Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
It is ironic that the expression, "Add another feather to your cap", while offered as a compliment for a deed well done, actually spelled near doom for many species of birds throughout the world. That gaudy time in our world of fashions, which featured flamboyantly feathered clothing, may have been colourful and trendy, but is now recognized for what it really was - a sad chapter in our exploitation of natural resources.
The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), pictured here, probably suffered greater losses than any other species of bird during this forgettable era. Beginning in the mid 1800's, feather adornment became a measure of wealth and status. Plume collection for the millinery trade grew into a major economic industry, reaching a peak at the beginning of the 20th Century. Ladies' hats were the main items to be decorated, but dresses, hair dos and even men's hats had to be feathered to be fashionable. The long and graceful feathers of the heron family, especially the fresh, nuptial or breeding plumes, were prized, and the Snowy Egret produced the finest. It is a trusting and easily approached bird, and is therefore easily killed. However, at least 64 other North American bird species were targeted, among them such relatively drab birds as the Sanderling, American Robin and Pine Grosbeak.
The fashion grew at an alarming rate. Herbert Job wrote that, in the London Commercial Sales Rooms in 1902:
"...there were sold 1608 packages of…herons' plumes. A package is said to average in weight 30 ounces. This makes a total of 48,240 ounces. As it requires about four birds to make an ounce of plumes, these sales meant 192,960 herons killed in their nests, and from two to three times that number of young or eggs destroyed. Is it, then, any wonder that these species are on the edge of extinction? …In 1903, the price for plumes offered to hunters was $32 per ounce, which makes the plumes worth about twice their weight in gold."
Fortunately, the fad died in the years before World War I. Most of the exploited species eventually rebounded, certainly not to their historic levels, but at least to the point where we can now enjoy them in their serene and living beauty.
Relatively small by heron standards (weighing less than a pound), the Snowy Egret can be recognized at a distance by its black bill, blackish legs and incongruous yellow "gum boots". These boots serve it well; they are used to shuffle the muddy substrate of marsh habitats in an attempt to flush small fish and invertebrates. Here, the bird is feeding on isopods that live among the rocks along the high tide line.
We were in Cabo San Lucas this morning, arriving to experience a fabulous sunrise shining on Friar Rock and El Arco. Hundreds of sport fishing boats were heading out into the surrounding ocean, their occupants bright-eyed and full of hope. We were bright-eyed, as well; our all-night journey south in the open Pacific Ocean had been as smooth as could ever be expected…a joy of a ride.
We replenished ourselves with a hearty breakfast and quickly ventured off, either to snorkel at a quiet beach east of town, search for elusive desert birds now well hidden in dense greenery (the result of a recent soaking rain), or simply to stroll and shop in this burgeoning tourist community.
Our sunny afternoon featured repeated encounters with magnificent Humpback Whales as we made our way east and north into the Gulf of California. Humpbacks are here in the waters off the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula to breed, but will soon head north again to the herring- and plankton-rich coasts of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Towering tail flukes, slapping pectoral flippers, the roiling of water around courting pairs, and even an individual "breaching" high out of the water were our special treat from this species, the most acrobatic of the large cetaceans. Also leaping high around us were impressive numbers of Thurston's Devil Ray, or Mobula, a medium sized black and white ray that closely resembles its cousin, the giant manta ray. The latter can also be found off Baja California.
Sea Lion would continue north in the Gulf through the night. A healthy northeasterly swell, rippled by a moderate westerly breeze, would be our running conditions.
It is ironic that the expression, "Add another feather to your cap", while offered as a compliment for a deed well done, actually spelled near doom for many species of birds throughout the world. That gaudy time in our world of fashions, which featured flamboyantly feathered clothing, may have been colourful and trendy, but is now recognized for what it really was - a sad chapter in our exploitation of natural resources.
The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), pictured here, probably suffered greater losses than any other species of bird during this forgettable era. Beginning in the mid 1800's, feather adornment became a measure of wealth and status. Plume collection for the millinery trade grew into a major economic industry, reaching a peak at the beginning of the 20th Century. Ladies' hats were the main items to be decorated, but dresses, hair dos and even men's hats had to be feathered to be fashionable. The long and graceful feathers of the heron family, especially the fresh, nuptial or breeding plumes, were prized, and the Snowy Egret produced the finest. It is a trusting and easily approached bird, and is therefore easily killed. However, at least 64 other North American bird species were targeted, among them such relatively drab birds as the Sanderling, American Robin and Pine Grosbeak.
The fashion grew at an alarming rate. Herbert Job wrote that, in the London Commercial Sales Rooms in 1902:
"...there were sold 1608 packages of…herons' plumes. A package is said to average in weight 30 ounces. This makes a total of 48,240 ounces. As it requires about four birds to make an ounce of plumes, these sales meant 192,960 herons killed in their nests, and from two to three times that number of young or eggs destroyed. Is it, then, any wonder that these species are on the edge of extinction? …In 1903, the price for plumes offered to hunters was $32 per ounce, which makes the plumes worth about twice their weight in gold."
Fortunately, the fad died in the years before World War I. Most of the exploited species eventually rebounded, certainly not to their historic levels, but at least to the point where we can now enjoy them in their serene and living beauty.
Relatively small by heron standards (weighing less than a pound), the Snowy Egret can be recognized at a distance by its black bill, blackish legs and incongruous yellow "gum boots". These boots serve it well; they are used to shuffle the muddy substrate of marsh habitats in an attempt to flush small fish and invertebrates. Here, the bird is feeding on isopods that live among the rocks along the high tide line.
We were in Cabo San Lucas this morning, arriving to experience a fabulous sunrise shining on Friar Rock and El Arco. Hundreds of sport fishing boats were heading out into the surrounding ocean, their occupants bright-eyed and full of hope. We were bright-eyed, as well; our all-night journey south in the open Pacific Ocean had been as smooth as could ever be expected…a joy of a ride.
We replenished ourselves with a hearty breakfast and quickly ventured off, either to snorkel at a quiet beach east of town, search for elusive desert birds now well hidden in dense greenery (the result of a recent soaking rain), or simply to stroll and shop in this burgeoning tourist community.
Our sunny afternoon featured repeated encounters with magnificent Humpback Whales as we made our way east and north into the Gulf of California. Humpbacks are here in the waters off the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula to breed, but will soon head north again to the herring- and plankton-rich coasts of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Towering tail flukes, slapping pectoral flippers, the roiling of water around courting pairs, and even an individual "breaching" high out of the water were our special treat from this species, the most acrobatic of the large cetaceans. Also leaping high around us were impressive numbers of Thurston's Devil Ray, or Mobula, a medium sized black and white ray that closely resembles its cousin, the giant manta ray. The latter can also be found off Baja California.
Sea Lion would continue north in the Gulf through the night. A healthy northeasterly swell, rippled by a moderate westerly breeze, would be our running conditions.
