This my fourth trip to my all time favorite island of Anguilla, with new places to explore around and on the remote islands of Dog Island and Prickly Pear Cays! Both gave us several species of nesting birds!
First up is the unique-looking Brown Booby. I love the pastel colors of their beak and eyes, and the chocolate brown plumage. We came across a pair actively nesting, with one egg thus far. This was a first for me, and it was spectacular to witness.
Hard to say who is the female! 
Perhaps both pretty and goofy? 
The wait begins – Booby eggs take about 45 days to hatch. 
Both Boobies will share in incubation and chick-rearing duties. 
Sitting on the egg!
To be so close to a nesting pair of Red-billed Tropicbirds – without infringing on the nest of course – was another amazing first!
Red-billed Tropicbirds 
The egg! And, the bird closest is banded (a tiny band placed around the leg for tracking) 
See the wispy tail on the bird on the right? 
A priceless photograph! 
In flight.
While we were able to dock our boat at the beach of Prickly Pear and take our short hike to see these beautiful nesting birds, we viewed the nesting Masked Boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds from the boat, as it was a bit too rough to dock there. It wasn’t until after our trip when I was looking at the photos on my laptop that I realized there were chicks!!
Masked Booby chick with parents. 
Another little fluffball Masked Booby chick. 
Would love to see them up close! Next time perhaps. 
The Magnificent Frigatebird colony too was on Dog Island, with many flying high in the sky above it. While I couldn’t see any chicks, the Frigatebirds were clearly sitting on nests. As to the ones in flight, during breeding season males will puff out their red throat sac to attract females! I was fortunate to see a male in flight doing just this!
Male Magnificent Frigatebird looking to attract the ladies! 
Soaring high above the colony 
Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebirds 
A colony, with nests and a couple male’s throat sacs puffed out!
We saw many other birds and wildlife that day, both on land and at sea, as we finished the day at Little Bay and Crocus Bay on Anguilla. I’ll save those beauties for my next post!
Fetching the World 
These are so beautiful, Liz. I’ve kept this post in my browser open all this time. ❤
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Thank you so much Manja! ☺️
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Spectacular!! What a beautiful egg with the red billed Tropic birds! I keep chickens that lay multi-coloured eggs, so I’ve always got my eye on eggs, haha.
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Ha! And it’s not every day to see up close nesting birds, let alone eggs!!
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