This is the latest addition to wildlife photographer Max Goldberg’s collection of photo essays based on his recent National Geographic tour of the coast of Mexico.
After a long day spent exploring Isla Espíritu Santo on foot, it was time for a sunset cruise around the island to watch and photograph seabirds.
The first birds I saw that evening were pelicans perched on the rocky shoreline. Most of the time, they were by themselves sunning or watching the waves, but sometimes they would gather in small groups of three or four birds each. I watched them interact with each other while I photographed them. The first group of pelicans seemed to be bickering with each other.
Circling the island, I came across a magnificent sight: the local colony of frigate birds. There were thousands of these birds nesting in trees that appeared to be growing out of a seawall. Everywhere I looked there were frigate birds! There were young and old ones, males and females. The older males were very easy to distinguish by their brilliant, red throat pouches.
There were other species of smaller seabirds hanging around the frigate birds.
Finally, it was time to go back to our ship, the National Geographic Sea Bird.
As the sun set, I saw an old avian friend that I recognized from my hometown: the Great Blue Heron.
Photographs © Max Goldberg
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