The itinerary of our Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Spirit called for a day at sea on December 31, 2015. A group of 12 Brown Boobies followed the ship for a while and we watched them hunt flying fish and loaf on the water between feeding. A lifer for us.
Brown Booby
The first day of 2016 found us on Norwegian Cruise Line’s private Bahamas island, Great Stirrup Cay. We walked the hiking trail a few times and found some birds and other creatures on the way. We added three lifers here: Bahama Woodstar (hummingbird); Bahama Swallow; and Black-faced Grassquit. There were gulls and terns loafing around the beaches and we even found a few overwintering songbirds: Gray Catbirds; Palm Warblers; Yellow-rumped Warblers; and an American Redstart.
Bahama Woodstar
Black-faced Grassquit
Bananaquit
Black Witch moth
unidentified little friend
unidentified little friend
The hiking trail was overgrown in places and became hard to follow a few times. It’s really nice to have a nature trail to follow and we wish NCL would take better care of it.
Hiking Trail on Great Stirrup Cay
We brought along our own snorkeling gear and did a bit of underwater exploring as well.
Arthur snorkeling
fishies
stingray sp.
The island can be crowded at the main beach but we found lots of places where we could relax in peace. It was a great, relaxing start to 2016.
NCL Spirit and giant Laughing Gulls
NCL Spirit Cruise eBird Checklists: day at sea & Great Stirrup Cay
Boobies following ship
Great Stirrup Cay
