ML639111879

觀察細節

At Elephanta we started talking with the locals and one of them informed us about a masked booby which was rescued two days ago. They kept it and tried to do rehabilitation at their end and released it yesterday and the bird came back today. Once we received confirmation, we went to the other side of the island (Rajbandar jetty) where the bird was supposed to be. After finally reaching the spot, we saw the bird and the joy of seeing a lifer turned into concern seeing how weak it was. It was barely able to hold its head. We immediately decided to bring it back to the mainland for veterinary rehabilitation. Unfortunately the bird passed away due to sheer exhaustion and we left it on the island very near to the spot where we found it for nature to take its course. Photographing the bird while it was alive was the last thing on our mind as our immediate reaction was to get it to the mainland for treatment. Edit 1: ebird reviewer asked for field notes which describes the bird. A large seabird, with white upperparts, dark mask around the head, large pale bill..did not had dark upperparts to rule out brown booby. Also realised that luckily I did take few snaps when the bird was alive and in the hands of the rescuer. Uploaded here for reference.