Bahamas

Having just returned from a trip to France, which was a great time but no wildlife, I surprised my wife Mary Jane in the winter with a trip to the Bahamas, before the hurricane. A cottage on the beach! Sand and sun. And I might get a few bird shots to keep me happy.

Well I didn’t reveal everything. The cottage is part of a fishing camp in the middle of (you guessed it!). Beach wasn’t great and the island is so far off the beaten track that no one has heard of it. But they have 60,000 flamingos. And burrowing owls. The island is called Inagua and is home to Sifto Salt Company. The largest salt from sea water plant in North America. They have to dry sea water and then harvest the remaining salt. It’s quite a process involving successive ponds and large equipment. They produce 200 million tons a year. Mostly road salt. Who remembers the old add of the boy in a yellow raincoat out in the rain with a salt shaker! And the famous motto; When it rains it pours!

To produce salt from ocean water you need a large flat surface. Which means the island is a large swamp! And it’s big. So the flamingos are scattered and it takes a lot of work to find ones that are photograph-able (is that a word?).

And the only way to get these flamingo shots means wading in the water. It’s knee deep and very soft on the bottom. The birds don’t think but “humans” might. So I had to tread slowly and avoid the soft and mucky bits or risk having to swim, which is very rough on the camera equipment. Certainly I enjoyed myself!

Enjoy the photos and think about getting away as the cold weather approaches.

#1) Burrowing Owl. These owls nest in holes in the ground and after several days a few of them would tolerate my presence and actually became quite curious.