Today we explored Isla del Rey, the largest island in the Pearl Islands Archipelago. We spent the morning swimming off a couple of deserted beaches and exploring the rocky and wooded coast. Some of us attempted to snorkel, but the surf was too strong and the visibility almost nil. A pair of American oystercatchers strutted among the boulders and called; they probably had a nest nearby but we were not able to locate it.
After lunch we motored up a mangrove-lined river that is only accessible to us by Zodiac at high tide. We identified many bird species (whimbrel, willet, tropical kingbird, great-tailed grackle, plumbeous kite, white ibis, snowy egret, and green-backed heron were a few of these), got a close look at a ctenosaurus (a black iguana) and ended the afternoon with a walk on a sand spit where we found a nesting nightjar. We were able to get extremely close to the bird (who apparently thought she was so well camouflaged that we hadn't seen her!) but were unable to definitely identify the species as many of the field marks were hidden as it sat absolutely motionless on the sand.
