spring has arrived.

Spring is a time for renewal, rebirth and according to wiki, a start of better times. Its official start was this week and I have seen the changes coming recently. Spring and summer have always been my favorite times of the year in Antigua with lovely weather, fantastic events and glorious wildlife showing their colours too.
As I have mentioned already this is the time of year when humpback whales are passing through with their young calves. We haven't had the best year in terms of sightings so far but we still have quite a bit of time left before they move on into the North-West Atlantic. This is a series of photos pasted together of a mother catching some air before a dive into the abyss.
While I was out fishing last week we saw many Noddies feeding offshore. You don’t see them here that much until late spring when they start nesting all over the off-shore islands especially at bird and Rabbit Island in the north sound. If you do the eco tour in May and through the summer you will see them then. They love fishing offshore at this time of the year because various species of tuna are also feeding on the surface giving away the location of the tiny bait fish which they both feed upon. I took this pic of a feeding frenzy last week.

Speaking about bait fish...many fish are mating at the moment and by the end of spring the little fish will be hatching out all over the island. Unfortunately for them, it is also the time when many of the colonial birds will be feeding their newly born chicks....and you can imagine what they eat.
This Tuesday we will have the first ever one day international held in Antigua which will also be the 1st time a Cricket world cup match will be held here. Australia will play The West Indies at the brand new Viv Richards Stadium and there is so much excitement around it that the Gov. made the day a public holiday. We will have world cup "super 8" matches here over a 2 week span and I think there is a feeling here that our stadium will prove to be the most exciting. Trevor and I will be in the Party Stand on Tuesday and on Thursday which is his birthday and with most of the stadium sold out already it looks like it will be a great bit of action.
As soon as the cricket is over we will then have the Classic Yacht Regatta

and then Antigua Sailing Week. Its gonna be a very busy Spring this year for the birds, bees, fishies, whales, dolphins, cricketers, sailors, lovers and most others here on the island. Hope you manage to be here enjoying some of it. See you then.