Shorty's Got A Girlfriend

Well, finally Midway's most famous couple are together again. Last year I got some pictures of these two dancing for the first time. Up until that point the big adult male Short-tailed Albatross has tried unsuccessfully to woo one of the life-like decoys that are set up here to lure more Short-tails in. We have seen both the male and juvenile female this year, but never in the same place at the same time, until now. They looked pretty happy today, sitting very close and preening each other. They even did some mooing for me, which is one of my favorite vocalizations in all the bird world. It is a really low, deep moo that kinda shakes your chest a little when they do it together! As far as anyone knows, this is the only courting pair of Shorties outside of Japan.