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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Christmas Island early December 2007 (1 Viewer)

Swissboy

Sempach, Switzerland
Supporter
Switzerland
Abbott's Booby nesting trees along one of the major roads. The nests are in the tall trees in the background. One individual (not on a nest) can be seen as a white speck in the dark tree in the upper left corner. The nests I saw were generally higher up in the trees.

I took the picture on 6 December 2007.
 

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Voice of Abbott's Booby

I have uploaded a short video on YouTube where one can hear the voice of Abbott's Booby for the first about 7 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3o0-xPtI0g

The video is for the sound only, but it was my only way to record the calls. They first remind one of some large mammal calling in the forest.
 
Christmas Island, Australia first set of location pictures

Here is a first set of location shots from this rather rugged island.

- The first impression when flying in from the south, coming from the Cocos/Keeling atoll, already shows the vast difference to that previously visited stop-over island.

- The SE coastal area is partly covered with a windswept seasonally dry forest. The pictures from early December 2007 show conditions at the onset of the somewhat delayed rainy season. There are Frigatebirds in the sky in the back. All three species intermingle.

- Much of this SE part of the island shows this much varied vegetation. Some of the variation may be due to human activity, but most of it is due to the rough volcanic surface. Note the stony "outcroppings" in the lower left part of the picture. Often, Christmas Island Fruit Bats/Flying Foxes are seen gliding along this slope.

- For some time, Christmas Island was threatened by an international private space center project.
 

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Christmas Island: more location pictures

Many thanks, Robert. Will use one to replace the "trees" one that is there at the moment.

There will be more, it's just as well to wait.


- The settlement in the NE with the only more extensive beach access. Prominent in the center is the phosphate loading facility. Phosphate mining has threatened the ecology of Christmas Island for a long time. At present, there are restrictions that limit mining to the already deforested areas. Tropicbirds are nesting in the rock wall along the road in the background, to the left of the white tanks. Red-tailed as well as White-tailed Tropicbirds, including the golden morph, are co-occurring.

- The very rough W coast from the interesting Blowholes area. Mainly a dorado for various crabs.

- The famous Red Crabs, crossing a major road on their migration to and from the spawning grounds.

- And the phosphate road trains threatening the migrating crabs. Roads are closed during peak migration, however. With the trucks either being diverted or held back for a few hours.
 

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Christmas Island location pictures again

- Semi-dry forest with buttressed trees. Lots of leaves on the ground, the main food for the Red Crabs.

- Moister forest along the only permanent stream of the island. Tall trees are Tahitian Chestnut. Lots of blue crabs on the ground, and a large Robber or Coconut Crab in the lower right hand corner.

- Rocky coast to the north of the settlement.

The politically sensitive Immigration Detention Centre in the western part of the island. Not sure what its status is at present.
 

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