A pair of ethereal fairy #tern sitting on a branch on Ile aux Coco 4km to the west of #Rodrigues,. Despite my preconception, the name of the island is actually 'egg island' - a place where locals from Rodrigues used to come to stock up on eggs. These birds (also called the 'virgin bird' and the others on the island (brown and lesser noddys and some migratory sooty terns) are carefully protected by human 'guardians' (there are three staying on the island at any one time) and the population has grown to around 4,500 birds in a space of the 1.5km x 250m island. They lay their eggs, one a year, on the bare branch of the tree or sometimes on the ground - and they are strictly monogamous - they stay with one mate for life! They are also remarkably unphased by cameras and humans - they just sit watching carefully, deigning to allow us to invade their space. More about this to come on the blog! #SecretRodrigues #RodriguesIsland #Rodriguestourism #Mauritius #travelblogger #instatbn #writetotravel #ttot #tbin #travelblog #secretplaces

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