It has taken a while but I have gone through my pictures and completed the edits!
Of course, I found more bird photographs, so I am including them too.
Here is a handsome red foddy. I was lucky enough to be able to stand on outside steps to be high enough to photograph him!
And here is the red foddy nest.
She is a brush warbler. She graciously posed in a tree right next to me!
One aspect of the trip that should be shared is early morning trip to Nosy Ve, a beautiful little island off the western coast that is the nesting area of the red-tailed tropic bird. We left the hotel before dawn - there is not much sleep on a birding trip. We had to drive a short distance to the cost to board our boat to Nosy Ve. What a surprise. There is no dock, The boat is open with 2 motos and yes, we had life jackets! In order to get to the boat at high tide, we rode in zebu drawn carts! First time for everything.
Here are a few photographs of the zebus, carts and people being transported to the boat. As you can see, dawn is just breaking along the horizon.
A few necessary supplies for the trip - like fuel!
And here we are in the boat and wearing our life jackets. Did you notice it is an open boat! No protection from the sun or rain, which we did encounter on the way back.
An outrigger on the high seas, probably got an earlier start than we did.
Island scenes.
Greeted by a great blue heron.
Women selling seashells (yes, I bought two - bargained hard for them) and cloth that you can use a a blanket or as a beach wrap.
A fellow birder purchased the item. We need to help the local commertce!
A few children from the outrigger looking at us. The girls were given food and pens. Wish I had more pens, but I gave them all that was in my backpack. Lesson learned. Keep school supplies handy. Shold have known that but did not anticipate and encounter.
Vendors returning to the outrigger.
And here is our tropic bird. We saw one on her nest, one immature under a bush and a few flying. Well worth the boating excitement!
This is our motorboat. You can see storm clouds in the distance. During lunch we watched lightning in the distance. The trip was rough going back but there were no problems except it did rain! Held on tight as we bounced up and down pretty dramatically!
We also had to pay landing fees once we were on our way back to the main island. The exchange is being made while we are motoring and the collectors are sailing!
After the journey, we were met by a tractor transport as it was low tide! No more rides in the zebu drawn carts for us. We stepped as gracefully as possible between the two.
The carts were used to pick up the captain and crew.
Very low tide.
Zebus on the shore.
It was a great day. We had lunch at a beach resort in San Augustin before coming back to Tulear. Saw some new bird on the island as well as at San Augustin, had a great lunch and a great experience.
Will post more pictures as time allows.
Until next time...................
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