Bona Island, Bay of Panama & Panama Canal, Panama
Birds, birds and more birds! The numbers of birds we saw! If anyone tells me that they missed a bird today, they simply didn’t get up this morning. Whatever you did, wherever you went, either cruising on a Zodiac or on a kayak or sitting on one of the decks of the ship or even taking a swim from the stern of the ship, no one could miss the hundreds of sea birds, blue-footed boobies, magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, and brown pelicans we saw today. Brown pelicans were showing off their different stages of plumage, some sitting on their nests, others taking a shower in the deep blue waters of the Panama Bay. Frigatebird males were displaying their red pouches, some individuals sitting on their nests - some of which had fluffy white young in them - others were flying in the magnificent way they are known to do, while still others were harassing boobies and pelicans either for food or nesting material or simply to practice their flying abilities. Silly looking brown booby chicks, with a bit of their juvenile plumages, were still sitting beside mom or dad – almost as big as them - panting away the heat of the day. And still, some of us were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of black-crowned night-herons and a peregrine falcon.
We came back on board to begin our first part of the Canal transit. Our Captain Luis Alcocer and our first mate, Jorge Pinzon, lead us safely towards the Canal area. While the two sets of locks on the Pacific side, Miraflores and Pedro Miguel, patiently await for a crossing of the M.V. Sea Voyager.
Birds, birds and more birds! The numbers of birds we saw! If anyone tells me that they missed a bird today, they simply didn’t get up this morning. Whatever you did, wherever you went, either cruising on a Zodiac or on a kayak or sitting on one of the decks of the ship or even taking a swim from the stern of the ship, no one could miss the hundreds of sea birds, blue-footed boobies, magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, and brown pelicans we saw today. Brown pelicans were showing off their different stages of plumage, some sitting on their nests, others taking a shower in the deep blue waters of the Panama Bay. Frigatebird males were displaying their red pouches, some individuals sitting on their nests - some of which had fluffy white young in them - others were flying in the magnificent way they are known to do, while still others were harassing boobies and pelicans either for food or nesting material or simply to practice their flying abilities. Silly looking brown booby chicks, with a bit of their juvenile plumages, were still sitting beside mom or dad – almost as big as them - panting away the heat of the day. And still, some of us were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of black-crowned night-herons and a peregrine falcon.
We came back on board to begin our first part of the Canal transit. Our Captain Luis Alcocer and our first mate, Jorge Pinzon, lead us safely towards the Canal area. While the two sets of locks on the Pacific side, Miraflores and Pedro Miguel, patiently await for a crossing of the M.V. Sea Voyager.
