Genovesa Island
Today we got another early start hoping to catch the soft early light. Shortly before sunrise the Polaris navigated the narrow channel into Darwin Bay at Genovesa Island. This low brushy island is home to the largest red-footed booby colony in the world. But the real stars here are the great frigate birds, and they put on a dazzling show.
With the sun filtering through low clouds we made our landing on a white, coral sand beach. We didn’t have to walk far to find the birds. They were everywhere, both on the ground and gliding silently overhead. With tripods set, camera shutters clicked in unison with the clacking of the male frigates courtship display. Their inflated red gular pouches glowed in the early morning light. Also present at close range were swallow-tailed gulls with their red eye ring and, of course, red-footed boobies. With many rolls exposed and memory cards full, we returned to the ship to re-load, down-load, and re-fuel (breakfast, that is!).
Following a hearty breakfast, we returned to shore for natural history walks with the naturalists, and a rare second chance at photographing the birds. With full sun now highlighting the frigate bird’s red pouches we trained out lenses to the sky for flight images, a real challenge. By mid-morning we saved ourselves from ourselves and put our cameras away and went for a deep-water snorkel, the best yet by some accounts.
The afternoon found us still at anchored Darwin Bay. Our plan was to explore the rocky cliffs by Zodiac to observe the red-billed tropicbirds that nest on ledges in the basalt. We had great success seeing these pure white birds with their long streaming tails circling again and again. Getting them in focus was another story. Satisfied, we landed at Prince Phillip’s Steps for a sunset walk along the crest of the island. Great photo ops were everywhere, as Nazca boobies nested right along the trail and red-footed boobies sat at eye level in the Palo Santo trees. We even spied the reclusive short-eared owl, which on one occasion flew past us and landed on the ground near the trail (today’s photo).
Back on board we enjoyed dinner out on deck in the warm tropical air, a fitting end to another epic day in the Galápagos.
Today we got another early start hoping to catch the soft early light. Shortly before sunrise the Polaris navigated the narrow channel into Darwin Bay at Genovesa Island. This low brushy island is home to the largest red-footed booby colony in the world. But the real stars here are the great frigate birds, and they put on a dazzling show.
With the sun filtering through low clouds we made our landing on a white, coral sand beach. We didn’t have to walk far to find the birds. They were everywhere, both on the ground and gliding silently overhead. With tripods set, camera shutters clicked in unison with the clacking of the male frigates courtship display. Their inflated red gular pouches glowed in the early morning light. Also present at close range were swallow-tailed gulls with their red eye ring and, of course, red-footed boobies. With many rolls exposed and memory cards full, we returned to the ship to re-load, down-load, and re-fuel (breakfast, that is!).
Following a hearty breakfast, we returned to shore for natural history walks with the naturalists, and a rare second chance at photographing the birds. With full sun now highlighting the frigate bird’s red pouches we trained out lenses to the sky for flight images, a real challenge. By mid-morning we saved ourselves from ourselves and put our cameras away and went for a deep-water snorkel, the best yet by some accounts.
The afternoon found us still at anchored Darwin Bay. Our plan was to explore the rocky cliffs by Zodiac to observe the red-billed tropicbirds that nest on ledges in the basalt. We had great success seeing these pure white birds with their long streaming tails circling again and again. Getting them in focus was another story. Satisfied, we landed at Prince Phillip’s Steps for a sunset walk along the crest of the island. Great photo ops were everywhere, as Nazca boobies nested right along the trail and red-footed boobies sat at eye level in the Palo Santo trees. We even spied the reclusive short-eared owl, which on one occasion flew past us and landed on the ground near the trail (today’s photo).
Back on board we enjoyed dinner out on deck in the warm tropical air, a fitting end to another epic day in the Galápagos.
