I wasn't inspired by Chicago skies this week so I decided to use it as an opportunity to post some more of my husbands beautiful photos from the trip we took to the Galapagos Islands earlier this year. Whilst travelling between the islands by boat we were very often accompanied by frigatebirds.
These stunning birds have the most amazing wing size to body weight ratio that allows them to hang effortlessly in the sky for hours at a time without flapping their wings.
There are two types of frigate bird that occur on the islands. The Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens which is distinguished by a stunning purple sheen on the feathers on its back. And the Great Frigatebird Fregata minor which has a green sheen on its back. (The way I remembered it was G for green and G for great!)
These birds do have a reputation as the pirates of the air for their rather questionable tactics of grabbing other birds in flight and dangling them upside down until they reguritate their fish! But I suspect when you look this spectacular you can get away with a certain amount of bad behavior!!!
Most of the birds that flew with the boat were either female or juvenile but incase you are in any doubt about their spectacular looks, here is one of the males.
To see other skywatch sites go here.
Photo Credits - Dominick V
14 comments:
These bird pics are amazing! The birds may have an incredible wing span, but I think the curve of the wing is stunning! Love these pics! And the last one is hilarious! Like a red balloon for a bow tie!
Great catch for Skywatch! Mine's up too hope you can visit... Happy weekend!
That look very large and a nice contrast for the blue sky.
Really excellent pictures of the birds and sky!
They don't have such things in Chicago??
:-)
Great photos! Really enjoy your site.
Nina at Nature Remains
We have the Great Frigatebird here in Hawaii, too. They certainly are magnificent creatures. Your photos are terrific.
Absolutely brilliant shots.
Super photos of bird and sky.
Adorable photos of frigate birds against that interesting sky. Nice balloon heart he's puffed up too! Absolutely great shots.
ps I'm a sucker for squirrels too.
greyscale territory - my husband takes full credit for the photos :) They are majestic birds and they are great to watch either on land or in the air.
snap catch - Thanks for dropping by, have a great weekend.
carrie and troy - They are huge, well their wings are, their body not so much. Thanks for visiting.
louise - I can't take any credit for the photos, that all goes to my husband - I just tell him what to take! ;)
nina - now wouldn't that be a sight, soaring around the Sears tower! Thanks for dropping by.
bobbie - You must enjoy watching them gliding around the islands, they are so stunning.
babooshka - Thanks, glad you liked them.
eddie d - They are so photogenic it is hard not to keep taking pictures!
arija - Thanks. Yes the big red throat sack is pretty funny, I guess if you are a female frigatebird then it is pretty hot! :)
What amazing photos from what must have been the trip of a lifetime. You should blog more of those photos as how many people will ever see that. Making other fish vomit...the adaptations of creatures is just amazing...
Rambling woods - I did post some more Galapagos photos in April and May of this year, it was actually the reason I started this blog, my husband had taken so many fabulous pictures I just wanted to let others share them. But then time goes by and other things come up so I never got round to doing any more until these. I am so glad you enjoyed them.
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