Happy October! Here’s October's image and caption from my 2020 Galápagos calendar:
Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens) | At Sea, Near Santiago Island | Galápagos | May 2019
80mm | 1/2,500th second | f/5.6 | ISO 125
The magnificent frigatebird has the largest wingspan relative to body weight of any bird on the planet. And although they are indeed magnificent, that is their actual name, not just my description. With those long wings, magnificent frigatebirds are masters of the wind. The males are easily recognizable with their red gular (throat) pouches, which they inflate to the size of soccer balls to show the females just how magnificent they are. These graceful birds are everywhere in the Galápagos, and as I watched them glide alongside our catamaran, following us effortlessly at 20 knots in gusting winds, almost never bothering to flap their wings, I began to understand that this is a creature that truly lives in a three-dimensional world, not limited by gravity to our comparatively flat life on the ground. They can spend days in flight. They even argue on the wing, as these two were doing right over my head as I stood on the bow of the boat.