Barb & Ron Kroll publish the trip-planning website www.KrollTravel.com Courtship rituals A few steps farther, we photographed bluefooted boobies courting. The male whistled and lifted his ultramarine feet, like someone trying to walk with swim fins. (The higher he lifts his feet, the better his chances of mating.) To impress the female, the male booby lifts his head and tail upward in a courtship ritual called sky-pointing. When the female mimics his moves, she agrees to mate with him. On Fernandina Island, we viewed the courtship dance of a pair of flightless cormorants. Their turquoise eyes sparkled in the sun. Entwining their necks, they rotated − first clockwise, and then in reverse. After the male accepted the female’s amorous advances, he brought her sticks to begin nest-building. Focusing on details, such as the feathers, eyes and eggs add interest to depictions of avian life. In the Galapagos, we couldn’t resist taking pictures of the webbed feet of blue-footed and red-footed boobies, as well as the American oystercatcher approaching her nest with two black-speckled white eggs. Silhouettes also provide unique perspectives, as we discovered with our depictions of a nest-building weaver bird in Africa and a roosting great blue heron in Mexico. Don’t forget to pack your binoculars and cameras when you travel. Birdwatching and photography will undoubtedly add an enjoyable new dimension to your next trip. Sky-pointing blue-footed booby Flightless cormorants’ courtship dance Preening swallow-tailed gulls with red eye-rings CSANews | SPRING 2022 | 19 Travel
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