Galapagos is famous for it’s comical blue footed boobies and their stomping little courtship dance. Today, we saw that – and some other glorious performances!
First of all, in the Itabaca channel, waiting for a boat to North Seymour, we saw a real feeding frenzy. You can see the little blue feet of the bird in the middle of the first shot, as they gathered. The boobies swoop in huge chaotic mobs and then dive, en masse, to help themselves to the shoal of fishes they’ve seen. I’m told they dive at 40 km/hour and need to use their tails as brakes to avoid hitting the sea floor 😊
Amongst the incense trees, with their fragrant sap, and the volcanic boulders of North Seymour, we did see many blue footed boobies waiting patiently for their mate ….
The show rolled on with one lady booby (you can tell because they have larger pupils) guarding two eggs – and one joined a land iguana for an iconic Galapogian photoshoot!
The frigate bird in flight with it’s red pouch inflated is the least aerodynamic bird you can imagine. I didn’t capture one flying – but there were some splendid displays – including building a “showhouse” nest, to convince a partner they would be a good bet and could build a proper home for their family. The young ones start super fluffy and white – and change colour gradually whilst depending on mum and dad for food, until they can fly and fend for themselves …. The last picture here has the mother (green back); father (red pouch) and child (with the white head, on the left)
Although these are the famous birds of the islands – its also wonderful to see the black-throated stilt bird; the oyster catchers; the great egret, the jet-black Galapagos lava gull, the Galapagos mockingbird, Darwin's finches and so many more …. Including a confident pelican, inspecting the preparation of the daily catch and waiting patiently for the fisherman to share the fishy scraps.
Back in my darling treehouse I caught this amazing sunset and, later, the moon lying on its back – not as I think of it in the UK, in a more upright position. Perhaps it’s something to do with being near the equator? I shall have to ask someone who knows …..
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