 |
| Darwin Bay - Genovesa Island |
We woke up in the collapsed crater of an extinct volcano - Darwin Bay on Genovesa Island. Our first excursion of the day was up Prince Philip's Steps - a rather hair-raising climb:
 |
| Prince Philip's Steps |
On the way there, we observed some sea life from our Pangas. There were Galápagos Fur Seals (actually a Sea Lion species):
 |
| Galápagos Fur Seals |
 |
| Galápagos Fur Seals |
 |
| Galápagos Fur Seal |
We also saw Swallow-tailed Gulls (we got a much better look at this species later in the day):
 |
| Swallow-tailed Gulls |
 |
| Swallow-tailed Guills |
Here are the intrepid adventurers watching the wildlife on our way to our first landing:
 |
| Sarah, Jill, Natasha |
 |
| Marie |
As I mentioned, Prince Philip's Steps were challenging - but Marie (Jill's mother) did not let them stop her:
 |
| Climbing the Steps (Jill and Marie) |
At the top, we were rewarded with a baby Nazca Booby sitting right on the trail:
 |
| Nazca Booby (juvenile) |
 |
| Nazca Booby (juvenile) |
At the top of the steps it was a birder's paradise. We saw hundreds of birds. Red-footed Boobys:
 |
| Red-footed Booby |
 |
| Red-footed Booby |
 |
| Red-footed Booby |
 |
| Red-footed Booby |
We saw Nazca Boobys (including many couples - it turned out to be breeding season):
 |
| Nazca Booby |
 |
| Nazca Booby Couple |
 |
| Nazca Booby Couple |
 |
| Nazca Booby Couple |
 |
| Nazca Booby (juvenile) |
We saw several Galápagos Doves:
 |
| Galápagos Dove |
Lots of Marine Iguanas:
 |
| Marine Iguanas |
 |
| Marine Iguanas |
 |
| Marine Iguanas |
The Galápagos Mockingbirds were everywhere. More than having "no fear" of people, they wanted to approach us, possibly because they were curious about any bright colors:
We saw many Frigatebird nests, along with juveniles:
 |
| Frigatebird |
 |
| Frigatebird (juveniles) |
I saw a Red-billed Tropicbird flying overhead:
 |
| Red-billed Tropicbird |
And, of course, the ubiquitous finches:
 |
| Darwin Finch |
Others in our party saw a Galápagos Short-eared Owl, but it was gone before we could get there. We got on board the Pangas and returned to the Origin:
 |
| MV Origin in Darwin Bay |
After lunch and some freshening up, we headed back out on the Pangas for another shore excursion:
 |
| Fabricio (in mask), Sarah, Suzanne, Jill, Pete, and Roxane |
On shore, there were quite a lot of birds, including more Nazca Boobys:
 |
| Nazca Booby |
 |
| Nazca Booby, juvenile (?) |
 |
| Nazca Boobys, mother feeding juvenile |
 |
| Nazca Booby, juvenile, playing with a feather |
 |
| Nazca Booby, juvenile |
Quite a few Red-billed Tropicbirds were flying around:
 |
| Red-billed Tropicbird |
 |
| Red-billed Tropicbird |
 |
| Red-billed Tropicbird |
 |
| Red-billed Tropicbirds |
There were also many Frigatebirds nesting and flying:
 |
| Frigatebird |
 |
| Frigatebird (juvenile) |
 |
| Frigatebird |
 |
| Frigatebird |
Interesting fact about Frigatebirds - they get much of their food by stealing it from other birds who had just caught it. They would mob boobys:
 |
| Frigatebirds and booby (booby lower left) |
Sometimes the Frigatebird would get more than it bargained for:
 |
| Frigatebird and Booby |
We also saw the ever-present mockingbird:
 |
| Galápagos Mockingbird |
The most memorable part of this landing, though, were the Swallow-tailed Gulls. It was mating season for them, and they were really going after it:
 |
| Swallow-tailed Gull |
 |
| Swallow-tailed Gulls, preening |
 |
| Swallow-tailed Gulls, breeding calls |
 |
| Swallow-tailed Gulls, umm, giving horsey rides |
We also saw a ray in a tidal pool:
 |
| Ray in tidal pool |
The mortal remains of a toothed whale:
 |
| Toothed Whale Skull |
And a Lava Heron Yellow-crowned Night Heron giving us the stink-eye:
 |
| Yellow-crowned Night Heron (juvenile?) |
We returned to the ship and watched a gorgeous sunset (with crescent moon in upper left):
Our briefing told us about the next day's trip - to the north shore of Santa Cruz island, including a refueling stop on Balta Island:
And then we went to bed while the ship cruised to our next stop.
Comments