I'm not trying to ruffle your
feathers but y'all should take heed, I can't
tweet these so they all have to appear here, and really, we're just
winging it !!
Did y'all get the hint of what we're about to drift into, on George's big pink wooden boat ??
First we had to cross the two miles across and I don't know how many miles up the Codrington Lagoon,
a shallow area of water to be carefully navigated, where the expanse of mangrove trees are slowly making a re-appearance,
and as we approached, the beautiful blue skies became darker,
and darker,
with these large avian creatures flying overhead. We'd entered the Frigate Bird Sanctuary, where George brought his big pink wooden boat to rest in the nooks and crannies of the mangrove forest,
in waters so clear and shallow and green,
that came with a warning. Don't step in here, the upside down jellyfish (
Cassiopea)that live here will leave you with welts to last the day and then some.
Today we're here to see the
impressive Frigate Birds.
Often called Man O'War.
These birds do not swim, cannot walk well, and cannot take off from a flat surface (hence the relation to a pelican and perhaps just as clumsy too)!
Sometimes even called Pirates (what? This little fella??).
Pirates because they are known to rob other seabirds of their catch (fish, baby turtles...) and using their agileness they outfly and harass their victims until the prey is dropped and voila, instant dinner!! Pirates indeed !!
The males have a red pouch that is inflated during breeding season.
They have a long wingspan (up to 7 feet across), deeply forked tails, and pretty sharp and piercing looking bills.
We've been seeing these large Frigatebirds ever since we've entered the warm waters of the Caribbean and a little research taught us that they are known to ride the warm updrafts, and somehow their flight patters can signal changing weather patterns.
They can stay in the air for more than a week, landing to roost or breed on trees or cliffs. And at the moment we were surrounded by them so they must all have been here roosting and breeding!
On every branch of every tree
they were Absolutely
Stunning !!
And oh, what's this?? Just a little baby!
the momma looking a little protective don't you think?
Showing off his colours
ready to attract a black and white looking mate,
And hello, what's this??
Sort of not like the other ones? A Sea Booby, according to George.
Dave took this absolutely spectacular, and IMHO, award winning shot of George, that should and could be part of National Geographic spread, non??
George allowed us to oooh-and-aah, take way too many photos, told us all about them, and then when we were done, drove us back to the beach, where we thanked him for a spectacular day that will live in our memories forever.
And now, back on the beach we were faced with a bit of a dilemma - after sitting in George's big pink wooden boat for the major part of the day, our butts were a tad sore, and we wondered in which direction we should walk ??
(to be continued)