Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) floating in the waters near Bird Island.

Early this year, we made a bird-watching trip to the mainland, to see some species of birds that we do not have on Bastimentos Island, but the main target of this trip was the elegant Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus).

We all had a blast, with big groups of herons, ducks, pelicans and terns, in addition to some local and migratory beauties along the Snyder Canal.

After a gorgeous day and several new species for our guests, we headed to Bird Island. Unfortunately the sea was a little rough and the conditions where not ideal, but that didn´t stop the guests in their desire to see, what is for me, one of the most elegant birds I have ever seen. We made it there, and enjoyed some Red-billed Tropicbirds flying near the island, then on our way back, we had several floating birds in the water.

Fishermen in the mouth of the Changuinola river mouth surrounded by birds (Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis), Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla), Sandwich Terns (Thalasseus sandvicensis) and a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)).

With these links you can see the species we saw that day:

Snyder Canal: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26655839

Changuinola river mouth: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26656713

Bird Island: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26653094