I LOVE JAANCHIES

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday   and Our World Tuesday

Happy Mother's Day, I hope everyone had a great day!!!

I hope you are not tired of hearing about my Curacao trip. But, this is post will be like a restaurant review and a bird trip report.

Jaanchies is a local island restaurant located in Westpunt, Curacao. I had read reviews on Trip Advisor before leaving home on this restaurant, so I knew exactly what to expect. I was going there to see Jaanchies birds. Boy, was I pleased, it is a quaint place with bird feeders hanging right outside the open air restaurant.

 The bird feeders are right next to the tables, it was hard taking my eyes off the birds to eat.


Jaanchie, the sweet owner came over and sat down at our table to tell us what is being served that day. There are no written menus.  Jaanchie took our order, hubby and I both ordered the shrimp and rice dish. Our meal also came with fries and salad. I was so busy watching the birds it was hard for me to eat but I did and it all tasted delicious. Jaanchie did give me a scolding for not finishing my plate of food, but that is what my hubby loves to do. Our service was great ...there was no long wait and we were very pleased our meal.

Birds were on every feeder and once in a while a bird would fly thru the open air restaurant.

There were so many Bananaquits, this is just one of the many feeders that was overflowing with birds.

 Above are the Bare-eyed Pigeons and a Bananaquit, they are common birds in Curacao.

I do not think I have ever had Orioles and the other birds come so close to me, these birds were also being fed sugar. They must all be addicted to sugar, kind of like my hubby who has the sweet tooth.

Above, you can see the Troupial Orioles with sugar all over their beaks. I knew the hummingbirds and the orioles love the sugar water but this is raw sugar and they love it.

This is Yellow Oriole is the Trupial Kacho.

After finishing our meal Jaanchie came over to tell us he had a special treat for us, it was ice cream (kind of like an ice sandwich) with a sauce. I was happy because it gave me more time to watch the birds. Before leaving the restaurant, Jaanchie gave me a colorful carved parrot. A souvenir to remember our visit to Jaanchies. Jaanchies was a fun dining experience, if you are ever in Curacao I highly recommend this restaurant.

So a list the birds we saw at Jaanchies were: lots of Troupials, lots of Trupical Kacho, Bare-eyed pigeons and many more Bananaquits. Outside of the restaurant were chickens and we saw some more green parakeets.

To see more wonderful post and mosaics please visit Mosaic Monday  and more great post
can be seen at Our World Tuesday.

Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group at Our World Tuesday. Also thanks, I appreciate all the visits and comments. I wish everyone a safe and happy week ahead.

More Curacao birds

I am linking up with Camera Critters. 

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom blogging friends.

I have some more Curacao birds from our trip. On this day, hubby and I rented a car and drove around the island. At first it was more like we got lost, we did not know there was a detour and missed a turn. But, this turned out to be a good thing because we found the one of the Curacao birds that was on my wish list of birds to see.

Curacao has wild Pink Flamingos. I have only seen them previously in zoos, being a "birder" zoo birds are just not the same as seeing in them free their own habitat. So to seeing the Pink Flamingos in the wild was on my list of things I had to see in Curacao. Thanks to being lost we found the Pink Flamingos.

Another stop with the rental car was at the Shete Boka Nat'l Park. I was really enjoying the birds at the sugar feeder. Here are a few of the Bananaquits.

 A cute Yellow Warbler was also enjoying the sugar feeder.

Above is the Yellow Warbler and the Bananaquit. I had no idea that birds loved raw sugar. One of the park employees dumped more sugar in the feeder so I could watch the birds up close. The feeder at times was filled with all different birds all satisfying their sugar cravings.

I saw this American Kestrel in the park, he was trying to hide in this bush. I guess the Kestrel is seen all over the world? This post should actually be before my last sunset post it all took place on the same day.

I hope you enjoyed my Curacao birds. 
To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit: Camera Critters.  Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting Camera Critters and thanks for stopping by to see my post. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Happy Birding.

Another SWF>>Curacao

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday!

 We visited this beach before heading back to our hotel for dinner and the sunset. The weather and sky were just perfect the whole week. When we first arrived at the beach we noticed these cute Parakeets making their way around the tree tops.

I am not sure if these were the Brown-throated Parakeets or if they are called Conures. The yellow head and green back with the blue splash of color on its wings look like the Brown-Throated Parakeets I have seen pictured.

At the beach I watched this Tropical Mockingbird, it did not see to mind posing for me.

While hubby and I were on vacation we watched most of the sunsets from our hotel. We could sit at the outside restaurant for our dinner or have a drink while watching the sky. It was very relaxing.

Back at our hotel we enjoyed watching this colorful sunset.

Above the sunset is sinking into the ocean behind the resorts massage tent.

To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Sandy and Wren.
Also, thank you for stopping by to see my skies. Happy Skywatching and have a great weekend!

More of Curacao

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

I used Picasa to create these mosaics with my Curacao vacation photos. If you like, I have more vacation photos on my travel sight Curacao-vacation . I hope you enjoy some of Curacao beautiful scenes. The island and people of Curacao were beautiful and the so were the birds. Hubby and I had a wonderful vacation, I just wish it lasted longer. May 4 was our 22nd wedding anniversary so this was like a anniversary trip for us.

In the mosaic above I have the beach in front of our resort, some bougainvillea seen around the resort, bottom larger left shot is of Curacao's capitol Williamstad, a shot of the beach at Cas Abou,  and bottom right is the resort pool and the ocean.

On our second day we used the Marriott's free shuttle into to the city of Williamstad. The buildings are painted beautiful colors. There are many shops and restaurants to explore and we crossed the floating bridge pictured above to check out the local floating market. The floating market is like a farmers market with local merchants selling fruits and  vegetables.

 On one of the days we rented a car and drove around the island sightseeing. The beach called Cas Abou is favored for snorkeling was one of our stops.

Curacao birds above are the Pink Flamingo, Green Parakeets, Bananquit, Yellow Warbler and the bottom right is the National bird the Troupial.

The National  bird of Curaco is the Troupial and was a common bird seen at our resort and all around the island.

These parakeets were also seen around different part of the island.


To see more wonderful mosaics and post please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.
Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and thank to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy.

Thanks also for stopping by to see my post, I appreciate the visit and the comments. I hope everyone has a Happy week ahead.

Curacao birds and critters

For my Camera Critters I have some birds and lizards seen around our Curacao hotel.

Sometimes while hubby was snorkeling right off the beach at our resort, I was walking around the hotels grounds checking out all the birds and the lizards. During our vacation I picked up a few new life birds and saw some new critters.

One of the many iguanas seen around the hotel.

Above is a Tropical Mockingbird.

These Bare-eyed Pigeons were always hanging around the outside restaurant tables. I guess looking for leftovers. The Bare-eyes look like a bulls-eye to me.

Above is a Whiptail Lizard, they were quick to move out of your way. I love the colorful tail.

The Troupial above were also hanging around the outside tables. Sometimes landing on the tables and stealing a sugar packet and flying off with it. I think all of birds in Curacao love Sugar.

 I hope you enjoyed my post and to see more cute and wonderful critters please visit: Camera Critters
Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. I hope everyone has a Happy weekend!

SWF>>>>Curacao

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday


These shots are of the sunset during our recent vacation to Curacao. We vacationed at a Curacao beach resort, the weather all week was sunny and hot. Hubby enjoyed the snorkeling and I enjoyed seeing new birds and watching the sunsets.

Above is a view of the beach and resort, our home for the week.

Above is a Bananaquit with a pretty blue sky for a background. Sounds like a weird name for a bird, it is a little bird maybe the size of our Red-breasted Nuthatch. I love the pretty yellow chest, we must have seen thousands of these birds all week long. They make this loud smooching sound, it sounds like they are throwing loud kisses all the time. LOL!

To enjoy more beautiful skies from around the world click here: Skywatch Friday

Thanks to the hosting group of Skywatch: Sylvia, Sandy and Wren. Thank you also for stopping by to see my skies. I hope everyone has a safe and HAPPY weekend. Enjoy your skywatching!!!!

Troupial, Curacao's National Bird

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

I am back from my week long vacation in Curacao, Dutch Antilles. We had a great time and saw some beautiful birds.  The Troupial is one of 25 or so of the New World Orioles. The Troupial or "Turpial" the Spanish name is the National Bird of Curacao and can also be found on Bonaire, Aruba and in South America.

The Troupial is large in size, has a long tail and a bulky bill. The feathers on the upper neck and upper breast stick out and make an uneven boundary between the orange on the bottom lower breast. The wings are mostly black except for a white streak the run the length of the wing. The eyes are yellow and surrounding each eye is a bright blue area of naked skin.

I am showing various angles and shots of different Troupials we saw during our week long visit to Curacao.

Above, you can see the size of the Troupial compared to the smaller Bananaquit sitting on the feeder.

I think the eyes and colors on the Troupial are gorgeous on this beautiful bird.  I wanted to show the difference between the Troupial and our own State Bird of Maryland below. As you can see there are many differences. The blue around the eye and the black on the head nd neck area are some of the differences  I have noticed.

I hope you enjoyed my Troupial from Curacao and to see more beautiful birds
check out Springman's World Bird Wednesday  and for more nature photos and post
please visit  Michelle's Nature Notes.   Thanks to Springman and to Michelle for hosting these fun memes. And I always appreciate the comments. :)))