Galapagos Islands Blog Day Four
June 20, 2015 at 11:52 PM
This morning when we woke up our overnight sailing has brought us north over the equator to the island of Genovesa and home to the Red Footed Booby. The island is an imploded volcano. Today we will start our morning photography in Darwin Bay and then this afternoon along El Barranco taking the Prince Phillips steps up to the top of the rock formation to photograph the coastal birds.
Another wet landing on the beach an we were off to explore this section of the island ... so we thought! There were so many birds of many species we barely moved off the landing area over the first hour. We spent the remainder of the morning walking along the trails of mangroves and rock. At one point the trail took us waist deep on an inland stream. The scenery was amazing and the photography very rewarding. Some of the group had a swim on the beach prior to returning to our ship for lunch.
This afternoon we went out in the zodiacs along the cliffs and took the Prince Phillip steps to the top of the escarpment. More nesting birds and a beautiful trail all the ridge. Here are todays selection of images.
Map showing last nights sailing to Genovese
Frigate bird just one of many flying overhead this morning
Galapagos Lava Gull on the beach
The sky was full of birds ....
The Red Footed Booby,Genovese is the only island in the Galapagos you can find them
More Lava Gulls
Red Footed Booby flying overhead
Frigate bird flying out into the bay
Another Red Footed looking for sticks for his nest
Cactus Finch having breakfast
Another Cactus Finch, the can be found in three sizes
Lava Gull watching all the photographers
Red Footed Booby up close\
Another ... the morning light was at our backs and worked in our favour
While walking along the mangroves this booby flew over the tops right above our heads
Frigate birds will steel fish and twigs from the other birds while in flight
Frigate bird with an inflated chest looking for a mate
Omar capturing a few shots of this Frigate
The trail took us across water this morning as we headed further inland
Frigate Bird up close
This is how you attract a mate
Nancy getting a close up of this sea lion as we entered the water
Omar, Howard, Fern and Kim, Christine and Karen in the background
Karen, Wendy and Christine
Bruce working on his shot
Two sea lions we encountered on the inlet
We could not believe how close the birds to you when in the water
Off for more snorkeling
This is Prince Phillips steps which we climbed to get to the top of the escarpment
Nazca Booby with her eggs, they always lay two eggs, the strongest survives
Close-up shot of the Red Footed Booby’s feet
Red Footed Booby with her baby
Red Billed Tropic Birds
Another Red Billed Tropic they were pretty fast to photograph
Short eared owl or spotted owl hunting the small Petral birds
Another shot ... they blend into the landscape and are very hard to see and find
Here’s a shot of him chasing the Petrals
A baby booby, waiting for food
Nancy watching a coupe of Nazca Boobies nesting
Nazca up close
Nazca and her baby
Nazca and her vey young baby
Another beautiful Galapagos sunset as we left the island this evening
That’s if for this evening, tonight we set sail for Bartolme. Good night from the Galapagos Islands.