Yellow-crowned Night Heron
We had chosen Tobago has our holiday destination mainly because I had watched one of David Attenborough’s wildlife series. One of the programs showed amazing footage of Red-billed Tropicbirds and Magnificent Frigatebirds on a small island in Tobago and I wanted to see it ‘in the flesh’. Not only did we manage to visit this particular island and see these birds, but our guide for the trip had also acted as David Attenborough’s field advisor when he had filmed there.
We boarded a mini-bus had headed for the next hotel along the road to pick up more passengers. There was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron showing well in a ditch near the hotel and I took one or two photos of it from the bus.
A short drive and boat trip found us on the island of Little Tobago where we walked across to the cliffs on the far side of the island. There were six Red-billed Tropicbirds soaring around the cliffs and we watched Brown Boobies, Sooty Terns, Brown Noddies and Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over the sea below. I saw one Frigatebird catch a Tropicbird by the tail in flight, exactly as I had seen on TV, in an attempt to make the Tropicbird drop the fish it was carrying.
Our guide led us to some low bushes at the top of the cliff where he said that the last fledgling Tropicbird of the season was still on it’s nest. We peered through the undergrowth and, sure enough, a juvenile Tropicbird was sitting tightly on the nest. It looked fully grown, apart from the fact that its bill had not yet turned red, and did not seem at all bothered by our presence.
Other birds seen on the trip include Roseate Tern from the boat and Chivi Vireo, Shiny Cowbird, Palm Tanager and Green-rumped Parrotlet in the woodland on the island.
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