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Galapagos Island Cruise


male fregatebird displays his red balloon

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Even though the reptiles are impressive, it's the birds that are really something in the Galapagos. The frigatebirds were the first to make their presence felt. Whenever the boat was moving we were accompanied by a number of them. Large birds with a very broad wingspan, they are also the least favourite birds of many who know them well. They survive by stealing food literally from other birds' mouths as they are flying back to the nest from a fishing expedition. Their modus operandi is to catch the bird in mid-flight and shake it until it disgorges the food, allowing the frigatebird to swoop down and gobble it up. (One of our fellow passengers, a very likeable man from New York named Steve, created the joke of the trip around this fact: Two frigatebirds are sitting at a bar. One says to the other, "Wanna go out and shake some boobies?") They don't just do this over the ocean, but anywhere they possibly can. Several times we thought they were attacking a bird to kill it until Maja explained their nasty habits. When a male frigatebird wants to attract a female for mating, they blow up a red balloon to signal their intentions - this is actually bright red skin located beneath their beak, which is hidden by feathers the rest of the time. We saw some really spectacular displays of these 'balloons' from no more than a metre's distance.
The boobies in particular are spectacular! I think I read somewhere that they are named from the French word for clown - probably because of their unusually coloured feet. There are blue-footed boobies with bright aqua blue coloured webbed feet. They also have bluish-coloured beaks. We saw many of these quite close up, sitting or standing on their nests which are always right on the ground - normally standing to shelter their eggs from the direct sun. It is warm enough on the islands that they don't really need to sit on their eggs to hatch them. We were lucky enough to see their mating dance where the male whistles and flaps his wings enticingly and the female honks in return - she sounds a little like a goose. At one point there were a couple, who seemed to have paired up, surrounded by about 4 other males squawking and prancing to get the female's attention in case she changed her mind. On the last day during a dawn visit to the mangroves of Black Turtle Cove, we were surprised by an enormous flock of these birds flying in to fish for their breakfast. Seeing them dive into the water one at a time is quite something - seeing the whole flock doing it at once was special.
The red-footed booby, unlike their blue-footed cousins, nest in mangroves or incense trees, which helps to discourage the frigatebirds from stealing food and nesting material from them, once they reach the safety of the compact foliage (since their wingspan is prohibitive in such a situation). They of course have red feet, although some of them seem to be bright pink and others almost crimson, and their beaks are a stunning combination of blue and pink. They come it two distinct feather colours - there are the more common brown ones, and the extraordinary white ones. As I understand it they are the same bird and breed with each other. The third booby, the Nazca booby, is a beautiful white and black bird, with feet of an unremarkable grey colour, but sporting a distinguished black mask around the eyes.

Other birds we spotted quite frequently were:
- the Galapagos mockingbird, including a very curious form on the island of Española
- the Galapagos dove with its beautiful pink legs and feet
- brown pelicans whose white necks change to an attractive bronze/brown colour during mating season
- oyster catchers with startling red eyes and beaks
- swallow-tailed gulls, who also have bright red eyes which stand out in their almost black heads - we saw them several times with their chicks

Less frequent sightings included:
- finches - there are 13 species of finches in the Galapagos and we saw examples of 3 or 4 of them. I could never keep their names straight, but they were most important to Darwin and his theory of evolution, which developed because of his visit to the islands
- twice we briefly spotted a Galapagos hawk - no photos to support this claim
- also very difficult to photograph are the red-billed tropicbirds, not because there were only the few of them but because they nest in the cliffs and the only way to see them is in super-quick flight
- Galapagos penguins - very cute little penguins in their formal dinner jackets. These were also difficult to photograph because by the time they come back from the sea for the night, it is getting too dark to be able to take a sharp photo from a moving dinghy - and, of course, no flashes used around the animals.
- juvenile yellow-crowned night heron - the adults are difficult to spot because they are usually only out at night
- lava gull - these are fairly rare, only about 200 breeding pairs on the islands. We were lucky enough to spot them a couple of times - once a couple who were flashing their red mouths at each other and laughing quite loudly, similar to a kookaburra
- the short-eared owl, which preys on petrels. They are difficult to see because they are almost the same colour as the grasses they sit silently amongst waiting for their prey to return to their nests in the lava rock.
- cattle egrets - whole trees full of them in Black Turtle Cove. They come down from the highlands of Santa Cruz at night to roost in the mangroves and then return each day to be with the herds of cattle.
- great blue heron - also at Black Turtle Cove

The two islands we travelled overnight to visit were both very special. Genovesa to the north supports an incredible variety of wildlife, and we saw more different animals and birds there than on any other island. Española is also unique in that its wildlife is often found nowhere else. It has its own marine iguana which is more brightly coloured than his relatives on the other islands. The lava lizard on this island is also unique - the female with bright red all over her head instead of just two stripes and the male has the same red colouring on his body. Even the mockingbird, which is readily seen on other islands, is so curious on Española that it is easy to view up close because it will come right up to you and peck at various possessions just to check them out.
And of course it is the only island where it is possible to see the waved albatross. This is the place where they spend ¾ of the year meeting up with their life partners again and nesting - from December to March they are at sea. (There are a few pairs which nest on Isla de la Plata, but that is not on any itinerary.) The albatross is a peculiar bird - ungainly in landing and has to fall off the edge of a cliff into the wind to take off, but incredibly graceful in flight. They mate for life and share the care of eggs and chicks, two weeks on the 'nest' (although they don't really have a nest but can be seen moving around rolling the egg in front of them) and two weeks off fishing. Occasionally you will see an abandoned egg on the ground - usually because a mate didn't return when expected and the one left with the egg goes off because it is not possible to hatch the egg and rear the young alone. We were fortunate enough to witness two pairs in the mating dance - this is performed between new mates forming a partnership, but there is also a modified form used when partners meet again after their separation.
The same day as we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station, we were also driven to the Santa Cruz highlands to walk in the lush, green, cloud forest and to view Los Gemelos (the twins) - two sink-holes formed by the collapse of the ground above a fault. It was quite a different environment to the other islands we had been visiting. On the way back to Puerto Ayora we stopped at a lava tube which was probably 30 metres high. It was possible to walk right inside it. We spent some time that day in Puerto Ayora, which is the main town of the island and is basically a tourist town. Even though the research centre and the trip out to the highlands were interesting, I think we were somehow relieved to be back on the boat again that evening and heading for Espaņola.
On our return to the island of Baltra on Saturday afternoon we had some great luck - a group of Orcas came past the boat. The crew and Maja were just as excited as we were - Maja says she sees them only about once every 2 years, so we were very lucky. One of them came to within 10-20 metres of the boat and was very clear to see as it leapt out of the water. What a way to end our journey!
So it was quite exhausting, but it was also a once in a lifetime experience for us. It has taken us most of the time since then to rest our weary bodies, catch up on our sleep, and to sort through well over thousand photos from the trip, but we would certainly recommend a visit to the Galapagos Islands if you are ever anywhere nearby.


 
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