Red-billed Tropicbird

Red-billed Tropicbird. Swan Island, Bocas del Toro, Panama.

At the end of a long day in a boat in the Snyder Canal in Bocas del Toro, Panama (as part of the ZEISS VICTORY SF Experience at Tranquilo Bay Lodge) we chanced the off-shore waves to go out to Swan Island to the Red-billed Tropicbird rookery. Sea bird rookery is more accurate as Brown Boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds also nest and roost there. The Tropicbirds, however, are certainly the stars of the show. Super elegant, graceful, impressive in every way. Today there had to be a hundred birds circling the island and the nests in holes in the cliffs. It had clouded over but there was still enough light for effective photography. 

My Sony RX10iii actually did a pretty good job with the fast moving birds…better than I expected. My custom bkrds-in-flight mode…ISO set to auto, minimum shutter speed 1/1000th, and wide area focus to pick up the birds against the background. This shot was processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *