren’t they the sweetest?:

You can easily hit all the birding hot spots in a day - I would suggest the area around the Spanish Lagoon, the Bubali Bird Sanctuary, and any of the salinas you see off the main roads to start.

The Bubali Bird Sanctuary includes a small pond where many well-fed Muscovy Ducks and White-Cheeked Pintails hung out (photos of which I shared in an earlier post), and a lookout tower giving a bird’s eye view of other ponds where I spotted my first Purple Gallinule (also posted earlier), some turtles, Great Blue Herons, Neotropic Cormorants, and a Black-crowned Night Heron. Grey Kingbirds and Bananaquits were also plentiful in the trees surrounding the ponds.

Sometimes just driving along the coast while scoping the shores will yield some finds - we spotted Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, and Southern Lapwings, among others. The Lapwings were a treat because the only other time I’d ever gotten decent photos of them was at a sewage lagoon in neighbouring Bonaire (In fact, my profile photo is of a poop-adorned Lapwing I saw there -always makes me laugh!). These ones were pleasantly feces-free! Fun fact: Southern Lapwings have a bony spur on their wing tips that they will use against rivals or those that make fun of them for hanging out in sewage lagoons - I caught a glimpse of one and thought it was something naughty until I researched it. (see second photo - it looks like it’s coming out of his butt.)

Near the Spanish Lagoon, you’ll find the Balashi Gold Mill Ruins. Just off the parking area, there are some flowering cactus bushes that attract the hummingbirds. I remembered this from our 2023 tour with Michiel, so we spent some time there again in hopes we’d spot a few. The lighting was not great but I got a million mediocre and a singular well-lit shot of the Blue-tailed Emerald and some pretty terrible shots of the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird that absolutely do not do it justice or show its amazing colours- Google it to get a real sense of how gorgeous it is.

In the same area, I saw a nice variation of the Yellow Warbler I see back home -the Mangrove Yellow Warbler! :

Here are some birds that were literally in a small pond off a busy roadway:

Another completely nondescript patch of water off a busy roadway yielded these - not a great photo but I’m a big fan of different species in one photo so you can get a sense of proportion:

Lots of Black-necked Stilts with their twiggy legs:

A few more sightings -

In 2023, I was lucky enough to see 7 or 8 different Crested Caracaras quite close up and they became one of my all-time favourite birds, with their fun toupees. This year, they were much harder to come by and I didn’t really get any great pics. This is as good as it got:

In terms of quantity, I saw so many American Kestrels! I saw one in my backyard once, several years ago, and I’ve seen a few here and there during my travels, but I kept running into them on this trip. They’re gorgeous so I wasn’t complaining. A mating pair lived by one of our AirBnBs, so we got to observe them quite a bit. My spouse even managed to snap a photo of the male offering a rather unfortunate Aruban Whiptail Lizard to his lady!

And of course, you can’t go to Aruba without taking a million photos of the endemic Burrowing Owl, aka the Shoco. I encountered a dozen or so, mostly in pairs, a few with babies. They’re endangered and can usually be found in little roped off areas scattered around the island - some are in rather conspicuous places - like in the middle of a busy beach - while others take a bit of work to find. This baby made me laugh:

More owls, you say? Happy to oblige.

What’s that? You need a shaky video too? Oh why not. This is the baby with dad. Yes, baby is the same size as dad. Love the head tilt!

I could post another 1000 photos, but Substack told me my post was too long for email about 20 photos ago, so I’ll stop here!

When all was said and done, I added 45 birds to my 2026 list during my trip, including a couple lifers. All told, a satisfying tally for me!

If you have any good birding spots to recommend for my next winter escape, leave a comment! Always looking for new spots to explore!

And if you read this far, thank you! I appreciate you!

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The sanctuary is free to visit (donations encouraged). It has well over 100 donkey residents, and they are super sweet! That said, they will shiv you for a carrot, so it is best to feed them only from a secure area, where you can safely hand-feed them from behind a fence. Problem is, you first have to walk the gauntlet through the sanctuary grounds to get to this secure area, and the donkeys are no dummies. They know there is a nonzero chance you have snackies on your person.

In my case, their suspicions were correct. I was smuggling 2 bags of carrots in my purse. One donkey clocked me right away, and followed closely beside me like we were besties from WAY back.

I knew I had to pay the toll, but it had to be done surreptitiously if I wanted to avoid a potential donkey stampede. I did what any prudent person would do. I slipped a carrot to my spouse and told him to lure the velcro donkey to a quiet corner to hand over the contraband while I escaped to the safe enclosure with my giant cache. Thankfully, this worked and did not result in my beloved’s untimely trampling death.

I posted a photo of this donkey in notes a few weeks ago. I thought he was “smiling” at me for extra carrots - I have since learned that donkeys make this face when they’re processing interesting smells. It even has a name: the Flehmen response! So he was just super sniffing my carrots! He and his other donkey buddies quickly devoured all the carrots we brought.

Aside from the donkeys, the sanctuary grounds also have several peacocks. This one had a lot of ladies to choose from!

There was also a VERY vocal rooster that cracked me up. He just looked so indignant when he wasn’t busy yelling.

We also went to an ostrich farm, which I had missed during our last trip to Aruba. When we got there, we were having a hard time finding an employee to take our money - then we realized why! A boa constrictor had gotten into a parrot aviary and the birds were FREAKING OUT (rightly so!) Thankfully a groundskeeper stepped up to dispatch the snake.

With the snake out, we thought our ostrich visit was back on, but we were then advised the guide was out sick, and there would be no tours that day. I asked if we could just visit them without the tour, but was told they “sometimes get out and it’s best to have someone around who can handle them”. Fair enough! Wrangling ostriches wasn’t really on my vacation wish list, so we ogled the peacocks and other birds hanging out near the parking lot and went on our way. Guess I’ll just have to make another trip at some point!

Next time: My birding adventures!

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Well, it’s back to reality and subzero temperatures after a blissful 12 days in Aruba. Since I generally hibernate from December to April, you best believe I’m going to be milking that trip for content for the foreseeable future. Along the way, I’ll give you a few tips to make a trip to the island more affordable (and tell you the splurges I found worthwhile), if you have any inclination on visiting.

Please note that none of my posts are sponsored, so any specific recommendations I make are because I genuinely enjoyed a product or service.

I love Aruba. I first visited during a cruise stop many years ago and instantly fell in love with it. It’s not a cheap island to visit, so I kept picking cruises that included it as a stop until I could afford a land vacation. I decided it would be a great place to spend my 50^th birthday, so in 2023 I started the year with a 12 day Aruban getaway. It did not disappoint.

I tend to want to explore new places during my “big” vacations, so why Aruba again a mere two years later? Well, it’s been a rough couple of years since that trip -work has been hectic, I’ve dealt with some health issues, and I’ve lost 2 siblings in just over a year, the latter of which has sent me into a bit of a tailspin. I wanted a vacation where I could just shut off my brain for a bit and try to relax. Somewhere that wouldn’t require my usual (insane) level of research - somewhere familiar and safe. And where they drive on the right side of the road, so I don’t have to worry about accidentally offing myself by turning into the wrong lane out of habit. Aruba seemed like the perfect stress-free choice.

Have I mentioned that Aruba is less than 30 km off the coast of Venezuela? That seemed like an inconsequential detail when I booked our trip many months ago.

Of course, I hadn’t anticipated Trump kidnapping the Venezuelan president and his wife 2 days before our departure, but this is apparently the world we’re living in right now. The day before the first leg of our trip, which involved an overnight in Toronto, the airspace above Venezuela (and Aruba) was closed. I packed not knowing if I’d end up stuck in Toronto for several days, and threw in some winter wear among the swimsuits and sundresses, lamenting the precious luggage space it took up. So much for stress-free! Thankfully, after a day of panic, the airspace over Aruba opened up in time for my flight and off we went.

Aruba is not a lush island in the way most people imagine the Caribbean. Sure, it has beautiful beaches, but it’s mostly flat and desert-like and has far more cacti than palm trees. I don’t know why, but something about it really speaks to me. Maybe it’s because the arid landscape makes photographing birds so much easier – less foliage for them to hide behind!

Aruba is a Dutch island. The official languages are Dutch and Papiamento, but English is widely spoken, along with Spanish. I did encounter a few people I couldn’t communicate well with, but there was always someone nearby who could translate. The local currency is the Aruban florin, but US dollars are accepted everywhere (there may be exceptions, but I’ve never encountered any). One annoying thing for Canadians is that the credit card machines don’t let you pay in florins - you have to pay in USD. I tried to pay in florins multiple times and the charges would not go through until they changed it to USD, despite my not having an American credit card. Bring a credit card with no foreign transaction fees to avoid getting completely hosed.

Hotels in Aruba are hella expensive – even the Holiday Inn would run us close to $700/night CAD, so we went with an AirBnB. Well, two actually. My spouse and I spent 5 days in a small guesthouse, and then we moved to a larger house when some friends joined us for the final week. Both places were great, with a private pool and just a short drive to the beach, and much friendlier on the wallet. It enabled us to make several meals at home (mostly breakfasts and the odd lunch or dinner). Plus, I liked ending the day with a dip in the pool away from the crowds.

Both places had beach chairs, towels, pool toys, snorkel gear and coolers to take on beach trips, which also saved us a lot of money. When I visited in 2020, our AirBnB was not as well equipped, so we rented gear from Travel Light Aruba. They dropped off our stuff and picked it back up at the end of our trip, all for a very reasonable price. I would rent from them again without hesitation.

For those used to all-inclusives, there are a few such resorts on the island, but since there are many good restaurants, and it’s so safe to explore, it would be a shame to feel stuck to your “included” offerings and not venture out of your immediate surroundings. While Aruba is small and you’re never more than about 45 minutes away from the opposite end of the island, we like Noord as a home base, as it seems to be the most central to the places we frequent the most.

Car rentals are reasonable, with the local companies having generally better prices based on my research. It’s very easy to get around if you don’t mind roundabouts (there are no traffic lights), making a car rental a no-brainer if you’re there for more than a few days and want to get out of the busy tourist areas. We used Tropic Car Rental a few years ago and they went above and beyond when someone accidentally left our house keys with the car rental keys on drop-off and didn’t notice until we were past security in the airport (THAT was stressful), but they had no availability when I booked. This year we used Yess Rental Car, which I would also recommend as a close second choice. As a caveat, if you plan to visit Arikok National Park extensively, you will need a Jeep or similar, as the terrain is rough and you will bottom out a regular car. From what I’ve read, you can safely reach the visitor’s centre in a regular car, then hike through the park, but unless you enjoy long hikes in the blazing sun in very hot, desert-like conditions, I suggest you spring for the Jeep or skip it. We opted for the cheaper car and skipped Arikok on both trips. If I ever make it back there, perhaps I’ll rent a Jeep for just a day to explore the park (the price difference is substantial - I’d still go with a regular car for the rest of the trip).

In terms of food offerings, Aruba has a bit of everything, such as high-end tasting menu restaurants, casual eateries, familiar North American chains, and a plethora of food trucks. Also, a weirdly large number of Wendys. Who knew Arubans needed their Baconators? I confess to grabbing a Frosty a few times as a refreshing mid-day treat. I know, I know. But can I just say? The Wendy’s bathroom in San Nicolas is perhaps the nicest bathroom I’ve ever encountered in a fast food joint anywhere. You could eat off the floor. I mean, DON’T, but you know what I’m saying.

My favourite splurge restaurant is Yemanja (reservations highly recommended), in the capital of Oranjestad. The steak and stuffed pork tenderloin are both *chef’s kiss*. Portions are large, which means that when I sprung for the pricy ribeye, I had enough left over for steak and eggs for two the next morning. Bonus! If you’re Canadian and feeling patriotic, you can stop by Alfie’s in Aruba, started by a Canadian and serving (of course) poutine, among other pub fare. It’s a tiny place, so I recommend reservations here too. We went for ribs this time (only served Thursdays), and they don’t even give you a knife, which should tell you how tender they are. We also tried a few great food trucks this year – Bel Smokehouse BBQ (the brisket sandwich was a hit) and Piece of Cake Dessert Truck (Ferrero Rocher cheesecake? Hello!!). A lot of the food trucks open later in the evening, so check hours before you head out if you’re old like me and need to digest before 9 p.m. The two we tried opened earlier (6 or 6:30pm, if memory serves).

On Sundays, it’s all about barbecue. Barbecue joints will pop up in various places, and some regular restaurants will throw some grills out front and serve platters of delicious chargrilled meats and sides for a very low price. Last time we were in Aruba, we tried New Wei Taai’s Sunday barbecue, and it was so good, we went again this year. It’s a Chinese restaurant, but on Sundays you’ll find locals lining up outside,, where a makeshift outside kitchen is set up, for a lunchtime platter of barbecue chicken and ribs, with fried rice, corn and coleslaw. It’s a huge plate that cost (I think) $11 USD this year. I had enough for 3 meals from that one platter. Can’t get much better value than that!

For groceries, we went to Super Food supermarket for big shops, as it seems to offer the best prices on a wide variety of North American and Dutch offerings (the Dutch items are generally cheaper), and stopped by the smaller Asian minimarkets that seemed to be on every street corner when we just needed a few items. Dutch cheeses like Gouda and Edam are affordable and delicious, and always one of the first things I reach for. Super Foods also has a nice selection of pre-marinated meat kabobs that make for a quick and tasty at-home dinner. I also never leave without some Dutch mystery snacks -snack roulette, if you will!

I will end things here, so that I can wring a few more posts out of this trip while waiting for my limbs to thaw… Stay warm, friends, however you can…

Maybe I should see someone about that.

In any event, I promised myself I would write a new post every week in 2026, and the clock is ticking despite my disappearing words. So I will cheat a little with this one, with wordier words to follow once I’m back home, hopefully devoid of rage and fully relaxed.

I am currently in Aruba. I wasn’t sure I’d make it, Aruba being twentysomething kilometres off the coast of Venezuela, but here I am, pretending the world isn’t going to hell in a handbasket, avoiding all news outlets, and occupying my mind with such important queries as “Which beach should I plop myself on today?” I am also distracting myself with nice birds and other assorted creatures. I’ve done some birding, climbed a tiny mountain (with over 600 steps, several hundred more than I’d prefer), visited a donkey sanctuary, scoped the horizon for goats, and much more! Here are a few pics from my first couple days. Trip recap to follow!

I had never seen a White-cheeked Pintail up close until I pulled up to a whole crew of them relaxing with a gang of Muscovy Ducks on a small pond at the Bubali Bird Sanctuary.

The Muscovy Ducks should really speak to my dermatologist.

The pond also had lots of turtles, though I mostly just saw their tiny heads peeking out from the water.

One of the many Gray Kingbirds who obliged me by posing nicely.

Tropical Mockingbirds are all over the damn place. Pretty though.

Perhaps my most exciting find at Bubali was the Purple Gallinule - a lifer for me!

The giant feet on coots and gallinules always freak me out a little.

Our neighbour has a roof iguana. Lucky!

Finally, here’s a photo of Aruba’s Shoco, an endemic subspecies of the Burrowing Owl only found on the island. They are very small and adorable, and I’ve come across several accidentally since my arrival. They are an endangered and protected species, and the ones I’ve seen are in roped off areas to protect their burrows. They don’t seem to mind posing for photos (still, I’m quite far off, with a mega zoom).

Well, there is more vacation to be enjoyed, so until next time!

A fresh year is like the weekend multiplied by a million. During the workweek, I always envision Weekend Me as having SO much ambition. If I can just make it to Friday, I’m going to clean the house top to bottom, meal plan and prep healthy yet delicious meals for the week, get some amazing workouts in, catch up on work and of course, do some fun things too and recharge for the week ahead. In reality, Sunday night rolls around and I suddenly realize I’ve done barely anything, and I then spend several hours frantically trying to slap together the next day’s lunch, do a little laundry, and complete some other mundane task so that I won’t feel like a complete failure come Monday morning.

If Workweek Me is overly optimistic, End of Year Me has always been downright delusional. Oh, the things I’m going to do in the year ahead! It’s going to be life changing! After all, I have a WHOLE YEAR to accomplish things!

Well, that’s the OLD me. 2025 me. 2026 me is older. Wiser. Slightly less delusional. Slightly.

It’s good to have goals, but I’m learning to temper my expectations. I know from experience that life has a way of slapping you upside the head when you get too cocky.

So here are some of my goals for the year ahead. Just small, achievable goals.

1. I will write a post here once weekly. It doesn’t have to be a great post. Just enough to get me back into the habit, and create a little log for myself of my experiences throughout the year. (Or my experiences from past years, because there’s a few that I really meant to write about last year.)

2. I will spend more time in nature, EVEN IN WINTER. This is hard for me. I’m a wimp. And it gets brutally cold here at times. But I can do short spurts. I’ll bring my camera and look for interesting things. It may help me achieve goal 1!

3. I will spend less time on my phone, doomscrolling or playing dumb games. If I can accomplish just this one goal, it will automatically help me accomplish many other goals, by giving me back some precious, precious time.

I have a few other little goals (because as I said, I’m only slightly less delusional), but that’s a good 3 to focus on for now.

Do you have any goals for the year ahead? Tell me about them!

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If nothing else, I’ve worked towards all 3 of the above goals today. Here I am, writing a post! And I went for a walk this afternoon! Outside! In -7 degree weather! And working towards goals 1 and 2 meant 3 came naturally! Huzzah! I am a rousing success!

Ok, maybe “went for a walk” is a stretch. It was more of an attempt. First, I visited the local sewage lagoon, as one does, in search of some interesting ducks. There were about 50 Mallards but the usual Wood Ducks were absent and no other unusual ducks presented themselves.

I then headed for my local trail by the river, as in winter there are frequently rafts of ducks on the portions that aren’t frozen. As I walked down a bit of a hill to get to the trail, I realized the fresh snow was covering a thick sheet of ice, and nearly killed myself on the descent. Part of my brain was worried about breaking my camera in a fall, while the other half was more concerned I’d break a leg right before next week’s planned vacation (which would be truly tragic). I picked up speed unintentionally and ended up clinging to shrubbery to maintain what little dignity I had left. Still, I persevered, because I’m nothing if not stubborn.

My efforts were rewarded by crappy photos of faraway Common Mergansers.

Because I’m not very smart, instead of heading home when I finally made it back to my car intact, I headed to a second location. The second location was just as icy, and I pictured myself in the hospital, in traction, as I penguin-walked towards the river hoping this location would be more fruitful.

It was not.

I did see some Canada Geese and a few American Black Ducks, but I was unable to get close enough to anything to get a good shot.

Here’s a crappy shot of a Bald Eagle flying past while I attempted to remain upright.

It’s there. I swear.

I think those are bunny tracks above. Notice how I’m the only idiot human who’s walked the area? Yeah. There’s a reason for that.

I somehow made it home with no broken bones, and I’m going to bed tonight with the knowledge that if nothing else, I was successful in achieving my 2026 goals for at least 24 hours. Go me!

On Easter weekend, I broke my self-imposed rule of not travelling to the US until things are less…you know…to support my spouse as he achieved his goal of running the Boston Marathon. He’s trained insanely hard for the last several years to get there, and we are no spring poulets, so waiting 4 years+ to run the race might have meant never running it all. So we decided this was a valid exception. Nevertheless, I felt like the most traitorous of traitors during what would normally be a routine drive to our closest neighbour.

Living an hour’s drive from the US border, I’ve travelled there on many holiday weekends, and usually there’s a long wait both to get in and to get out. This time, there were 3 cars ahead of us going in, despite only one lane being open. I realize it’s anecdotal, but based on my many, many visits, I definitely think my fellow Canadians are limiting their cross-border travel in a meaningful way.

While the weekend was marathon-focused, I did manage to slip in a bit of birdy time, with a quick trip to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge the day before the race, and a stop at the Mass Audubon Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary on the drive home.

I came upon Mount Auburn Cemetery while Googling good birding locations an easy drive from our hotel. My spouse wanted to limit his walking before the race so I thought a saunter through a cemetery looking for birds would be an acceptable level of activity. The grounds of the cemetery are beautiful, and although I didn’t spot a huge variety of birds (perhaps owing to a strong wind), I did see several first-of-year birds, like a Tufted Titmouse and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, some very fine turtles, and SO MANY FROGS!

I heard the frogs long before I saw them. I followed the cacophony to find a small pond downright teeming with frogs. I have never in my life seen such a large and vocal group of frogs. I watched them for quite a while, wanting desperately to (gently) squeeze their little frog toes. But as I am a civilized crazy person, I left them unmolested.

Another highlight was watching a Tufted Titmouse seemingly play in a pile of leaves. It was probably looking for bugs, tossing leaves into the air for almost 10 minutes. Tufted Titmice only rarely pop up in my province, and I’ve never seen one at home, so I’m always thrilled when I get the chance to watch one.

I’ve had the great pleasure of visiting several Mass Audubon locations over the last few years, and they never fail to delight. We only had two hours or so to spend at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary before we needed to continue our journey home, and it was not nearly enough time to fully explore the grounds.

What a lovely spot! We parked at the visitors’ centre, paid our entrance fee, then set out on the trails. There are a large number of tree swallow nesting boxes at the entrance, with its inhabitants swooping above our heads or giving us the side-eye from atop their homes.

It’s obvious that the regulars feed the birds, because even though we didn’t have any food with us, we were quite literally followed around the trails by Black-capped chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, and others.

The Northern Cardinal above landed directly in front of me. I have never seen one so close up before. At home, I occasionally get them on my feeders but they’re very skittish and rarely even let me open the patio door to get a decent photo. Then, a Canada Goose walked up to us with a hopeful look in its eyes. My spouse was convinced the goose was about to attack, but I was not concerned. There was no hissing, no rushing, just a friendly waddle towards us, like it was slightly embarrassed to be asking us for a snack but also very much wanting that snack. A delightful goose! We were a big disappointment, having no snacks to offer, but I think it had some luck with another couple further up the trail. (There were signs saying to not feed the geese or waterfowl, but clearly people are not abiding by them.)

We spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker in a pecking frenzy - I took some video but it makes Blair Witch Project look like the finest cinematography. Why can I not keep still while shooting video? Thankfully I took some photos too!

There was also an interesting rockery to explore. It was apparently constructed in 1905.

Before we knew it, it was time to hit the road, but as we made our way back to the visitors’ centre, we spotted what I believe was a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk perched in a tree. I took roughly 8 million photos of it as it patiently humoured me. If I have misidentified it, please correct me!

I think it was trying to look possessed in the last photo so that I’d stop gawking at it. You know, since “Talk to the wing” hadn’t worked. I did eventually pull myself away so we could continue the journey home.

After several more hours of driving, we got back to the US-Canada border. This time, there were no cars in line at all. Usually, when I cross the border back into Canada, I feel like I have a trunk full of dead bodies even though my worst crime is (allegedly) spending more than my duty-free limit. It was therefore somewhat refreshing to not have our vehicle balancing on its rear axles from the weight of my cross-border shopping purchases on the way home. In fact, I had nothing to declare at all (has Hell frozen over??).

While I look forward to future US visits when the political situation stabilizes, for now I will focus on some gallivanting within my own country. Next week, I travel to Ontario for a weeklong birding adventure, hopefully catching a good bit of spring migration at Long Point and Rondeau provincial parks, and Point Pelee National Park. I am determined to complete the 100 Species Challenge at Point Pelee to get my commemorative Yellow Warbler Pin during the Festival of Birds (I love me some free swag)! Wish me luck! My hope is to get 10 new lifers or more, and now that I know that Lifer Pie is a thing, I will definitely be tracking down a bakery to celebrate my new finds. I will report back on both the quality of the birding and the quality of the pie.

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Despite not being a fervent believer in this stuff, I was still delighted when my friend bought me the Avian Tarot by Brittany Lyn Batchelder for my birthday. It has beautiful artwork, a great little guidebook that relates each card to the bird illustrated on it, and the deck and guidebook tuck away in a lovely little storage box. And while I will not be basing any big life decisions on my readings, I will pepper it with questions of a trivial nature on a regular basis, just for funsies.

Because I have no idea what I’m doing, I’ve been sticking with quick one card readings, which is supposed to provide meaning to concise, focused questions.

I pulled 2 cards today. First, I wanted to know what kind of month this was going to be for me. I pulled the Knight of Wands - Hamerkop. This is good! It means energy and enthusiasm! I’m going to get shit done! This is miraculous, as aside from my actual job, I get VERY LITTLE done with any regularity. I will choose to believe deep in my soul that this will be a super productive month. Hurray! Plus, I learned about a new bird I’d never even heard of. Win win!

Then I asked it what kind of a birding year I would have. I pulled the Two of Cups – Flamingos! This is also a good card – it signifies harmony and balance, and deepened connections. I WILL BE AT ONE WITH THE BIRDS, PEOPLE! And who doesn’t love a sassy flamingo?

I’m going to quit while I’m ahead, but if any of you desire a one card reading by a wholly inexperienced tarot reader who will mostly make things up as she goes, ask away. The birds and I are at your disposal.

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To everyone’s surprise, the visiting Crested Caracara did indeed survive the winter, and seemed to be thriving. Island residents and visitors continued to be delighted by its presence throughout 2024. I have a soft spot for Crested Caracaras. I was lucky enough to see and photograph several of them on my 2023 Aruba trip, and just found them so full of personality (and I always love a bird with a fun hairdo). Whenever someone asks about my favourite bird species, the Crested Caracara is always jockeying for top spot on my list.

Here are a few Crested Caracara photos I took on my trip:

Since it had made it through one rough winter, I assumed the hardy bird would power through another one.

I just read on the PEI Birding group that the Crested Caracara was found deceased and picked up by a Conservation Officer today. I won’t lie - the news kind of gutted me. I realize I am probably sadder than I should be about the death of a wild bird, but here we are. If only the PEI Caracara could know the immense joy it brought so many people by just hanging out and doing birdy things in a new neighbourhood.

2023 is also the year that I made up for all the travel I’d missed in the depths of the pandemic, both to celebrate my milestone birthday and to keep myself distracted from the fact that I was officially over the proverbial hill. This travel definitely helped boost my bird count, especially since I hired local birders in Aruba and Bonaire, who knew where to find loads of interesting species -Crested Caracaras! Shocos! Yellow-shouldered Parrots! I was hooked. By the end of the year, I’d reached a tally of 155 species, which I was quite proud of, despite knowing it was a rookie number. (After all, I *am* a rookie!)

Last year, I stayed closer to home, and didn’t have a lot of time for serious birding. I did manage some road trips -one to Massachusetts, where I explored a number of parks, and another to various parts of Nova Scotia. But mostly I just roamed the trails of Fredericton My total for 2024 was only 111 species, but it included several new life birds, which is always exciting!

My 2025 list currently stands at a paltry 13, consisting mostly of birds I can see from the warm confines of my living room and a few ducks spotted during the rare occasions I’ve ventured out into the cold to seek them out. I did tentatively book travel to Point Pelee National Park and other nearby hotspots during the spring migration, so fingers crossed this year brings me a number of new life birds, or at the very least, some non-fuzzy photographs of birds in flight. (WHY can’t I get this right?)