Well there is a lot to report but I will not try and squeeze it all into one post. In this piece I will update you on the results of the annual parrot count and the Carnival surprise which was brilliant! Then in a week or so I’ll put another post up with a bit more information about what it is like to be back on Bonaire once again and what my plans are prior to the breeding season. And so lets get on with it…
The annual Lora (parrot) count took place at dawn on Saturday January 26th and a total of 430 loras were counted. This was a dramatic change from last year's successful count of 650 loras, so what is going on?
First a little background, the Amazon parrot that is found here on Bonaire is an endangered species and a crucial part of any conservation effort is to keep track of the animal's population size. Lora counts have been made since the 1970s and since 1990 there has been a count almost every year. Two NGOs currently organise the count and these are: Salba Nos Lora (Save our Parrot) and Stinapa (who manages the national parks). In the non-breeding season the parrots generally flock together and form large roosts with up to 100 birds in each one. The roost locations are pretty much the same each year so teams of volunteers go out early in the morning and as dawn arrives they can count the parrots leaving the roost on their way to find food. This years count was conducted by the staff of Stinapa and over 40 volunteers including 15 students from the island’s high school. Many counters return from year to year to help with this event and the quality of the volunteers observations and note taking is very high. This is very important when we come to collect the results and ensure there is no double counting.
In 2006 we worked very hard to ensure the count accuracy and it was a great success. The number of birds seen this year is much lower despite the entire count following the same methodology. What is the difference you might ask? Well there has been a lot of rain prior to this year's count and it may well be that there is an abundance of food. This certainly seems to be the case and it is likely that the birds simply do not need to flock together as a result. It may be that they can forage just as effectively in smaller numbers. Several of the counters reported hearing distant loras and this would support the idea. So we don't think it is an actual drop in parrot numbers but rather a change in parrot behaviour that has influenced the count result. But to be sure we'll have to see how the count goes next year!
Carnival!
Ok so it’s not Rio but the people of Bonaire hold a carnival parade every year and this year I was lucky enough to be on the island to see it. I heard a rumor there were going to be some lora costumes so I considered it my duty to go and see what was going on! The streets were packed with happy people and the atmosphere was fantastic. I was with a few friends and we found a gap in the crowd and so positioned ourselves and waited for the parade to move along the street. It was like a fun and friendly version of the baggage reclaim at the airport!! The parade was moving at about 0.3kmh so there was plenty of time to get warmed up and start swinging our hips. The anticipation was almost (but not quite!) unbearable. Anyway anyway the very first group of people to boogie on down the street were the Lora group. I was blown away! The costumes were amazing and these dedicated ladies and gentlemen had clearly put in a phenomenal amount of effort. And there were so many model parrots, full size parrot people and even a guy with two massive cacti on his back with parrots on them. Everyone was in green, yellow and red costumes and it was brilliant. Well my excited words don’t really do it justice so I will put a bunch of pictures in with the blog and a movie too so you can see for yourself!
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