Worst Bird Picture Ever

Laughingbird Caye

Being aboard a 46 foot vessel with eight others for a week lends itself to a glimpse into the personalities of each shipmate, but it wasn't until this week I discovered a mean streak in all of them. They wanted me to put the worst bird picture ever on this blog--and claim it as my own--or they'd start leaving comments about it.

That is just vicious.

I like that in a person.

And perhaps I should mention my vision isn't as good as it should be. Without glasses, anything past the hood of my car has indefinite outlines and reading street signs is impossible, even with the most careful squint.

So, as I sat on the bow of the Bonac Witch II, swinging at anchor off Laughingbird Caye, I snapped pictures of birds in the distance on full zoom, and hoped when I brought the picture up on my computer, I could crop it into a decent picture. The above picture, with the help of cropping, became the picture below.

And the below picture, with some red, running rigging in the foreground,

was cropped into the below picture.

Then I saw a terrific shot, the kind my shipmates would find impressive. A whole group of pelicans bobbed in the water, just off shore, all grouped together. My hands fumbled to get the camera up. I squinted at the screen to center the shot, making sure it was at full zoom, all the while terrified they'd fly away before I could snap the picture. But they remained where they were. The rest of the crew nodded and smiled as I shoved the little camera screen in front of them later that day.

It wasn't until I cropped it on my computer I realized it was the worst bird picture ever.

Who would have thought a group of snorkelers would disguise themselves as pelicans?

It is a mistake anyone could have made.

Right?