Shells: Amber Pen Shell (Pinna carnea)

When walking along the shores of our islands we you can sometime find delicate pink wing-shaped bivalve shelves of varying sizes that look and feel like they are made of the most fragile of materials.

Wild flowers: Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus)

This post is also available in: Dutch (below) The Buttonwood is a tree species that has become part of the landscaping in various neighbourhoods on all three islands of Aruba,…

Titbits: Nature in June – Crystallized Salt

If conditions are favourable in the months of June and July—meaning high temperatures accompanied by significant evaporation of surface water, and no rain showers—then you can observe the natural process of salt formation in the various historic salt pans that the island of Curaçao boasts.

Biology: Leucism in the animal world

In nature, various colour abnormalities can occur in animals, including birds. Albinism is one of them, but an even more common abnormality is so-called leucism; an abnormality in the pigment cells that leads to reduced pigmentation and can affect all types of pigments.

Marine treasures: The Blue button (Porpita porpita)

Anyone visiting and strolling along the coast regularly can encounter a bright blue organism resembling a jellyfish after a period of change in wave and wind patterns: the Blue Button.

Help wildlife with a bowl of water

More and more nature is being destroyed on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire for so-called development purposes. As a result, the habitat for many animals is shrinking, and birds, reptiles, and other animal species are increasingly coming to gardens to survive.

Wild flowers: Kibrahacha (Handroanthus billbergii)

There is no plant that indicates the state of the weather as well as the Kibrahacha. Every year, it is a big question when these trees will ‘feel’ enough rainwater to reveal themselves in an explosion of yellow flowers within a few days. In some years, it is not until well into June that we can really admire the beautiful flowers of this tree.

Tiny critters: Needle nose flies (Genus Geron)

The taxonomic family Bombyliidae, also known as the Bee flies, is a family of flies whose species are generally very hairy and have a woolly appearance. The family consists of various genera, including the genus Geron, which includes about 180 species worldwide. This genus is also known as the Needle nose flies in English.

Black Birds on the ABC Islands – Save & share!

There are birds on our islands that still cause a lot of confusion when people ask for their identification. Despite the abundance of books, online information, and social media, some bird species are apparently so similar that they are consistently misnamed, practically creating online wars over who wants to be right. In practice, this usually involves the group of small yellow birds and the group of medium-sized black birds. In this article, we focus on the black breeding birds found on the islands, with comparative photos. To save and share whenever the discussion starts again.

Ecology in short: Communication in nature (1)

Communication can take place in many ways. People will do it mostly by means of sound, often hyper-enthusiastic. Nature has other surprises.

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