Times of the Islands Winter 2019/20

feature
This is the entranceway to the Turks & Caicos Islands Community College Grand Turk campus, which opened in mid-2002.
Opposite page: It’s a tern convention on the dock! This one is largely attended by Sandwich Terns (distinguished by their long bills with a
yellow tip) and one lone Royal Tern with the orange bill.
Above: This Bananaquit appears to have enjoyed quite a feast of pomegranate seeds. They are locally called the “Chickadewilly,” a term that
is often applied to all small birds.
Birds & Binoculars
You can’t enjoy one without the other.
By William J. Cook ~ Photos By Marta Morton
Few places in the world offer the birding paradise that can be found in the Turks & Caicos Islands, and
there are many vantage points from which to take in these wondrous, diverse and colorful creatures.
Sadly, it’s not uncommon for tourists to travel thousands of miles to add to their life lists only to use
binoculars lacking in the clarity that would take a pleasurable adventure to a whole new level. Most of
the anomalies causing that lack of clarity are thought to be related to the binocular but are actually due
to poor collimation (misalignment) or the observer’s physiology.
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