Birds of Diego Garcia a la Rachel

"Oh look at that cute little um ... oh rat" - words I never thought I would hear myself say, but really even the rats on this island seem cuter than any other place.  

This post is a record (well more like a list) of all the birds I have seen on the island ... thanks to my dad and this awesome book "A guide to the birds of the British Indian Ocean Territory" (I met the author, he has dedicated his life to the Chagos and helped make them the nature preserve they are today!)  I have been able to identify most of the birds I have seen/heard (yeah ... who would of thought I could learn to identify birds by what they sound like ... not me and probably not my Dad :) )

It turns out that I am not very stealth ... I walk around the forest much like I imagine Peeta Mellark from the Hunger Games would ... in other words every time I try to get actual pictures of birds, I completely and utterly fail.  They always fly away :(  I have only included the few pictures I have actually been able to take myself... but I am sure you can google the rest if you want to see what they look like. 

So here is the list ... I have had a lot of fun searching for birds ... who knows maybe I could possibly even enjoy looking for birds other places :) 

Cattle Egret

Madagascar Turtle-dove

Zebra Dove

Common Myna

Madagascar Red Fody

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

White-tailed Tropicbird

Lesser Frigatebird

Red-footed Booby

Common Tern

Black-naped Tern

Bridled Tern

Brown Noddy

Fairy Tern

Striated Heron

White-breasted Waterhen (plus babies!)

Whimbrel

Potentially a flock of Curlew Sandpipers (but they moved really quickly ...) 

The Cattle Egrets, Madagascar Turtle-doves, Zebra Doves, Common Mynas, and Madagascar Red Fodies are all over the island ... you would have to be blind or never leave your room to not see them around.   

We have a couple of pairs of Fairy Terns living in the tree just outside of our hotel rooms ... they are so cute together and seem more like love birds than the real love birds to me.  Here are a couple of pictures.  Apparently these birds don't build nests, but just lay their eggs on branches or in nooks of trees.  So the lone bird in the following picture appears to be protecting an egg... maybe?

Fairy Terns outside my door!

Fairy Tern protecting an egg.

I have seen a few Lesser Frigatebirds soaring over the lagoon/coastal part of the island.  And I think that I maybe saw one diving for fish ... at least it was a hug black bird (bigger than the terns and Noddys that were also diving for fish).

Lesser Frigatebird flying over the lagoon.

I have seen the Brown Noddys fishing a lot ... but my first sighting was the first day that Heather and I went snorkeling where I also saw the Striated Heron.  I have gone back a few times and see the same (or you know similar birds) ... so maybe they nest close to that spot.

As I have mentioned a couple of other times, I saw the Red-footed Boobies when we went to the "other side" of the atoll - near the Plantation and when I did that crazy bike ride where they dropped us off a the other point and we had to ride back.  They are kinda weird smelly birds, but it was exciting to see them!

Red-Footed Boobies!

Boobie.

I have seen the common Terns, Black-naped Terns and Bridled Terns in the afternoon/evening diving for fish in the lagoon near our work site ... seriously nothing cooler than going swimming in lagoon, being the only person out there, and watching birds dive for fish.  AMAZING.

I think the most exciting bird sighting was when I found the Wedge-tailed Shearwater ... I met the author of the book above Peter Carr, and he told me that there is a pair of nesting Shearwaters that live under what the "locals" call the "Shagging Bush", but I completely forgot until one evening I was walking home from the Food Court and I started hearing the strangest noises coming from underneath this crazy yucca looking shrubbery (hear the birds on this website) ... the next day I went back and found one of the two birds hidden under the bush ... and I kinda sorta managed to take a picture!

Wedge-tailed Shearwater!

Then today when I was driving out to visit Turtle Cove (another post on this later) ... I saw a White-breasted Waterhen and her babies.  These cute fuzzy little black chicks :) I got out of the car to try and take pictures and the mom kinda freaked out made all sorts of noises and tried to get me to run off, so I decided to give her a break and just head on my way ... but still really cool!  I also saw some Whimbrels hanging out near the runway - where a lot of water had accumulated during the past rains.

So yeah ... I think that is the list of everything I have seen, but who knows what will happen over the next couple of days!