Santa Cruz Island
The morning started with Zodiacs heading into the jetty operated by the Galápagos National Park Service. Once on land, a walk leads to the giant tortoise corrals where a treasure trove of huge reptiles awaits the inspection and admiration of visitors. Famous names follow: Diego a.k.a. Superstud or “gringo” and his company are the heroes of the breeding program by a long shot. They come from Española Island originally; their offspring reside there now in droves, breeding well with no direct help from humans. Lonesome George recently hit the headlines with his female partners from a different island by laying eggs after decades of inaction in that department. There is now a suspicion he has just hit his prime. We were just too impatient and saw things from a human timescale when we thought him “old”.
Always a nice surprise is the number of variety of Darwin finches that can be found in and among the tortoise rearing center. Some even prefer the refreshment kiosk, and photography of otherwise difficult small birds, is made easy. Small, medium and large ground finches as well as cactus finches and vegetarian finches were in the area this morning. A special sightings was the woodpecker finch as well (though not tool-using, unfortunately)! One of the trickier aspects of identifying finches in town is the relatively common occurrence of hybrids. Food is plentiful and there is little selective pressure for specialized beak sizes, so hybrids are around, and as confusing as ever.
Green lush highlands and a blue pool accompanied lunch at “Altair”. Refreshing breeze was received gratefully. Temperatures these days feel warmer because of the rising humidity. The warm, rainy season is on approach. Territorial marine iguanas have been telling us this much for the past couple of weeks.
Over a dozen giant tortoises wandered the uplands of Santa Cruz Island. Two dared to cross the road, bringing to a stop a bus load of guests. “A Galápagos Moment,” declared Aura. Vermillion flycatchers were seen perched and seemingly posing for cameras and an eyeful of vivid colour.
The question is out: what could there possibly be in store for us tomorrow? We’ve now seen it all!
The morning started with Zodiacs heading into the jetty operated by the Galápagos National Park Service. Once on land, a walk leads to the giant tortoise corrals where a treasure trove of huge reptiles awaits the inspection and admiration of visitors. Famous names follow: Diego a.k.a. Superstud or “gringo” and his company are the heroes of the breeding program by a long shot. They come from Española Island originally; their offspring reside there now in droves, breeding well with no direct help from humans. Lonesome George recently hit the headlines with his female partners from a different island by laying eggs after decades of inaction in that department. There is now a suspicion he has just hit his prime. We were just too impatient and saw things from a human timescale when we thought him “old”.
Always a nice surprise is the number of variety of Darwin finches that can be found in and among the tortoise rearing center. Some even prefer the refreshment kiosk, and photography of otherwise difficult small birds, is made easy. Small, medium and large ground finches as well as cactus finches and vegetarian finches were in the area this morning. A special sightings was the woodpecker finch as well (though not tool-using, unfortunately)! One of the trickier aspects of identifying finches in town is the relatively common occurrence of hybrids. Food is plentiful and there is little selective pressure for specialized beak sizes, so hybrids are around, and as confusing as ever.
Green lush highlands and a blue pool accompanied lunch at “Altair”. Refreshing breeze was received gratefully. Temperatures these days feel warmer because of the rising humidity. The warm, rainy season is on approach. Territorial marine iguanas have been telling us this much for the past couple of weeks.
Over a dozen giant tortoises wandered the uplands of Santa Cruz Island. Two dared to cross the road, bringing to a stop a bus load of guests. “A Galápagos Moment,” declared Aura. Vermillion flycatchers were seen perched and seemingly posing for cameras and an eyeful of vivid colour.
The question is out: what could there possibly be in store for us tomorrow? We’ve now seen it all!
