FOR THE BIRDS!
Yellowfin tuna, dorado, marlin and sailfish provided constant action on the East Cape this week.
We had a little different gig for a few days though. Four years ago I was asked to take a group of bird watchers out on Jen Wren to sight marine
birds. To be honest I kind of thought it was joke and planned to take them over to the moorings where they could watch pelicans make a mess on
fishing boat bimini tops. That thought couldn't have been further from reality and my crew and myself got a heck of an education from the birders.
On this exploration four years ago birders known to be authorities on the subject of marine birds came from as far away as Europe. I quickly found
out southern Baja has been little explored and not much is known about what marine birds habitat or migrate through here. We sighted several
different species not know to frequent these parts. The trip was a huge success and word spread rapidly through bird-nerd circles.
Since that time we have had requests to do bird watching trips every year. Each trip birders have agreed that the Sea of Cortez is rich with life and
has an excellent bird habitat. It was interesting to sight and learn about the pink footed shearwater bird. They are only known to nest in Chili. I
thought that was a long journey for a bird until sighting the south polar skua that came all the way from the Antarctic coast.
The most incredible sight we experienced this week was watching a south polar skua bird take down a boobie bird. Not seeing it with my own eyes I
would not have believed it. I would like to thank John Shemilt for sharing some of the images he captured of this event while on Jen Wren III.
We witnessed this south polar skua come out of nowhere and knock a boobie bird out of the sky
The skua pounced on the boobie when it landed in the water
The boobie bird was in distress
Trying to fight back
The skua would have no part of it
The skua bird pecked unmercifully
The boobie tried to escape
The skua bird was just too powerful
What a battle!
In the end we drifted too close which distracted the skua. The boobie flew away and all agreed our presence saved it's life.
Walking the beach in front of Rancho Buena Vista one morning I sighted this Yellow Bellied sea snake. Never a dull moment in Baja!
Wow...that is an incredible series...that poor Booby with the WTF look on his face...I bet he didnt see THAT coming....sheesh. Is it common for Skua's
to attack Boobies?
I HOPE NOT SHARI..NOT COOL !!
captkw - 8-31-2012 at 08:21 AM
vseasport - 9-1-2012 at 03:45 AM
They are a very agressive bird. It is the 2nd time I have personally witnessed a skua attack a boobie. The 1st one wasn't so lucky and bit the dust.
The ironic thing is both events happened while we had bird watching groups on the boat. What are the odds?
Quote:
Originally posted by shari
Wow...that is an incredible series...that poor Booby with the WTF look on his face...I bet he didnt see THAT coming....sheesh. Is it common for Skua's
to attack Boobies?
