Eighteen Blues and a Cheja at Noon

This morning, Alberto made his usual rounds through the facilities at Fundación Loros: first the release point, then the aviaries. The sun was already bearing down hard on the green hills when the blue-and-yellow macaws — eighteen in all — began to appear. Some came gliding in from the nearby trees, carrying that deep, vivid blue that catches the light differently under the open Caribbean sky. A cheja completed the group, understated among so much color. At the release point, the Ara ararauna settled onto the wooden structure with its raised platforms, where metal trays of chopped papaya and watermelon waited for them. The same fruits had been brought to the aviaries, where other birds climbed the mesh or rested on perches made from dry branches, pink bougainvillea spilling in at the back as though it had always been part of the scene. The trays didn't last long.