It’s probably no secret by now that Karen and I enjoy traveling. Before we were married (in 1974) Karen told me, “When we get married, I want you to take me places.” So I have.
About a month after our Ecuador trip we went to the St. Thomas in U.S. Virgin Islands for 10 days; it wasn’t a birding tour per se, but we did search for the endemics. Our luck with flying hasn’t been very good lately. We took off on time from Miami and about half-way there the Captain came on the intercom and announced that a plane was stuck on the (only) runway in St. Thomas due to a flat tire! We returned to Miami and sat there for hours (as we deplaned Karen pointed down to the tarmac and we watched one piece of luggage was being load onto our plane – my golf clubs had been left behind). By the time we arrived that night the rental car desk was closed so we had to book a taxi out to our place, which was pitch black when we got in. We crashed as soon as we got into our Air BandB.
The next morning we awoke to find the most beautiful views we’ve ever had from a rental! Looking directly east of us we could see St. John’s Island and some of the British Virgin Islands.
Looking to the north we overlooked Water Bay (I told you they weren’t very creative with their names). The colorful buildings on the left were part of the Margaritaville Vacation Club. The bit of water on the right was lapping up on Coki Beach, which had some amazing snorkeling right off the shore.
Here’s a look at our place from Margaritaville. Our unit was the second level down. A casual restaurant was right on the water below our place; we had several meals and watched the Super Bowl there. Huge 5 and six foot Tarpon cruised the water below the tables waiting for scraps thrown down into the water. The development we stayed was called Point Pleasant.
Here I am after snorkeling at Coki Beach (that’s why I’m so wrinkly and looks like I have a receding hairline). A 60 Minutes segment from a couple of years ago prompted my “Birds Are Real” t-shirt (the piece was about a bunch of college kids who went around protesting that “Birds Aren’t Real” – CLICK HERE to see the YouTube video of that segment – it’s a hoot).
Each morning I looked out over my domain (Water Bay) to see flocks of Brown Pelicans, Brown Boobies, and Royal Terns diving into the water in search of food. If you look closely at this iPhone picture you can actually see the splashes from some of them entering the water and others about to hit the surface.
Did I get out my big lens to shoot some of these diving birds? You betcha, and those shots will be coming up next week.
Karen and I have had the opportunity to travel to many interesting places in search of birds. If you would like read about more of our Bird Tours CLICK HERE.
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Paradise!