• Trinidad and Tobago Red-billed Tropicbirds

    Little Tobago - Now this was an interesting and fairly complicated place to get to. It was a pretty long drive from Cuffie River Lodge, then the boat ride (getting on and off was a trip in and of itself), then whoa, the march up the stairs. Way up. But the payoff was worth it.

     Nice when they give you a close-up.

    These seabirds live out over the ocean and only come to land to breed. Their feet and legs are made for optimal ocean living, and leave something to be desired when it comes to landing on land. Soooo they fly into their general nesting area and then circle around and around until they can catch just the right thermal that can sail them into their roosting spot without crashing.

    So delicate and graceful.

    This is the booby nesting area. These may be a couple of adult white-phase Red-footed Boobies on nests.

    And here are some Brown phase Red-footed Boobies.

    Red-footed Boobies have blue bills. Who knew?

    When I first came across the unimpressive tiny little picture of the Red-billed Tropicbird in my guide book, I was underwhelmed, to say the least. I had no idea we were destined to enjoy such a glorious flurry of graceful and swirling white birds on the top of their tropical island home.

     

     

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