Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

This juvenile masked boobie has intricate wing patterns that are absent in the adults. I saw him everyday in the same place, waiting for the moment when he would be ready to take his first flight. On this day I stopped to photograph him as he was particularly inquisitive and investigated me for some time. I suppose that I eventually became a bore because he jumped on this old log with his back turned and started to stretch his wings. I managed to capture them hovering at their outer expanses before he folded them in again. This image represents a unique travel moment, a witnessing of a sea bird ready to take his first flight. I took this photograph on the day before he disappeared from his regular perch and set out to explore the open ocean.