The Birds - Hitchcock movie or cruising life?

We hiked Cayo de Agua on Saturday - walking around much of the island. We climbed the sand dunes; walked to the other side of the island which was very rocky (actually a lot of broken bits of coral that are blackened); saw the water holes (there's an aquifer on the island); and got covered in sand spurs on our socks and shoes. And then there were the birds. Lots of birds. Wading birds, small birds, sea birds, etc. Some of the Laughing Gulls were none to happy about us walking the beach and one hit Barbara in the head as she walked by. Not very friendly! After our walk-about, we came back to the boat and went snorkeling. The Astarte exercise program in full swing today!

The snorkeling was interesting. We went to some shallow patch reefs and saw the largest parrot fish we've ever seen. Some hit at least four feet long (even though the book says the max is three feet - maybe these were mutants!) and they were very wide all around. These were the Midnight parrotfish (Scarus coelestinus) which are very dark blue - almost black with the bright neon blue beaks and markings. There were also some large Stoplights and Rainbows and Queen parrots. They were eating the rock and coral - and we could actually see their tooth marks on the ledges.

We tried a few other coral heads and then went back to the boat. Barbara swam under the boat to watch five cuttlefish that were making the propeller and shaft their hiding spot.

On Sunday morning bright and early we headed out to get to the Aves de Barlovento. This is one of a small group of islands Islas de Aves - so named because of the thousands of birds that make these islands their home. We had high hopes of catching some dinner on the 30 mile trip - and we put two lines out. Unfortunately, there were approaching squalls so we shortened sail and didn't have fish catching speed on for much of the trip. It was pretty rolly with five foot beam seas. We did catch something big - unfortunately it was a booby (of the bird variety). It grabbed a spoon and hooked itself. Michael got it to the boat and released it. It was unharmed - though has a new beak piercing to brag about to his friends. These birds forced us to pull in the lines as they continued to dive for the lures (not the brightest species on the planet - after seeing one get hooked!)

The good news about landing a bird was that when we went back to get it unhooked - we discovered that the radar pole had broken its weld that held it to the back rail. Within an hour in these rolls, it would have crashed down - tearing out of the deck. It would have been a major issue - but the bird rescue helped us notice it and Michael has it now "tied" to the rail and we'll get it repaired in Curacao. We were lucky - it was daytime and we saw it in time. Whew.

We arrived into the Aves and wove our way through the coral to anchor off Isla Sur. We're in a little bay with mangroves to the south. Some are 40 feet high and they are filled with birds - mostly boobies of various varieties. The red footed are the most fun to see - as they look like they have red rubber boots on their web feet. These birds are very curious - they approach the boat very closely - almost coming into the cockpit. They stop and look right at you. Michael checked out the anchor and was followed by birds flying just over his head. He continued his swim and went to the reefs around the boat - near the shore than to the north of the boat. He was looking for hunting territory.

It's really windy out - but we had a peaceful nights sleep and today - Michael will get the spear out and try to get dinner!

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