Thursday, December 11, 2003
Just after dawn this morning Captain Hinojosa carefully brought the Polaris across the submerged rim of the flooded caldera of Genovesa Island and anchored off a tiny white beach. We landed on the coral sand and were immediately surrounded by wheeling frigate birds. We watched these “pirates of the air” harassing the other sea birds in attempts to steal the fish they had captured with great effort.
In the salt bushes behind the beach we found lovely adult swallow-tailed gulls. Their color coordinated red eye rings and red feet are almost too fashionable to believe. This is no doubt one of the most striking and outright beautiful gulls in the world. The swallowtails were tending their grey and white chicks whose plumage is far less stylish. The chick’s dull splotchy coloration is a camouflage design that makes them look like guano splattered lava rocks. One chick hopped on, pecked, and investigated our snorkel equipment and shoes for a full hour with the typical incessant curiosity of all young animals.
On our morning walk and in the afternoon also, we found red-footed boobies at all stages of the nesting process. A few of the nests were just being built, some had small chicks and in others we found large juveniles that were losing the last bits of down. We admired the delicate pink and sky blue coloration of the red-foot’s beaks. Their gorgeous beaks are actually more noteworthy than their famous red feet.
The Nazca boobies are also nesting on Genovesa. Like the swallow-tailed gull chicks, the fat, fluffy baby boobies were full of restless energy and curiosity. One chick tossed and juggled a small piece of dry wood. For me, more than just the chance to observe animals at close range, what makes animal watching so rewarding in Galápagos is the opportunity to view all aspects of their natural behavior. It is both unusual and wonderful for animals to ignore us humans. Here, they play and feed and mate and carry on, as if we weren’t just a few feet away, snapping photos like crazy!
Just after dawn this morning Captain Hinojosa carefully brought the Polaris across the submerged rim of the flooded caldera of Genovesa Island and anchored off a tiny white beach. We landed on the coral sand and were immediately surrounded by wheeling frigate birds. We watched these “pirates of the air” harassing the other sea birds in attempts to steal the fish they had captured with great effort.
In the salt bushes behind the beach we found lovely adult swallow-tailed gulls. Their color coordinated red eye rings and red feet are almost too fashionable to believe. This is no doubt one of the most striking and outright beautiful gulls in the world. The swallowtails were tending their grey and white chicks whose plumage is far less stylish. The chick’s dull splotchy coloration is a camouflage design that makes them look like guano splattered lava rocks. One chick hopped on, pecked, and investigated our snorkel equipment and shoes for a full hour with the typical incessant curiosity of all young animals.
On our morning walk and in the afternoon also, we found red-footed boobies at all stages of the nesting process. A few of the nests were just being built, some had small chicks and in others we found large juveniles that were losing the last bits of down. We admired the delicate pink and sky blue coloration of the red-foot’s beaks. Their gorgeous beaks are actually more noteworthy than their famous red feet.
The Nazca boobies are also nesting on Genovesa. Like the swallow-tailed gull chicks, the fat, fluffy baby boobies were full of restless energy and curiosity. One chick tossed and juggled a small piece of dry wood. For me, more than just the chance to observe animals at close range, what makes animal watching so rewarding in Galápagos is the opportunity to view all aspects of their natural behavior. It is both unusual and wonderful for animals to ignore us humans. Here, they play and feed and mate and carry on, as if we weren’t just a few feet away, snapping photos like crazy!
