Where

 

W is for…Waterbirds

 

Where are the waterbirds? No seriously, wherever are they? I have seen mynahs and pigeons galore. But no gulls, no gulls! and very few waterbirds generally. Admitted, I haven’t been close to the sea except in the last three-four days. But even so.

 

The Indian or Common Mynah. Present everywhere.

Day before yesterday I spotted what I thought was a glossy ibis feeding close to the seawall at low tide, but it flew away before I could get close enough for a firm i.d. This morning there were two herons fishing in the shallows, one each on either side, not that they were a pair or anything. The tide has been out both mornings when I was walking which is actually great for bird spotting. I walked from one end of the road, which is called Marine Drive, to the other, up and down, before I came back into the hotel – in all I spent nearly an hour out walking beside the water. But no birds, apart from those two. The photos are all on the phone, not clear enough for any conclusive identification, but my guess is as good as anyone’s. I don’t think the bird I saw yesterday is either of these. The shape of the ibis beak is distinctive, though I realise now that it was against the light so any plumage would appear dark.

 

To my left. A White-faced Heron is my hypothesis.

On the grass verge there were the usual flocks of mynahs and pigeons pecking around, dozens of them whirr about in the mornings and evenings. You can hear them chirping from inside the room too. There’s no traffic noises to drown out the birdsong here.  There was a black, crested bird the other day sitting on the chain link fence, again not a close enough shot but that has to be a bulbul, which I understand was introduced to Fiji by the girmitiyas.

To my right. A heron definitely, but could be either a Reef or
a White-faced. I think it's a Reef because the colour was
uniformly dark, whichever way it turned or moved.

 

Fiji is rich in birdlife, it has to be, such a diverse and lush environment, the tropical forests, the hilly terrain and the vast ocean. There are mangroves here as well, which is another ecosystem with its own peculiar lifeforms. There are more than 160 bird species found in Fiji, around half of which are water/sea birds. Most of them are species I have never come across before – but they are all acting super elusive. Patience, as you’ll know if you’ve been reading this blog, is not among my virtues, but I guess it’s never too late to learn some.

Bulbul sitting on the fence. Introduced by the
Indian indentured labourers.

And I’ll have to get the regular camera out, bird shots are impossible on this piddly phone. I don’t know why I am putting off unpacking, there’s no way I can live out of one suitcase for three weeks. Or maybe even more – there’s no trace of the property I am to, ahem, inhabit. Waiting is an expat wife’s middle name. Patience should be too, but it isn’t, at least not this one’s. But then I’m putting my limbotime as I call it, to good use. 

A-Z Challenge 2022