Page 32 - bon-dia-aruba-20200622

a32 local
Monday 22 June 2020

Gracious birds on Aruba

ORANJESTAD — Aruba Today loves to show the beauty of our island in all its aspects to
readers, followers and friends. We support individuals, foundations and organizations
that protect the island’s flora, fauna and culture. We know that these are our treasures
we must preserve and one of the reasons why our tourists visit One Happy Island. With
words and images we share the wonders of Mother Nature, this time translated into the
amazing pictures by photographer Erik Neuteboom.

“Late 2017 I moved from The Netherlands to Aruba. A few years before I started bird-
watching, gradually this became a more serious hobby. To my delight I discovered that
Aruba is an amazing island for birdwatchers, over 300 different species live here which
is incredible. Because I am a retired psychiatric nurse I have plenty of time for bird-
watching, I prefer to go to the Bubali Bird Sanctuary, the Spanish Lagoon, and Arashi.
Unfortunately I don’t have a 4WD to explore the rough coastal area of Aruba, between
the Lighthouse and the natural Bridge. At first I was very happy with every bird that re-
mained sitting on a branch or standing in the water for 10 seconds so I could make my
picture. But during the years I tried to make more special pictures, with a blend of expe-
rience, patience and luck I succeeded to capture more dynamic moments from birds.
Last year I focused on birds with gracious wing movements, as a tribute to my other
passion: Flamenco. I love the gracious and passionate movements of the Flamenco
dancers. This resulted into this column: ‘gracious birds on Aruba’, another wonderful gift
from Mother Nature.q