Welcome to the Ulupau Head Wildlife Management Area on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay. Boobies do not have a great rep for brains, but these particular birds are obviously smart enough to get fat and not shot at the end of this military firing range. Earth scientists on a busman's holiday, the reluctant teenager and a videographer who won't quit complaining about the misty rain. Our eager escort is the military installation's senior natural resources manager, Diane Drigot. She's a fount about the Marines' years of effort to nurture this nesting area, the wetlands and ancient fishponds on the base.
Someone asks about the dish of water inside a mongoose trap.
Audubon guy Bob Pyle, our designated birding leader, has brought a spotting scope on a tripod, but there's no need for it. Of course I've got to see just how trusting the 'a are. I slowly inch closer to one in her nest. When I'm about two feet away she squawks, snaps her beautiful beak at me and, yes, ruffles her feathers. We'll see only one other set of such ruffled feathers today.