Yesterday we received a call from our neighbor. A most unusual bird had landed on her terrace. She wanted us to look out and see what the bird might be. It was at some distance but I knew at once it was a Brown Booby. Very exciting as very rarely do we see one of these. The only other time I remember was five years ago when I was working as a dive instructor on one of my first trips out to Mona Island... I was leading a tour and we had just surfaced when one of these birds landed just a few feet from me. It would duck its head under the water and look around, probably for fish... assuredly not at me. These birds are native to the Caribbean and yet are rarely seen. Here at the Lemontree we regularly see Pelicans, gulls, Frigate birds and Sandpipers by the shore, but not these Boobys.
Today I was surprised to see the bird again, but on our terrace. I grabbed my camera and slowly began to shoot moving carefully closer and closer. I was sure the bird would take off but no, he just stayed calm and kept an eye on me.
The boobys are reputed to be long lived and mate in stable pairs. When I lived in the city I never came into contact with a creature that was not man-impacted in some way. Yet, here by the shore, one has the possibility of all kinds of encounters with the world as it might have been a thousand years ago. The basic rhythms, melodies and the occasional adornos eternal.
1 comment:
Wow, you're lucky. I've tried photographing Boobies for the past 20 years. I've never seen one posing like that. They're always flying across the horizon. I guess he was looking for a nice peaceful place to rest.
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