Birds, Birds, Birds

To Genovesa Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

This morning we had an early “panga” ride and hot walk along the small, northeastern island of Genovesa. This island is for the birds... literally! We learned all about the many variations in behavior that have allowed different but related species to live peacefully together. Here's Kylie's take on it:

Almost every day so far, we've gone on a hike and snorkeled twice, keeping us on a tight schedule. Today, was my favorite day so far, because I saw one octopus, two sharks, a stonefish for the first time (a stone fish is a super camouflaged fish), two sea turtles and one sea lion, all within an hour of snorkeling!

 

The hike was also really neat. The island is called Genovesa, which is devoted to birds, Nasca Boobies, Red-Footed Boobies and others. Pedro, our guide, told us that the Nasca Boobies always nest on the ground and normally lay two eggs. The problem is the eggs can't both be layed at the same time, so the first egg tends to hatch earlier with a bigger and older chick. That chick will push the smaller one out of the nest leaving it to the hawks and other threats.

Nasca Boobie with eggs

Nasca Boobie with chick

Galapagos Short Eared Owl

The Red-Footed Boobies, I know less about, but they nest in trees, not on the ground. I don't think they are as vicious as the Nasca Boobies. A third fascinating bird is the Great Frigate. Luckily, it is mating season so the male frigates will puff out a giant red pouch on their chests to attract females.

Red Footed (blue billed) Boobie

Male Great Frigate trying to attract a mate

Our catamaran yacht holds sixteen passengers plus something like seven to eight crew members. There are three floors not counting the kitchen and crew cabins downstairs. Dex and I have an adjoining room next to Mom and Dad's on the main floor. It has been tons of fun.

I'm happy that Dex and Kylie have taken to the snorkeling so well. Kylie has started to dive down ten feet or so to check out stuff down deeper, while Dex enjoys swimming amount the jagged rocks and fighting the ocean surge. They both have, necessarily, had to get used to mostly interacting with adults, which may be why the time we’ve spent with the Pfyffer’s has been so special. In any event, they've done great with us "old folks." During meals, sometimes they're with us and sometimes they're not, but they seem totally at ease.  

Our second nature walk this afternoon gave us another chance to see more birds before a second snorkeling session.

Great Frigate

Galapagos Dove

Lava Gull

Red Footed Boobie

Instead of taking the short walking tour with the rest of us this afternoon, Dex and Kylie both decided to stay by the beach with three Sea Lions, which happened to be resting there. They've done great, but I'm pretty sure if the schedule allowed, they would happily spend half of the next week just playing in the sand.

Nursing Sea Lion pup