George Jeffrey and the Amazing Frigate Bird Rookery

George Jeffrey and the Amazing Frigate Bird Rookery

Monday 1st January 2024

George Jeffrey is a legend in Barbuda. An exceptional guide who comes highly recommended in cruising guidebooks and on Sailing websites. We phoned on New Years eve and were pleasantly surprised that he was available to take us on a guided tour the following day. We agreed to meet at the dock in Codrington village at 9 am. Codrington lagoon is 8 miles long and almost two miles wide and used to be separated from the ocean by a 16 mile long sand bar. However, in 2017 Hurricane Irma breeched the bar and there is now a passage from the ocean to the lagoon and onwards to to Barbuda’s only “town”. We were anchored on the west side (Caribbean Sea) of the sand bar, just to the north of the cut. Whilst the gap appears maybe a mile wide, the channel that is deep enough for a small boat is relatively narrow and marked by a cluster of buoys, which only become visible when you are close to them. If you don’t find the channel you run the risk of running aground or being swamped by waves that break on either side. Our journey in the “Dainty Dog”, along the coast, through the cut and across the lagoon to Codrington Village is the wettest dinghy ride we have ever taken. The winds picked up today to 14-19 knots and we were heading right into a parade of short steep waves. We all got completely soaked and had to bail out the dinghy to reduce the water we took on board just from the spray. I was steering directly into the waves, which exacerbated the spray, but I was worried that taking them at an angle might cause us to capsize. Half way across the lagoon the outboard motor died and we had to quick deploy an anchor to stop us being swept away. We did manage to get the motor restarted fairly easily. It was a harrowing experience and an inauspicious start to the day. When we arrived at the dock we immediately met George Jeffrey who was both friendly and welcoming. We were happy to jump into his Boston Whaler and set out on our tour.

George is a fountain of knowledge about Barbuda and it’s natural history. He also shared a fascinating perspective on life in Barbuda. It is evident that the cultures of Antigua and Barbuda are radically different. Antigua is very much focussed on development and building wealth, whereas Barbuda is owned by the people, and they are strongly committed to trying to preserve their land and way of life. The inhabitants of Barbuda were forcibly evacuated to Antigua after hurricane Irma and George clearly held a strong sense of resentment against this. He feels that the Antiguan government tried to exploit the circumstances of the hurricane to force through changes and development on Barbuda that were not wanted by the local population.

George took us round the lagoon showing us the site of the previous Frigate Bird colony, which was destroyed in a hurricane in the mid 1960s. He then took us into the current nesting colony, which is an area of mangroves 3/4 mile long by 1/4 mile wide, jam packed with Magnificent Frigate birds. Frigate birds haver the largest ratio of wingspan (~ 7ft) to weight (~3 1/2 pounds) of any bird on earth. They eat mostly flying fish, but are ungainly during take-off and landing and cannot do either from the water, instead catching fish from the surface or in mid air. The males are all black, with bright red air sacks on their throats, that they puff up to gain attention. Females have white chests and juveniles have white heads. A team of Canadian ornithologists estimated that there are 20,000 birds in Codrington lagoon. They were all around us and we got close enough to some of the birds to be able to touch them had we wanted to. It was an incredible experience. Before heading back, George took us to the edge of the lagoon and we were able to walk across the sand bar to the northern end of beach that we were anchored of. It is such a beautiful place.

It was noon by the time we returned to the dock in Codrington Village, and we were delighted when George agreed to tow our dinghy and take us in his Boston whaler back across the lagoon and through the cut. Once we were in the lee of the sandbar the waters were calm and we transferred to the Dainty Dog and said goodbye to George. This tour was an exceptional experience.

Mike

17 39.270 N, 61 51.456 W

George Jeffrey - excellent tour guide, father of four girls and four boys, and a fierce supporter of the independence of the people of Barbuda

Male frigate bird in flight

Male frigate bird showing off

Baby Frigate bird

Juvenile Frigate Bird ... I don't know at what age you can start to tell apart males and females

Male frigate bird in flight ... they may be ungainly when they take off, but they are fast and aamazingly agile once air born ... hard to photograph!

In flight, all puffed up

The female looks up as her mate passes overhead

George in the lagoon

The former resort on the north side of the break through to Codrington lagoon. The beach used to extend ~ 200 feet in front of the resort but hurricane Irma eroded the beach, caused the buildings to collapse, and opened a channel into the lagoon

A wide angle panorama showing the sand bar that separates the Codrington lagoon from the Caribbean sea. It used to run continuously for 16 miles but now is breached on the ocean side. The lagoon is a nursery for fish who previously entered via a small shallow channel to the north. Now bigger fish and sharks can enter through the break

Liz and Will on the the beach