The Last Days

Today was another Eastern island day.  Possibly the last I'll get.  My eyes were frantically searching the skies today for sooty/gray-backed terns.  I was eagerly scanning every beach for any sign of a gull or perhaps a new shorebird.  Instead, I got some great looks at a wide variety of Great Frigatebird plumages, a good Masked Booby show, and the continuing Black-bellied Plover.  All in all, a good day.  I hope to make it over there for one more trip on Wednesday, but the weather may be too rough for the boat to cross.  Felonious Jive has assured me that Eastern is my best shot at getting another bird before I leave on Thursday.

We still have vagrants on the island.  Here is one of the pintails that has survived the winter.  I would give my left eye to know exactly what happens to these guys when the urge sets in to head back up north. Can't help but wonder if some of them make it.

Here is a Cattle Egret that has very recently fledged from the nest.  Cattle Egrets mostly breed in the short shrubs around the perimeter of the islands.  They're a pretty bad problem for the native birds, as they like to eat eggs.  At one point a few years ago, they had the population down to about 10 birds.  Now, I'd guess it's more like 110.